Nintendo Wii
The Nintendo Wii (pronounced "we") is Nintendo's seventh-generation video game console.Previously known by its project code name of Revolution, it is the successor to the Nintendo GameCube and competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
A distinguishing feature of the Wii console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which may be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions.
More about the launch
The console was known by the codename of "Revolution" until immediately prior to E3 2006. According to the Nintendo Style Guide: A Guide to the Proper Usage of Some of Nintendo's Products, the name "is simply Wii, not Nintendo Wii." This means it is the first home console Nintendo has marketed outside of Japan without the company name featured prominently in its trademark. Nintendo spells "Wii" with two "i"s to imply an image of players gathering together, as well as to represent the console's controllers. The company has given many reasons for this choice of name since the announcement; however, the most well known is:
Despite Nintendo's justification for the name, members of the press, online communities, and game developers initially reacted negatively to the name change. Some "wish Nintendo had stuck with 'Revolution'," pointed out phonetic similarities to the French word oui and mostly negative words in English, or expressed "fear that the name would convey a continued sense of 'kidiness' [sic] to the console." Reggie Fils-Aime acknowledged the initial reaction and further explained the change:
Nintendo defends its choice of "Wii" over "Revolution" and suggests to that those who dislike the name: "live with it, sleep with it, eat with it, move along with it."
Hardware
The Wii Remote is a one-handed controller that uses a combination of accelerometers and infrared detection (from an array of LED's inside the sensor bar) to sense its position in 3D space. This allows users to control the game using physical gestures as well as traditional button presses. The controller connects to the Wii console using Bluetooth, and features force feedback, 4KB non-volatile memory and an internal speaker. The controller can connect to other devices through a proprietary port at the base of the controller.
Perhaps the most important of these is the Nunchuk unit, which features an accelerometer and a traditional analog stick with two trigger buttons.
Technical specifications
Nintendo itself has released few technical specifics regarding the Wii console, but some key facts have leaked to the press. Known details include:
The Wii console is backward compatible with all Nintendo GameCube software and most GameCube peripherals. This backwards compatibility is achieved with the help of the slot-loading drive being able to accept GameCube discs, and a set of four GameCube controller ports and two Memory Card slots, concealed by flip-open panels. A GameCube controller is required to play GameCube games, as neither the Wii Remote nor the Classic Controller will function in this capacity. Nintendo has stated that the Wii console is not compatible with the GameCube modem adapter, broadband adapter, Game Boy Player, AV cable, or AC adaptor.
Parental controls
The console features parental controls, prohibiting younger users from playing games with content considered unsuitable for their age level. When a disc is inserted, it reads the content rating encoded on the game discs; if this rating is greater than the system's set age level the game will not load without a correct override password. However, the parental controls setting does not affect GameCube games.