by W.G.T.Fernando

How did Wii do it?

When we got the Nintendo Wii two weeks back, I couldn’t help but notice the size of the Nintendo Wii console. I wondered whether this could simple be the smallest of them all…. and I was right, measuring just 44 mm wide, 215.4 mm deep and 157 mm tall, it is the smallest home console (to date). The Wii took a step away from other consoles and moved to the unknown, which is what got me excited. Forget the high definition breath taking graphics you find in an Xbox360 or the PlayStation3, the Wii graphics is basic to speak the least. Yet, if I wanted to play just to relax, I would hands down chose the Wii instead of the Xbox360 that I have (I know this would not help my company in marketing its soon-to-be-released Xbox360 game to the market, but truth must be told.). And this has been the trend among other gamers as well and the record sales of the Wii is ample proof. And why is that? How did the Wii outsell the Xbox360 and the PlayStation3?

Janith ready to take a swing, wishes he could play cricket too using the Wii.

Location: GTS reception area, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka

I mentioned that the Wii ventured into the unknown. And the unknown is in its Wii Remote and Sensor bar. With its unique feature to replicate actual actions taken by the gamer, the Wii Remote uses a combination of built-in accelerometers and infrared detection to sense its position and this is detected by the Sensor bar (via the LEDs within the Sensor bar). So now if you want to play some tennis or baseball (I still haven’t seen Cricket on the Wii, do comment with a link if there is one), you can simply play your natural game by swinging at it instead of trying to press multiple buttons to replicate a swing. Its that simple. Hence the reason its turning non-gamers into casual gamers and casual gamers into fanatics.

Prasad vs Nadun: Having an intense game of lawn tennis during the lunchbreak.

Location: GTS reception area, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka

How did the idea come up?

That is what I am interested in. As mentioned by Shigeru Miyamoto (world renowed game designer who is the creator behind Mario, Donkey Kong to name just two famous titles under his belt), they wanted to focus on a new form of player interaction with power not being the only factor when it comes to being the most popular console. So in 2003, engineers and designers took forward the idea and started work on it and by 2005 the controller interface was almost shown at E3 2005 but withdrew and said they had some troubleshooting to do. The Wii Remote was finally shown at the Tokyo Game Show held in September that very year. Thinking truly outside the box gave Nintendo the edge over the other rival consoles. Some might have thought it was a mistake by Nintendo to be so bold to venture into such a concept but that is now all part of history. It was first shipped on the 19^th of November 2006 and hasn’t looked back ever since.

Special features

With inbuilt WiFi facility, its possible to watch channels and download games over the internet (Wifi connection with broadband (ADSL) internet is required). This has actually been a standard among consoles having the ability to connect to the internet to play games (started with the Xbox I believe? do correct me if I am wrong).

Enough games?

Even though over 2 years have passed since its launch, the number of games for the Nintendo Wii is currently standing at 1099. However said, it might be enough for the time being as the current games can keep the gamers occupied and entertained for quite some time (maybe it was a marketing blunder to bundle WiiSports with the consoles as the WiiSports can itself keep the gamers occupied for months before venturing for more games). Well even though the current tally of games stand at 1099, I think there will be a steep increase in those numbers as development studios realise that the Wii is a console they have to get their games in (which is exactly what we at GTS are thinking too…)

ok guys, lunchbreak is over, time to get back to work…

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