Mathias Maxwell tests a WiiJii beta. "It guessed my gerbils name. It's real smart," said Mathias.

Let’s face it: Nintendo is not one of those consoles that is typically surrounded by controversy. They pretty much have the suburban, “Mommy! Mommy! Buy it! Buy it!” market pegged. You know, that “slice of the pie” where the main purchase decision is made by a person who hasn’t been potty trained longer than a decade? With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the announcement by Hasbro to port a popular board game (marketed under the Parker Brothers name) as a WiiWare title was met with some harsh criticism.

Find out why and weigh in on your opinion after the jump.

Recently, Hasbro has seen limited success with their port of Monopoly to multiple game systems by Electronic Arts. According to Frank Gibeau, President of EA Games label, “EA has been working on a way to better utilize the Wiispeak peripheral for other projects. When Hasbro approached us with the idea of using the device for players to ask the Wii a question and then get a response, we saw the potential to test out our new software and make a few bucks while we were at it. It seemed like a natural fit, and WiiJii was born.”

When asked how the game worked, he had this to say:

“Ouija boards have been used for centuries by people who believed they were communicating with the deceased. Traditionally, it is used by a person placing their fingers on a triangular piece called a planchette. They ask the board a question, and the planchette slides around the board to spell out words, indicate numbers, or give a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. How it actually works is beyond me. I think its a huge hoax, but the kids love it and it makes us money.”

“In the WiiJii, players plug in the Wiispeak and use it to ask the game a question. Then they point the Wiimote at the screen and the game slides it around for them. If the player tries to go against the direction that the pointer is sliding, the Wiimote vibrates to correct them.”

Ouija has been a popular board game for over a century, being purchased by the Parker Brothers brand in 1966. The most notable opposition comes from the religious rite, who believe that the board is controlled by evil spirits.

“I don’t want my children playing this game,” said one anonymous mother. “I remember watching that Exorcist movie back in high school. This isn’t a game, it’s a tool of evil.”

Mr. Gibeau dismissed the notion of the new Wiiware title being evil. “During our testing phase, we didn’t really have any notable side effects,” to which he amended, “well, there was one young boy who began screaming at our staff and throwing objects, but his parents were pretty quick to assure us that was normal, so we don’t count that one.”

Cooper Brookes, a local game store employee I questioned on the subject, didn’t have much of an opinion either way. “Who cares? I mean, EA is smart to put it as a Wiiware title for price and convenience. They won’t have to deal with stores getting pressure from carrying it. I figure that the people who want to play it will buy it, and those who don’t can go on living their lives.”

Personally, I think that’s well-said. I may not want to play with it, but if there were merit behind a lot of the claims, you would begin to wonder how Parker Brothers sold so many copies over the years. Some people may chalk it up to mystic entities, while others believe it holds no more credibility than the “magic 8-ball” toy. If the game sells well, it makes me wonder if we can expect a DS version.

So what does the community think? Is this E for Everyone title evil?

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