Miyamoto Talks Wii-mote Logic

Mr. Miyamoto, in an interview with Nintendo's .jp site, explains some of the logic behind the Wii-mote. From the Gamespot article: "In the process of contemplating how to make a controller that was not intimidating but still allowed for traditional game play, Miyamoto had this realization: 'There's no need to use both hands.' He added that the idea was to break the existing conventions a little, but not too much. 'If you go too far off the deep end, the product will be eccentric for the sake of being eccentric,' Miyamoto said."

Comments

Not much said here.

[Bones3D_mac]

Either the linked article is intentionally short, or Miyamoto didn't want to go into any great detail on the Wii-mote until after tomorrows event.

Really hoping the system gets released by next month in any case.

Re:Not much said here.

[rwven]

Regardless...the more this guy talks, the more he makes sense. He really seems to understand what gamers (and people) in general WANT out of an entertainment device. I remember when the "Wii-Mote" was first announced back before "Wii" was ever heard...people thought it was ridiculous... Until, that is, developers started showing some of the things that could be done with it. He really brought game control from a veritable stone age to the 21st century. I'm impressed...and that's saying a lot from me concerning consoles...

Major Wii information coming in about three hours

[Anonymous Coward]

Just so you all know, dramatic amounts of information about the Wii are going to be revealed in the next 24 hours, coinciding with September 14 as the fifth anniversiary of the release of the Gamecube. In about three and a half hours (5 PM pacific time or so) Nintendo of Japan will be holding a press conference, and in about fourteen and a half hours (6 AM pacific time or so) Nintendo of America will be holding another. Nintendo of Europe holds a press conference the next day. While all of this is going on, Nintendo has scheduled a bunch of "secret", by-invite-only parties in America and invited a bunch of bloggers and such, starting at the same time as the American press conference.

Something big is going down. We can expect that during all of this we'll be getting the release date and price of the Wii, and maybe some announcements about games and software.

Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo has been bragging about how they are so innovative with their controller ever since E3, but so far all they've shown is a whole bunch of stuff that is your everyday console game with some pointing control added.

Where are all of these 'innovative' games that are going to rock the console world?

Every time I see people talking about the Wii controller I think of how the questions and commentary would be different if it was the exact same controller but made by a different company. The reactions would almost certainly be completely different and negative for a company trying to sell such a gimmick.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

but so far all they've shown is a whole bunch of stuff that is your everyday console game with some pointing control added.

Compare that to your everyday console game and you'll see something 'innovative'.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[timster]

Where are all of these 'innovative' games that are going to rock the console world?

Right now, they are on the Nintendo DS.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of the games shown so far are either taking normal games and giving them crappy controls, or just glorified tech demos.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[MindStalker]

Why yes if some company just released some silly wand controller and said "It will change the face of gameplay." Yes, Yes we would laugh.
If the same company released a silly wand controller and got some 40+ games from major studios signed up to use this controller you would be hearing a different story...

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of the games shown so far are either taking normal games and giving them crappy controls, or just glorified tech demos.

Please, using your vast intellect and amazing vocabulary please explain to us lesser folks how these controls are crappy?

All I have heard is that Red Steel and Metroid have the best control set-up except for the PC (and in some cases they say that is up for debate), that Excite Truck's controls are almost as intuitive as a racing wheel, and that Madden is a ton of fun to play with the Wiimote.

As for the tech-demo comment, games like Rayman, Wiisports and Wario Ware are designed to be games that are easy to pick up and varied in playstyle; they may not be the most story driven or immersive games, but quite often this design style is more enjoyable and more worth while to play for months and years after they game is released.

I simply can't understand how someone can be so blinded that they can't see the benefit of the Wiimote; name a better (existing) controller for Tiger Woods Golf, or a better console controller for a FPS, or even just tell me how a racing game is better with an analogue stick.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[The MAZZTer]

Well let's see, first we have backwards compatibility with GameCube games. Not innovative, but it's a classic Nintendo move that is welcomed by me.

Next we have the online functionality. Again, XBox has got the N beat, but the Virtual Console is significantly different and possibly more expanded than the XBox Live download service (from what I understand at least.. I'm not an XBox user). That qualifies as innovative.

Next we have the software that goes and tries to hook all manners of people, from casual gamers, to hardcore gamers, to people who have never gamed before. THAT is most definitely innovative, or you can call it returning to our roots if you want. Although there's more to it than keeping a mix of harder and simpler games... new "gimmicks" as you call them are introduced and promise to keep gameplay fresh and exciting, I myself am looking forward to the first new and innovative control scheme I've used in a looong time.

And it's not just a pointing control. It can detect full ranges of movement. Tilt, yaw, roll, x, y, z. All six degrees of movement (at least, that's how I understand it). It has some sort of rumble or force feedback built into it, it's got the speaker, and the nunchuck attachment (or other attachment, there's pictures of a lightgun floating around). All these things seem pretty innovative to me, since they're built on a pretty innovative base to begin with, and I'm looking forward to gaming with them.

Not to mention Nintendo already has a strong software lineup which intends to make use of the new features. I'm not sure why you don't see these as innovative... A Metroid FPS which has the potential to actually have some decent aiming capabilities (something never before seen on a console, I don't care what you say, a mouse beats a traditional controller anyday for aiming. I consider the evidence that my FPS skills degrade dramatically switching from PC to console as proof enough for me). Zelda where you can swing the wiimote to swing your sword. Super Smash Bros (don't worry they're not trying wiimote controls with this, which is probably for the best). Excite Truck (hold the wiimote sideways and turn it like a steering wheel!). All seems pretty innovative to me. Then there's Mario plus a few other games I'm sure will sell like hotcakes and be fun. Because I trust Nintendo. They have earned my trust.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Thansal]

You might be right.

however the reason why it is not being thought of as a gimik is because Nintendo is saying all the right things, and showing all the right stuff to make use think that they realy are aiming for this to be a core, usable piece of equip, not some gimick (ala power glove). Combine that with the development going on over the DS at the moment and you see a company that realy is devoting itself to producing, and encouraging, inovative ideas in gaming.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"...but so far all they've shown is a whole bunch of stuff that is your everyday console game with some pointing control added."

That is not true. Look at Pilot Wings, ExciteTruck, Red Steel, Metroid, the sports pack, Wario Ware, etc. All of those games would be far different if they only used the pointer control.

"Every time I see people talking about the Wii controller I think of how the questions and commentary would be different if it was the exact same controller but made by a different company. The reactions would almost certainly be completely different and negative for a company trying to sell such a gimmick."

You're right, any other company would get poo poo'd. That, however, doesn't say a thing about the usefulness of the controller. What seperates a feature from a gimmick is how it is used. Nobody's calling a DS a gimmick anymore.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"I simply can't understand how someone can be so blinded that they can't see the benefit of the Wiimote; name a better (existing) controller for Tiger Woods Golf, or a better console controller for a FPS, or even just tell me how a racing game is better with an analogue stick."

Though I do get a sense of headdus-up-buttus from some people regarding the Wii-mote, it is fair to point out that over the years we've seen a large number of 'innovative controllers' (especially for the PC) that all quickly faded into obscurity. I don't think there has been a successful controller yet that features motion sensing or a sensor bar. Heh.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[WilliamSChips]

a better console controller for a FPS

If consoles had trackballs that would be it.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

As with the DS, developers don't really get "innovative" with hardware until after they've had it for a while. Especially in the case of the Wii. Up until the last E3, no one was really sure how the gaming public would react to the hardware. Things were pretty positive at E3, so a lot of developers that hadn't jumped on the Wii (like Ubisoft (and to an extent EA and Sega)) started to at that point.

Problem is, any one that decided to jump in last May won't have a game come out until at least next summer. So like the DS, the Wii will probably have a pretty good launch and then a dry spell for a while (the DS had about 1 game a month come out for about 4 months after launch) with the real start of the "bread and butter" games coming out almost a year after the Wii launches.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[ubergoober]

>> commentary would be different if it was the exact same controller but made by a different company

Are you kidding me? Until the last few months, all references to Nintendo were about its being a "dinosaur" and "out of the game". The fact that they've overcome the amount of bleh publicity from the Gamecube is impressive. Despite "losing" the last generation console war they've made themselves a possible frontrunner SPECIFICALLY because of their innovation.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Troll? I'm trying to explain some of the skepticism surrounding the Wii controller, not predict doom and gloom for it. I'm a foaming-at-the-mouth Nintendo fanboy. I know the Wii-mote will be cool. But I cannot blame somebody for being skeptical after all of the vaguely similar attempts at controllers over the last two decades. They're not crazy or stupid, they've just got years of history to draw from. Sorry for not making that clearer the first time around.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[nevergleam]

That doesn't change the fact that people will have positive expectations for a company only because they associate that company with the "good old days" of gaming. That's the only reason I'm pulling for them.

The truth is, Nintendo is only a possible frontrunner; all prior indications would suggest that they will be in second place at best throughout this generation. We have to go with facts from the past and not speculation about the future, and in the past, Nintendo has been the company doing everything wrong, including their licensing practices (read: alienation of third parties), to their abandonment of the CD format (read: creation of the Playstation monster). Also, saying the Nintendo DS's success is an indication of rosy prospects for the Wii is akin to saying that the GBA's success would help move Gamecube to the top of the home console hill.

Actually let's assume this logic. Let's assume that for every PS2 sold, a PS3 would be purchased and that for every GBA, DS, and Gamecube sold, a Wii would be purchased. In this case, the PS3 would outsell the Wii.

All this muck is tough to sift through, and what's going to happen is far from known. Just look at what happened in the PS1/N64/Saturn generation. That's the generation that I had to turn to two different consoles to get what I got from my beloved Super Nintendo, the generation that Japan's once most profitable corporation took a backseat to the new guys without any indication that it was going to happen.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[nullChris]

Well let's see, first we have backwards compatibility with GameCube games. Not innovative, but it's a classic Nintendo move that is welcomed by me.

Classic Nintendo move? Maybe in the handheld arena, but they've never had a console that was backwards compatible.

Next we have the online functionality. Again, XBox has got the N beat, but the Virtual Console is significantly different and possibly more expanded than the XBox Live download service (from what I understand at least.. I'm not an XBox user). That qualifies as innovative.

So you're comparing something that doesn't exist yet, to something you've never used. Yeah, that qualifies as innovative. Let me help you out here. Having a Wii version of the Opera browser, along with their control scheme appears to be somewhat innovative. Everything else appears to be the same. One handle, retro titles, and online multiplay are being pitched by all 3 systems, with one console currently in the marketplace.

Now there will be at least one Wii in my household, but judging by the leaked launch title list, I was a little disappointed. Most hands on reviews I've seen indicate the Wii controller is not as precise as everyone is hoping it to be. I'm sure they've come a LONG way from the power glove, but don't set your expectation levels so high. There looks to be a few quirky titles, but much of it looks pretty usual for a console, except controlled differently - and who knows how accurately. Let's just say, it looks like it'll be fun, but don't get out of hand with all of these unsubstantiated claims.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[grumbel]

A Metroid FPS which has the potential to actually have some decent aiming capabilities

Should be difficult to beat the auto-aim of the previous MetroidPrimes... beside that, since when was a simple improvment of "precision" innovation?

Zelda where you can swing the wiimote to swing your sword.

You must have missed all the talk about how you won't be able to swing your sword with the Wiimote, swinging sword will be done by pressing a button, swinging with Wiimote simply turned out to exhausting in testing.

Super Smash Bros (don't worry they're not trying wiimote controls with this, which is probably for the best).

Last thing I heard was that it will use the classic controller, not the Wiimote. Anyway, that game is still a long way down the road, not even remotly finished.

Excite Truck (hold the wiimote sideways and turn it like a steering wheel!).

Yeah, analog-control that doesn't auto-center, great way to increase precision... or maybe not. Free-holding steering wheels have already been their in the past, they all tanked, maybe for a good reason.

The Wiimote itself definitvly is interesting, Nintendo current lineup however for most part is build out of light-gun games, mini-game collections or games that really don't use the Wiimote for anything remotly interesting, from the reports so far, some even play a lot worse then with standard controller (Tony Hawk Downhill). So far Nintendo couldn't really impress me, the potential is there, but it also has to be used.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Lynxara]

Nitpick: how is backwards compatibility a "classic Nintendo move"? This is the first Nintendo console that will be backwards-compatible with the previous hardware generation. Nintendo's first flirtation with backwards compatibility was the Game Boy Color. They seemed uninterested in bringing backwards compatibility to consoles until Sony proved what a consumer incentive that was with the PS2. Unsurprisingly, backwards compatibility was heavily emphasized for the Game Boy Advance, which launched in Japan about a year after the PS2. They couldn't go with backwards compatibility with the GameCube because they desperately needed to get away from the N64's cartridge format, so the Wii is really their first shot at introducing it.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem I've always seen with the "It's been done before" theory is the fact that back then, games were not specifically designed to work with the controller; Nintendo has this luxury with their controller (save the developers who wish to work with the classic controller shell or whatever the alternate controller is called)

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[DDLKermit007]

Thats right. There hasn't. Every single one of them has enormious problems. The developer was small or didn't shovel enough cash into the porduct to help it succeed, no one gushed about them at an E3 type event, they were often over $200 for the device alone, and they were all add ons. The Wiimote has every single one of these bases covered. Including the part where they actually put the controler in people's hands en-mass. I even got my hands on it at E3 and I was sceptical beforehand, but I'm all for it. The second I can pre-order the Wii I'll have it paid for without hesitation Don't take my word for it though. The thing 'll likely be out by the end of October. Hell it could be out this month.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[justchris]

You are incorrect, you know.

ctually let's assume this logic. Let's assume that for every PS2 sold, a PS3 would be purchased and that for every GBA, DS, and Gamecube sold, a Wii would be purchased. In this case, the PS3 would outsell the Wii.

PS2s sold = 106 million GBAs sold = 76 milliion DSs sold = 22 million GCNs sold = 22 million

By my calculation, and using your premise as the base assumption, Wii wins by 14 million units.

Either way, you can't depend only on the past to predict the future. If that was your only indicator, England should no longer exist and we should have been on our 3rd world war about 10 years ago. History is a guideline, at best.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

All I have heard is that Red Steel and Metroid have the best control set-up except for the PC

You mean... except for something where you don't have to wave a silly stick around?

. . . that Excite Truck's controls are almost as intuitive as a racing wheel

You mean... not as good as yet another control system where you don't have to wave a silly stick around?

. . . and that Madden is a ton of fun to play with the Wiimote

You mean... even if you have to wave a silly stick around (but it's no more fun than it could've been with a controller where you didn't have to wave a silly stick around?).

Seems you've pretty much made the point yourself. Waving a silly stick around is no better than waggling silly joysticks around or pressing silly D-pads, or anything else. There's no "one size fits all" controller solution. The best controller choice varies depending on the game it is needed for. Some games will be best with a Wiimote, some with a regular controller, some with Sony's cobbled together Wiimote knockoff, some with a mouse and keyboard, some with a steering wheel, and so on.

Can we please get over the fanboyish Wiimote worship and admit it ain't all it is cracked up to be?

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[mrchaotica]

Zelda where you can swing the wiimote to swing your sword.

You must have missed all the talk about how you won't be able to swing your sword with the Wiimote, swinging sword will be done by pressing a button, swinging with Wiimote simply turned out to exhausting in testing.

I've seen videos of people swinging the Wiimote in Red Steel; if the method is okay for that game, why wouldn't it be okay for Zelda too?

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[AvitarX]

Red Steel looks to primarly be an FPS with sword fight style bosses.

Note, this is from the trailer.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[grumbel]

I've seen videos of people swinging the Wiimote in Red Steel; if the method is okay for that game, why wouldn't it be okay for Zelda too?

The first demo that was shown of Red Steels sword fighting extremly primitive, kind of like the knife minigames in ResidentEvil-DS, ie. you have a handfull of predefined swings that you can trigger, nothing else. Neither your own sword or the enemy reacts in an remotly realistic fashion, in fact the enemy looks like its being pinned to the screen, so if you move, the enemy moves as well, which looks really kind of stupid.

After the bad press the first demo got the developers decided to rework it completly, not sure how far they got with that or if what was shown at the GamesConvention was the old demo or the new stuff, since it looked terrible I can only hope it was the old one. So far no good sword fighting as been seen on Wii in action.

Anyway, this is just one example that shows that dreams about what Wii could be and what the Wii actually will be can be far appart. How it really turns out we have to wait, but I really wouldn't get my hopes to high, especially not for first generation games.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[grumbel]

Troll? I'm trying to explain some of the skepticism surrounding the Wii controller

Yes, thats why you got modded 'Troll', skepticism of the Wiimote isn't welcome here, only pointless hype is, at least that the impression I got from all the postings in the past that tried to critically comment on the Wiimote.

In the end we simply have to wait and see, so far it seems nobody had real hands-on experince with it, sure, plenty of people had their five minutes with it on E3, but you can't really judge either the game or the controller in that time. So it will be interesting to see how it will be if we got the first reports of somebody having at least a few hours with the Wiimote.

Anyway, one thing I am reasonably sure of is that in the long run the controller simply won't matter, it really never did for anything in the past. The games are what matters. Even the Wiimote doesn't have the power to turn a boring game into a great one, yet great games are still possible with good old standard controllers. So if Nintendo fails to deliver the right games, the Wiimote will simply end up being wasted potial, it of course could also end up opening a new style of game, but for that it really has to be used right and so far I don't think anybody really has figured out yet how to do so.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[aichpvee]

One handle, retro titles, and online multiplay are being pitched by all 3 systems, with one console currently in the marketplace.

xbox 360 has one-handed control? I guess that only counts for DOA Volleyball, right? I don't remember seeing one-handed play (officially, there was that "RPG" controller for PSX) on any PlayStation/PLAYSTATION either, unless you count the microphone or playing EyeToy with your hand behind your back.

Other consoles have "retro" titles, but only Nintendo has the Nintendo back catalog. I'm still not convinced that online play is that big of a deal for consoles (as far as moving units), otherwise xbox would have sold a lot better than it did. I know I don't care personally. Playing occasionally with friends would probably be fun, but the rest of the time it's just 12-year-olds with nothing better to do than be lame. I'll pass.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[AlexanderDitto]

Can we please get over the fanboyish Wiimote worship and admit it ain't all it is cracked up to be?

Can we please wait until the thing is freakin' RELEASED before we start passing our judgement on it, positive or negative? Heck, we don't even know the PRICE yet, and people are still condemning it as crap or praising it as platinum.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean... except for something where you don't have to wave a silly stick around?

No, he means that waving around a silly stick is almost as good as pushing around a silly box.

You mean... not as good as yet another control system where you don't have to wave a silly stick around?

No, he means better then pushing around a silly stick while holding a silly box in your hands, but worse then having a big silly torus in your lap.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[arose]

Should be difficult to beat the auto-aim of the previous MetroidPrimes... beside that, since when was a simple improvment of "precision" innovation?

Are you telling me that mouse pointing is not innovative because you could contorol the cursor with movement keys, albeit less precise?

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[nekura]

One handle = having a persistent name across all games (see gamertags on Xbox Live), not one-handed gameplay.

Re:Where Is The Innovation?

[nullChris]

You know, it just didn't occur to me that one-handed game play would be the first thing thought of when speaking of the universal handle.

Re:Wii will

[Anonymous Coward]

Wii will mod you up as "funny"

No Waii

Big announcements coming up

[Wind_Walker]

I'm surprised that we didn't get this information in the original post. Nintendo is holding three press conferences tomorrow - one in Japan, one in the US, and one in Europe. The Japan conference is actually happening today at 8:00 pm EDT when you account for timezones. The US conference is in New York at 9:00 am EDT.

It's expected that Nintendo will release launch specifics, including price and launch date, for the three regions during their respective press conferences. This is big big Nintendo news. Personally I'm hoping for a $199 pricepoint with pack-in Wiimote, nunchuk controller, and Wii Sports.

Check out gaming sites (Kotaku is a good one, or any mainstream one like IGN or Gamespot) for breaking news from Japan tonight - I'm sure they'll be up and reporting the Japanese press conference as it happens. Plus those sites don't pull the sensationalistic "get page impressions at any cost" crap that Joystiq does.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[revlayle]

Hell, if they pack in extras... i'll go up to $250 myself. But, hopefully $199-$219 for the base system.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Suddenly_Dead]

Check out gaming sites (Kotaku is a good one, or any mainstream one like IGN or Gamespot) for breaking news from Japan tonight - I'm sure they'll be up and reporting the Japanese press conference as it happens. Plus those sites don't pull the sensationalistic "get page impressions at any cost" crap that Joystiq does.

Kotaku was right beside Joystiq with that stupid IBM chip production pre-announcement.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Adam Whisnant]

The actual editors just said

Expect to hear some kinda interesting news about a very interesting upcoming console at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday...
While I'm sure you will all find it endlessly fascinating, in the end it really won't get you any closer to the news most people want to know.

The people commenting on it were the ones that hyped it so much. Can't really blame the site itself for that.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[StocDred]

Yes, they mentioned the midnight announcement and - in the same story - declared that it was not going to be anything major. Not hyped at all.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Suddenly_Dead]

While I'm sure you will all find it endlessly fascinating, in the end it really won't get you any closer to the news most people want to know.

I mean, that's not as unhyped as you think it is. It was mostly the people commenting on it and acting like rabid... rabid people, but I'm just saying. They're none of them innocent of some of this.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[7Prime]

If this were any other console, I'd be VERY surprised if they bundled a game on launch, which they haven't done since the SNES days, and even then, it was intermitant. The GameCube got a few later in it's life, but not at launch, and the N64 didn't at all, to my knowledge.

However, this is a very different beast, and Nintendo wants to make SURE, if at all possible, that the users first experience with the Wiimote is a positive one, with them at the helm. Wii Sports isn't exactly a "hot" title, although it went over VERY well with players at E3 as a first time demo for the Wiimote. It's exactly the kind of title Nintenod WOULD bundle with their consoles, one that probably won't sell all that well, doesn't have any kind of following, but works as a fun demo, and incentive to see their console really in action. The more I think about it, the chances of it being bundled are pretty good.

Wiimote and nunchuk, almost gaurenteed. What console has ever been launched without a controller in the box? And the nunchuck probably comes with the Wiimote if bought separately

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Wind_Walker]

Can't really blame the site itself for that.

Sure you can, when the original poster of the "tease" and the final reveal (Robert Summa, who has since left Joystiq) was trolling the thread for the hours between the tease and the reveal. He kept encouraging people, giving clues, saying "Some people got it right" and "It has something to do with three letters" and egging the people on. He also made it sound like a Joystiq exclusive when it clearly wasn't.

He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew that it wouldn't live up to the hype, but he kept hyping it anyways. Kotaku posted that there would be information at Midnight, that it wasn't going to be major, and then left it at that.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Wind_Walker]

Later on the N64 did have bundles - I distinctly remember seeing Pokemon Stadium bundles in a few Best Buys, but again that was years after the launch of the console.

And you're exactly right on the reasons why Wii Sports should be bundled with the system - the graphics are simplistic, they're essentially mini-games... but they are perfect at showing off the possibilities of the new control scheme. They're the perfect "get Mom and Dad into the action" games as well as "hey, dude, come try this" attention-grabbers when friends come over. I honestly don't expect to see Wii Sports flying off shelves if it's $50 - hell, even if it were $30 I'd think twice about it.

As for the nunchuk comments, maybe I'm just holding on to the old terminology of the Wii, where the Wii-mote was the "controller" and everything else including the nunchuk were "attachments". Since then, every game I can think of except Wii Sports has required the nunchuk attachment. Something Nintendo could do (thought it would ruin their recent positive press streak) would be to have the nunchuk as a separate purchase, like the DVD Dongle for Xbox. Obviously I'm hoping for everything bundled for less than $250, but I also know how the world works.

Here's to hoping that it'll all be cleared up in 75 minutes.

Re:Big announcements coming up

[Wind_Walker]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll be buying one of these on launch day (and at least 3 games for it) even if it costs my first born son. If Nintendo launches with what I said above (Console, Wii Sports, controller/nunchuk) for $199 then they will have cemented their place in this generation.

Last one off Slashdot, turn out the lights...

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

It seems we're regularly seeing "pre-annoucement" hype on Slashdot these days. A day or two ago the forthcoming Apple announcement was a topic; today its some random crap from the Wii guy a day before a big Wii announcement.

Anyone know a better site to get the kind of science and tech news we used to get from Slashdot without all the crap about consumer electronics?

Re:Last one off Slashdot, turn out the lights...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ehhumm, remove the Games and Apple section from your front page? Problem solved? Games defaults to showing only a link to the article rather than the full blurb anyways; I'm sure no one forced you into clicking on this one.

Re:Last one off Slashdot, turn out the lights...

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone know a better site to get the kind of science and tech news we used to get from Slashdot without all the crap about consumer electronics?

Hello,

I have been reading Slashdot regularly for about eight years now, and I have no idea what you're talking about.

This place has been consumer electronics obsession central for as long as I get here, and the science reporting has always been only barely coherent. Friviolity is the soul of slashdot. Hell, back in the early days, we used to regularly get entire stories where CmdrTaco would just post something like "say, did anybody see the X-Files last night? That was a really interesting episode. What did you think about it?". These days it's more often blog posts than tv shows, but the effect is the same. About the only real difference over time is that these days we don't get as many stories that exist solely to gossip about the day-to-day actions of prominent Linux developers.

Cynic

[CrazyJim1]

I like the Wii mote, its so bad.

Re:Cynic

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry about the other guy, I got your reference :)

"There's no need to use both hands"

[stormy24]

Nintendo Wii - Finally servicing the demands of pr0n gamers.

Re:"There's no need to use both hands"

[webmistressrachel]

I don't think this is a troll - it's funny and not at all confrontational - Mods fix it please!

Re:Wii will

[Anonymous Coward]

o rli?

Re:Major Wii information coming in about three hou

[RyoShin]

Nice to see that someone else mentioned that.

The Japanese one is tonight? Hot damn! I thought it was tomorrow, and that the three were taking place at the same time (but technically on different days, thanks to time zones).

Joystiq and Websense

[modeless]

Yeah, well Joystiq still isn't cagegorized as "Games" by Websense, so it's one of the few decent game news sites I can still visit at work. I wonder how much extortion money Weblogs, Inc. pays Websense every month...

Wii Egg

[Spookticus]

I think it would be an awesome easter egg if they released duck hunt from the NES built into the console, kinda like what sega did with the master system and the maze game. I would love to shoot some ducklings with my wii gun.

Re:Wii Egg

[Bones3D_mac]

Something like this might not be outside the realm of possibility. If you look at the Xbox 360, the system came with a copy of Hexic pre-installed in the Live arcade section by default.

Re:Wii Egg

[Headcase88]

"I think it would be an awesome easter egg if they released duck hunt from the NES built into the console"

You know what Nintendo would think would be even more awesome? Selling Duck Hunt in exchange for money =D

Re:Wii Egg

[Bobartig]

This conflicts with the duck hunt remake they've been showing off already. although its not yet clear how/when they'll release that.

Re:Wii Egg

[markimusk]

Yeah awsome alright! For something from 1985 that you could have played for the last 21 years! Everyday if you were so inclined.

I don't get why people are so hyped about playing old games when they are all still readily available in thier native form...

just me I guess...

Re:Wii Egg

[The Warlock]

But they're not always readily avaliable. You need to go through eBay, which can be risky, and some of the rarer ones (ever try tracking down a copy of FFT, or Radiant Silvergun, or Lunar II, or Panzer Dragoon Saga, or...) go for big monies.

Re:Major Wii information coming in about three hou

[0olong]

Uh huh, something big is going down... like what? An extra special pinku edition? Unless it involves at least four mean motherfuckin' horsemen I doubt I'll be losing any sleep over it.

Re:How many times do wii have to say it?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Wii're not interested in all these Wiivertisements..."

I'm not interested in FireFox, but I don't bitch about FF stories. Wanna know what I do instead? If you click on the scrollbar and give it a little nudge downards, the Wii story will disappear.

On a side note: The Wii-mote could provide similar functionality. :P

This Wiimote will never work

[WillAffleckUW]

For one thing, it's not incredibly big and requires that I memorize long strings and remapped control sequences.

Secondly, it's intuitive and fun.

Thirdly, it's white. I mean, white is death in Japan, right?

OK, maybe they'll sell it in hot pink or pikachu electric yellow, but right now it's white.

So, give me those incredibly complicated controllers that I have to keep being told "No, the left button, not the left toggle!" by my son.

Oh, and don't throw me into that briar patch either!

Wii Price, Launch Date Revealed -- Its here

[dcapel]

Breaking info:

September 13, 2006 - According to an article at the Seattle PI that is reporting on an article in the New York Times, Nintendo plans to announce the Wii will debut in North and South America on November 19 for $250.

  Thursday's announcement should also reveal that Nintendo plans to provide gamers with more than 25 new titles for the Wii this year.

  The NYT reports that every Wii will include Wii Sports. Additional games for the Wii are reportedly priced at $50 each. About 30 classic downloadable Virtual Console games should be available this year and will cost about $5-$10 each.

  The Wii will also include a "Photo Channel" which will allow users to use their Wii to share digital photos via their television. In addition there will be news and weather channels.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732669p1.html

These guys learn their lessons well.

[MrCopilot]

If you go too far off the deep end, the product will be eccentric for the sake of being eccentric,' Miyamoto said."

You mean like the Virtual boy?

Re:These guys learn their lessons well.

[kyouteki]

So, in other words, Nintendo learned its lesson.