Look who's turning 3
'Worldwide phenomenon' Nintendo Wii celebrates three years of success
By: Anthony Gerhart
Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Features
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Since the inception of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, Nintendo has provided the video game industry with new features such as the control stick and rumble features, both of which have been further integrated by their competitors into the current home consoles. Even so, it was up for debate whether motion control could sell Nintendo's new underpowered Wii console in an industry that puts heavy emphasis on the latest in hardware technology.
Three years later, such a debate is seen as laughable. Nintendo's Wii has become a worldwide phenomenon with 56 million units sold since its launch in November 2006. One can look at the overall disappointing sales of Wii's predecessor, the GameCube, to infer that this success cannot be solely attributed to releases of quality games from beloved franchises. Nintendo took a direction that opened up the video game industry to people who may have previously been completely uninterested with games as a whole. With their release of "Wii Sports," Nintendo effectively created a group of consumers (not to mention an unending source of revenue) known as the "casual" crowd who eat up titles such as "Wario Ware: Smooth Moves" and "Mario Kart Wii." Sony and Microsoft have seen the success stemming from a simple motion controller and now have motion-oriented schemes of their own to be released next year.
Sony's answer to Nintendo's Wii Remote is a wand-shaped controller known tentatively as the PlayStation Motion Controller. Despite its questionable appearance, Sony's wand offers accurate 1:1 tracking using the teamwork of the PlayStation Eye camera and the wand's lit orb, as well as precise motion detection via accelerometers and sensors in the controller. It will also have standard buttons, an analog trigger and vibration functionality. All in all, the PlayStation Motion Controller is very similar to Nintendo's Wii Remote. Anything you do with the Wii Remote can probably be replicated by Sony's controller. Unfortunately, no separate peripheral has been announced at this time that attach an analog stick to the wand like the Wii Remote's Nunchuk; games using directional movement will be controlled by holding Sony's standard SIXAXIS controller in one hand and the PlayStation Motion Controller in the other. Such a setup seems uncomfortable and forced, leading me to believe that the fun in Sony's motion plans will be found in the 13 plus launch titles that only require one controller. Sony's PlayStation Motion Controller is set for release in spring 2010.
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