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The Public's First Look at Wii
isaacklinger writes "Time Magazine reports how it feels to play with the Wii. Overall it's a very enthusiastic review." From the Gamespot coverage: "Grossman traveled to Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, and was shown the Wii by legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The reporter was especially impressed with the Wii's controller. 'It's part laser pointer and part motion sensor, so it knows where you're aiming it, when and how fast you move it and how far it is from the TV screen ... There's a strong whiff of voodoo about it.'" Update: 05/08 16:50 GMT by Z : Ran into a registration screen when I tried for the original article, but eldavojohn had more luck than I. The original Time article is available for reading.
Just this weekend I introduced my young niece to Mario Kart. The first thing she tried to do was move the controller around in the air to drive. It's the most natural form of control, and I think people will realise that once again when it launches in the fall. I am really looking forward to it.
It comes with two sensors that you place on the top corners of your TV. This is how it detects how far away it is. According to reports they tested damn near all types of TVs on the market and even projection screens.
I was in ROTC in college for a semester. You'd be surprised how tiring an otherwise easy motion can be when repeated. The best example I can think of is "cherry-pickers." You stand feet-apart, arms held up at shoulder-height. Lock your four fingers together and clap them against your thumbs while keeping your arms up. It's real easy at first but gets very difficult as time goes on.
We're used to button-pressing because alot of other devices require the same movement. We've adapted. Suddenly throwing in a new, repetetive movement that you like enough to perform for hours on end might just be interesting.