The Nintendo Wii's mass appeal has made it popular with children, teens, and adults. The system does not have a large variety of games like the Xbox 360, however the Wii makes up for the lack of games by introducing the fit factor into the video game world. When I speak of the "fit factor" I am referencing the WiiPlay, WiiFit, Wii Sports games that can be played on the console. These games require physical interaction by all players and help maintain a healthy lifestyle by providing the player with excercise.
New games representing Nintendo's flagship franchises, including The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Pokémon, and Metroid, have been released, or are in development for Wii, in addition to many original titles and third party developed games. Nintendo has received strong third party support from prominent companies like Ubisoft, Sega, Square Enix, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Capcom, with more games being developed exclusively for Wii than for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.
The main difference the Wii has is the unique wireless controller, the Wii Remote, that can be used as a pointing device that detects movement in three dimensions (uses accelerometers and infrared detection to sense its position in 3D space when pointed at the LEDs). The Wii Remote can also be inserted into various accessories that allow the gamer to use movements in games that mimic real life. For example, there is a Wii tennis racket that the Wii Remote can be inserted into which gives the gamer a feel as if they were really playing tennis. To avoid the remote coming out of the players hand, the Wii Remote has a strap on the end that is worn around the players wrist.
The Wii is unique in the fact that instead of losing money on each console sold like Microsoft & Sony, Nintendo made around $49 per console sold in the United States. The Wii has out sold both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in the United States, Canada, and most other countries. According to Nintendo sales figures released in March of 2009, the Nintendo Wii has surpassed 50 million units worldwide. The Wii Menu operating system interface is designed around the concept of television channels. Separate channels are graphically displayed in a grid and are navigated using the pointer capability of the Wii Remote. It is possible to change the arrangement by holding down the A and B buttons to grab channels and move them around.
There are six primary channels: the Disc Channel, Mii Channel, Photo Channel, Wii Shop Channel, Forecast Channel, and News Channel. The latter two were initially unavailable at launch, but activated through firmware updates. Additional channels are available for download from the Wii Shop Channel through WiiWare and also appear with each Virtual Console title. These include the Everybody Votes Channel, Internet Channel, Check Mii Out Channel, and the Nintendo Channel. The console features parental controls, which can be used to prohibit younger users from playing games with content that would be considered unsuitable for their age level. When one attempts to play a Wii or Virtual Console game, it reads the content rating encoded in the game data; if this rating is greater than the system's set age level the game will not load without a correct override password. The parental controls can also restrict Internet access, which blocks the Internet Channel and system update features.
- The WiiConnect allows the console to receive messages and updates while in standby mode.
- The Nintendo Wii can play all GameCube games, similar systems like the xbox 360 do not have the capability to play all their predecessors games.
- Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side
- The Wii Series of games have sold around 80 millino copies