No - the title of this post is not a typo. Nintendo have released the name of their new baby that will compete with the might of the X-Box 360, and the Playstation 3. “Wii”. It means “we”, and gives a hint of the direction Nintendo are coming from.
I think it’s an inspired marketing idea. While Sony and Microsoft slug it out to be the biggest, fastest, most clever console, Nintendo are taking no notice at all. It’s not just about the architecture of the hardware either… it’s about the way the machine will be used too.
The controller of the Wii is very different than anything we have seen before - the base unit knows exactly where the controller is in space. Think about it - the controller can be the handle of any bat, any raquet, any device. A torch. A sword. A fishing rod. A lightsaber.
While Nintendo are busy inventing games that are going to be fun to play, Sony and Microsoft are busy trying to make shooting, driving, and sport games that look just a little bit more real than the last ones they made, but are in reality exactly the same games all over again.
(I’m not disguising the fact that I like Nintendo at all here, am I).