The Nintendo Wii

(The Nintendo Wii logo)

The Nintendo Wii, previously codenamed the Nintendo Revolution, has caused a great deal of excitement, controversy, and wild rumours to be spread amongst gamers all around the world. The Wii is Nintendo’s 7th generation gaming console, and was confirmed by Nintendo on April 27th, 2006.

Why is the Wii called Wii?

Much of the suggestion and conjecture surrounding the Wii has sprouted from the change of name, from the slightly tame ‘Revolution’, to the much more thought provoking and (almost) surreal ‘Wii’. One might wonder why Nintendo have changed from a rather standard codename, to a bizarre alternative. Wii is pronounced ‘We’, thus signifying the connotation of togetherness – everyone can play it, no one is excluded. Furthermore, the name Wii is not one that is likely to be forgotten – it is a name people of all countries, and who speak any language would be able to communicate with ease. Moreover, the name ‘Revolution’ could be perceived to be somewhat daunting to those who are new to gaming, whereas the Wii could be seen to be much more inviting (Shigeru Miyamoto, 2006). There is no need, either, for abbreviations. The PlayStation 3 is abbreviated to the PS3, and the Xbox 360 to 360, but what could one possibly abbreviate Wii to? Wi?! Another reason for the name is that the two “i”s Wii together take the appearance of two ‘stick (wo)men’ congregating together, perhaps ready to play on the console.

“Wii sounds like ‘we,’ which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.” — Reggie Fils-Aime (2006)

While there does seem to be a lot of perfectly valid reasons for naming the console Wii, Nintendo have been criticized by some gamers and people involved in the gaming industry for naming it so. Trying to put this diplomatically, there are certainly other things that come to mind when annunciating the word ‘Wii’, other than a notion of collectedness. Not only this, but some of the more rigid and uncompromising gamers find the name to be somewhat childish and inclusive.

What are the main features of the Wii?

(The Nintendo Wiicontroller, the ‘Wiimote’)

The Nintendo Wii is quite regularly considered to be one of the most innovative video game consoles of all time. There are a number of features that the console boasts which make this so. Firstly, the odd name is one of the contributing factors for this (read more about the name above). But more importantly, the console has a controller, colloquially referred to as the ‘Wiimote’, which is a single hand ‘pointing device’ which also has motion sensors in all dimensions. Not only this, but the controller will provide a speaker, as well as a rumbling element, added to bring a ‘real-life’ sense to gaming. One of the most important add-ons the Wii is confirmed to possess is the WiiConnect24 – that is, a device used to download various upgrades from the Internet, yet it uses very little electrical power at all.

Another exciting addition to the Wii console is that of backwards compatibility. Nintendo have confirmed that not only will the console be compatible with all GameCube software, it will also be compatible with most software. The console will provide four slots for the old GameCube controllers, and 2 memory card slots, as were on the GameCube. This is already good news, but amazingly, there will be an added ‘Virtual Console’ which will mean the Wii will also have the ability to download the “best of” old console games for a small fee. One will be able to download some games from the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and even the Sega MegaDrive / Sega Genesis, as well as independent game developers who wish to have their games available to a wider market. While specific prices are as yet unconfirmed, Satoru Iwata has hinted that one could expect to pay somewhere in the region of $5-10 USD per title.

The Wii design

(The Nintendo Wii console’s design)

Nintendo have proclaimed that the Wii will be the smallest game console yet, “about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer” (Nintendo of America, 2006). Like the PlayStation 2, the console will apparently have the ability to stand either horizontally or vertically. There have been prototype showings of a wide array of colours available to purchasers of the console: as well as the usual silver, white, and black, more unusual colours displayed were lime green, red and blue. None of these colours have as yet been confirmed by Nintendo as the official colour options.

Concluding thoughts on the Wii (so far)

As with most unreleased consoles, there are a lot of things we do not yet know about the Nintendo Wii. What we do know, is that the console seems very promising in a lot of ways. Some aspects of the console are not yet appreciated by some game fans, but we are sure that, given the cheap pricing and unique specifications of the Wii, even the most cynical fans will eventually be won over.

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