Novelty: when did this become a dirty word?

I've persistently heard the oddest disparaging comment made about the Wii recently: "It's all just novelty. The Wiimote is just a gimmick"

WTF?

When did being new become a sin? For some reason I thought it was the goal: show people what they haven't seen before. Is "Racer X Part 4 Autumn '07 Tournament Edition 1.74 Extreme" really the path we want to go down? Is it really OK that the main attractions are the minor refinements instead of the mad gambles?

I say viva novelty. I, and others I've queried on the matter, have conversely found that the Wii's novelty is making everything old... new. Zelda is for all intents and purposes still Zelda, but everything feels so fresh with the new controls. Every little movement is a joyous discovery. It's almost like getting to start all over again, and Lord only knows how many times everyone's wished for that.

Whilst perusing the gaming shelves, I find myself furtively glancing at games in genres I would normally not give the time of day to. Like some sort of gaming pervert I'm now bloody flirting with anything I can shake a Wiimote at.

Luckily though, I don't really need to defend novelty much: the DS happened. It received the same disparaging comments about its dual screens, microphone and pen input. Despite that, this past Christmas it was the tearaway lead in sales.

Stop fighting it: Novelty is where it's at.