Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Wii
Release Date: US Nov. 19 / Japan Dec. 2 / Europe Dec. 8 2006
Created By: Nintendo
Price: $249.99 / €249 / £179.

Nintendo will soon be set to make what is arguably their boldest move ever, with the release of their next-gen console system, the Wii, code named Revolution.

For those who have yet to hear, the Wii eschews just about everything you’ve come to expect from a console, tips it on it’s head, and gives gamers a totally new and unique experience that you won’t be able to find anywhere else with any other video game system. Here’s a gameplay introduction:


The design of the casing is actually very sleek and cool looking, more in line with the PS2 and Xbox than the GameCube was, no square-shape or holding handle in sight here. It’s small and light-weight, and should fit very comfortably into your entertainment center. For the first time in a console, the disk drive is a slot-loading drive not the “tray” kind that slides in and out as featured in the Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2 and presumably the PS3. The Wii uses the kind of drive you see for car CD players where you simply push the disc into the drive. While this is cool in and of itself, the drive is also lighted with a very cool blue glow, giving the system a very high-tech look that’s arguably sleeker looking than either the PS3 or Xbox 360. And in another first, it’s the first drive of this kind to accept more than one disc size, as the Wii will play both smaller GameCube game discs as well as Wii game discs (which are on DVD). The Wii can play all previous 530 Nintendo GameCube games!

However, as you’ve probably heard by now, it’s not the look of the system, or even what’s under the hood, that’s the most interesting. By far the most interesting aspect of the Wii comes from it’s controller, which wasn’t originally unveiled along with the system when it was shown for the first time at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) ‘05, but was shown later on at TGS (Tokyo Game Show) ‘05 by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.

What was unveiled would once again (as Nintendo is well versed in doing) send ripples throughout the game industry just as they had done many times in the past, from the first truely 3D game and revolutionary analog movement of Super Mario 64 to the SNES controller’s shoulder buttons, Nintendo is no stranger to innovation. The introduction of the new controller for the Wii, which is shaped like a standard TV remote, shocked and perplexed many people who saw it initially. While gamers were filled with questions and even alienated at the thought of playing traditional games on such a wildly new-conept controller, fears have since been eased and many naysayers are now embracing Nintendo’s bold new direction. Since those player’s saw it up-close and personal, trying it out for themselves, at E3 2006, where the console was fully unveiled and playable. Suffice it to say, every gamer at the show did whatever they could to get their own hands-on play-time with Nintendo’s new baby.

The Nintendo Wii controller (or remote, which some have taken to calling the “Wiimote”) is by far one of the most simple controllers ever seen, harkening back to the days of few buttons and doing a complete 180 from the industry standard of many buttons, duel analog sticks and “complex” configurations. Designed by Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto himself (creator of Mario as well as nearly every other Nintendo controller, and the one who made shoulder buttons and analog sticks an industry standard), this game pad closely resembles that of a TV remote. It’s got a vertical design and is just as skinny and lightweight as a standard television remote controller. And in a complete rebuff of video game controller conventions, the Wii controller, in it’s normal vertical state, only needs one hand to use; Yes, just like a TV remote.

The layout of the controller is as follows: The top of the controller has the D-Pad, below it is a big round A button resembling the A Button on the GameCube controller. Below that in the middle of the remote are three small, round buttons lined in a row. They are, from left to right: Select (counter-clockwise arrow, similar to the “refresh” button on browsers), Home (pic of a house), and Start (two vertical lines similar to the “pause” button icon). Below that are two single buttons aligned vertically from each other at the bottom of the remote. These buttons have been seen labeled as either lowercase “a” and “b” or as “1″ and “2″. At the very bottom are four light indicators telling you which port your controller belongs to, and at the very top left of the remote is a power button. The back of the controller features a trigger button similar to the N64’s “Z Button”, that’s labeled “B”. All these labels have yet to be completely finalized and are subject to change.

As you can tell, this kind of controller has scared many people who can’t picture playing many games with so few buttons and such a strange layout. Luckily, that’s not all Nintendo has up it’s sleeves. Matter of fact, it’s only the beginning.

You likely noticed that the aforementioned controller is missing the all-crucial analog stick. So the Wii controller comes with an attachment that plugs into the bottom of the controller and has subsequently been labeled the “nunchaku” (due to the shape it gives the whole controller when you hold both pieces in your hands, similar to how you would with a nunchak). This attachment is shaped similar to a computer mouse and features an analog stick on the top and two clickable buttons directly under, where your fingers naturally rest. The top button is smaller and more of an oval shape, and is labeled “C”, while the lower button is more of a traditional square shape and has been labeled “Z”. Before this they were simply called “Z1″ and “Z2″. As with the standard Wii remote, these labels are still subject to change.

While all of this may sound underwhelming so far and you might be perplexed yourself, there are still several totally innovative features that will make the Wii unlike any console you’ve ever played.

The Wii and the Wii’s controller make use of a sensor bar placed near the TV set, as well as motion sensors inside both the controller itself as well as the nunchaku accessory. These allow the system to detect the placement of the controller in real-time 3D space. Both it’s position and orientation as well as sensors inside the controller that detect the controllers tilt and yaw (unfortuneatly, only the Wiimote will detect tilt & yaw, not the nunchaku, which only has the motion sensor inside it). This effectively turns the controller into both a 3D mouse or pointer, as well as an instrument that will allow players to “mime” actions, performing what needs to be done in the game as they would in real life (such as swinging a baseball bat) for in-game results, instead of merely pressing buttons. Add in the well-known rumble feedback feature (a feature that the new PS3 controller lacks) and you’re starting to get a feel for what’s going to be possible on this new system, but not all has been unveiled yet . . . Nintendo insists there are STILL some secrets they haven’t revealed about the Wii controller. We will know in due time as the Wii gets closer to release.

A promotional video showed examples of the many ways the controller could be used. They range from the player actually swinging the controller like a baseball bat or golf club, to using it as a drumstick, to swinging it like a sword or shooting it like a gun, to making precisions movements in say, a surgeon game. This type of actual “hands-on” gameplay is unlike anything ever before attempted, and could potentially forever change the way the player interacts with the their video games. See for yourself:


That being said, Nintendo has acknowledged that, as with their unique handheld system the DS, (which features two screens, the bottom of which is a touch screen, as well as a built in microphone) developers won’t necessarily have to use this new 3D space style gameplay in their games if it isn’t desired by the developers. Traditional gameplay will be readily possible on the system, just like the DS has games that don’t use it’s unique features. The controller can also be used simply as a pointer (basically mimicking a mouse) which could open up many possibilities for genres that have yet to really break into the console sector, especially where traditional PC genres like strategy games, point & click adventure games, etc., are concerned, which don’t normally work well on console systems since they require the precision of a PC mouse or simply don’t mold well to a control pad.

Several new and innovative features were also announced at 2006’s E3. They include a speaker built directly into the Wii remote! Which has already begun to be used in making games more immersive (via Bluetooth). For example, in Zelda: Twilight Princess if you shoot an arrow, you’ll hear it take off from the controller to your TV’s speakers! The arrow literally makes the “thwipt” sound using the controller’s built-in speaker and as the arrow sails through the air the sound can be heard out of the TV’s speakers until you hear a loud “thunk” as the arrow hits it’s target (coming from the TV). It’s as if the arrow literally just flew by your head!

If you have a broadband internet connection then a great new feature that Nintendo has many planned and innovative uses for is being called Connect24. The idea is that your system will always be online (via your broadband service), even when you power the system down. All the console’s core features will be accessible in it’s low-power state. What does this mean for you? It means that, if you are playing a game like Animal Crossing, then your village will still be accessible to other online players, even though you are asleep and your console is off. While you are sleeping, your friends could leave you messages, visit your town, trade items, and when you wake up and turn your game on, the changes made while you were away will be reflected in the game. It’s as if you never went to sleep in the first place! Developers can even send new updates, levels, items, maps, etc. to your game while your system is powered-down and you are away, via Connect24. Shigeru Miyamoto himself has stated that he has many ideas for this new feature and insists that it will add much to the uniqueness of the Wii and the kind of experiences that can only be found on their system.

Probably the second most exciting feature of the Wii is what Nintendo has labeled the “Virtual Console“. In addition to being backwards compatible with GameCube (which means all your favorite GameCube games will be playable on Wii), you will also be able to connect to the Internet through Nintendo’s “WFC” (Wi-Fi Connection) service where you can download games from Nintendo’s extensive back-catalog of titles, including games for the NES, SNES and N64. And that’s not all! You’ll even be able to play Sega, Hudson and SNK’s classic console games on Wii! Yes you heard it right, you can download all your favorite Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), Sega Master System (in 2008), TurboGrafx 16, and NEOGEO games on the “Virtual Console”! For prices ranging between $5 to $10, the games will download directly onto the Wii, where they will be fully playable in their original form, and Nintendo has even announced that (framerate) updates to the games will be possible since the Wii features full emulation, unlike the backwards compatibility on the Xbox. There’s even the promise of MSX and PC games, not to mention the WiiWare download service that will allow users to download full games like a Final Fantasy city builder or a remake of Dr. Mario and Pokemon Farm, but Indie games will also be prevalent on the service when it launches in May 2008.

This is a potentially huge plus for the Wii, since the “Virtual Console” basically makes the Wii every Nintendo system in one and then some Sega, Hudson/NEC & SNK systems thrown in. What’s more, if you flip the Wii controller on it’s side, it mimics an NES controller, which should be perfect for playing classic games on the system. The GameCube controller can be used for playing certain older games, as well as a special Classic Controller that works for all downloadable games.

The biggest concern so far about the Wii obviously comes from the systems lack of buttons, making people wonder how multiplatform games will far when they are ported from other systems. At the same time that’s also it’s biggest asset, as it’ll allow the “remote” Wii controller to fit into the classic controller & lightgun shells easily. Of concern is the fact that Nintendo has downplayed the graphics of the system, and many sources seem to point to the fact that it will not be as powerful as either the PS3 or the Xbox 360, which certainly seems disappointing, although it still remains to be seen how games on the system will actually look since no games have yet to be shown.

According to virtually all developers who have tried the system (Nintendo has showed several demos for the controller, including a version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes) the controller feels natural and is really easy to get used too, and comfortable once you start playing.

Nintendo’s philosophy for the Wii has been on innovation aimed at bringing in new game players, people who have never played a game, due to their “complex” controllers and button layout, which can be daunting if you’ve never picked up a controller since the Atari or NES days. The TV remote design is meant to attract new gamers and older players and was consciously designed so that it will be easy for people to pick it up and play without any complications, due to their familiarity with TV remotes, which everyone knows how to use.

Nintendo believes that video games have gotten into a sort of rut nowadays, especially where innovation and new ideas are concerned, which is why they say a system like the Nintendo Wii is in order, because if the industry continues at it’s current rate, where few new gamers are being brought into the fold due to the sheer complexity of gaming, that it will ultimately lead to the downfall of the industry. So Nintendo is planning on being the champions of innovation when it comes to their newest system.

The main problem is that not everyone sees things the way Nintendo does, and while the new system will likely harbor a lot of innovation in the way the Nintendo DS has, it will also bring more challenges in regard to Nintendo being able to get third party multiplatform games on it’s system, due to the unique controller. A lack of third-party support has been a huge problem for Nintendo since the days of the N64, and it came to a head with the Nintendo GameCube as more and more games became for Xbox and PS2 only, leaving the GameCube in the dust. Most of the problems stemmed from Nintendo’s complete lack of online support, thus making any third-party games released for the GameCube obsolete since they were missing a crucial part of the gaming experience.

But Nintendo is naturally being optimistic, and hopefully we will see a good amount of third-party software for the new Nintendo system, as it has the potential to be one of the greatest platforms yet, if it receives the support it deserves. There are many excited third parties, so that bodes well in the early on.

Nintendo has announced that the Wii will not support HDTV output, although 480p will be standard. The Wii also will have the ability to link up to the Nintendo DS, most likely through Wi-Fi, although this hasn’t been elaborated on. It has also been rumored that the system will hook up to the PC.

Montage of lots of Wii games being played:

The 28 launch games are: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Barnyard, Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, Call of Duty 3, Disney’s Cars, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Happy Feet, Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Metal Slug Anthology, Monster 4X4 World Circuit, Need for Speed Carbon, Open Season, Rampage: Total Destruction, Rapala Tournament Fishing, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Wii Sports (free pack-in game) & World Series of Poker.

Classic games are a big attraction for the Wii. When your Wii gets connected to the internet, from day one, you can download 30 so-called Virtual Console games from Nintendo’s online store to the Wii’s internal memory. Available at launch are:
* NES Games cost 500 Wii Points = $5/€5. List: Baseball, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Ice Hockey, Mario Bros., Pinball, Soccer, Solomon’s Key, Tennis, The Legend of Zelda, Urban Champion & Wario’s Woods.
* SNES Games cost 800 Wii Points = $8/€8. List: F-Zero & SimCity.
* N64 Games cost 1000 Wii Points = $10/€10. List: Super Mario 64.
* Genesis Games cost 800 Wii Points = $8/€8. List: Altered Beast, Columns, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Ristar, Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Harrier II & Toe Jam & Earl.
* TurboGrafx 16 Games cost 600 Wii Points = $6/€6. List: Bomberman ‘93, Bonk’s Adventure, Dungeon Explorer, Super Star Soldier & Victory Run.

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