Design Principles of the Nintendo Wii
The minimisation of information content and delaying the product customisation steps of the Wii console has enabled it to appeal to a broad market with both quality and price. Retailing at £176.19
(Wii Console, 2009) the Wii console is the cheapest out of its competitors, and this report will analyse how this factor plus its quality has enabled it to be the most successful console on sale in the last three years
(Schoenberger, 2008, para 2).
Minimise information content of the design
Figure 1: Nintendo Wii remote and nun chuck
(Wii Controller, 2009)
The simplistic design of Nintendo Wii’s controller has improved the overall quality as it displayed unique diversity within gaming. Conveniently shaped like a TV remote, it boasts only nine buttons on the main controller and three on the nun chuck (see Figure 1) compared to the sixteen and eighteen on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 respectively. This is due to the use of motion control, in the form of a three-axis accelerometer (a motion sensor that can detect the angle it is being held at and how fast it can be used
(Fact file: The Wii, 2006)). This opened the Wii up to an original market than its competitors as users were able to play games without the need of excessive information. A good example would be ‘Wii Sports’ where games such as golf only require the user to hold the controller, press a single button and ‘swing’ like a golf club. Compare this to ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08’, on XBOX 360 where the user must select the power, pitch, and spin using a variety of different buttons and it is apparent to see the obvious flaw here. My mother, a 48 year old woman who before the Wii had never played a console in her life, found herself throughly enjoying a game of golf where normally she would never get involved . More impressively, the controller retails at £29.39
(Wii Remote, 2009) and with XBOX 360 controllers retailing at £31.99
(XBOX 360 Wireless Controller, 2009), and Sony Playstation 3’s retailing at £34.99
(Sony PS3 Official Dualshock 3 controller, 2009), it is the cheapest within close competitors. This is due to Infra-red motion control being a relatively cheap technology and enables the removal of many costly functions of a standard controller and thus, allowing the manufacturing costs to be significantly decreased.
Furthermore, the multi-adaptive nature of the Wii remote is constantly improving the quality and utility. In February 2008, ‘New Scientist’ released an article on how the Wii remote was being tested on military robots used for diffusing bombs
(Marks, 2008). Although the XBOX 360 controller has been used in the military to fly helicopter sniper robots
(Good, 2009), the precision the infra-red motion control supplies provides potential for future projects, that the XBOX 360 controller may not be able to provide . This potential multiplicity alone significantly improves the quality of any product.
Delay Product Customisations Steps
The Nintendo Wii adds convenience to the user using a variety of hardware within their console to link other devices; improving the quality by being both cost affective and time saving. With an inbuilt Wi-Fi connection, for online gaming, and
WiiConnect24 that allows the console to remain connected to the internet whilst on standby
(WiiConnect24, 2009), updates can be downloaded whilst the user is away from the console, inevitably saving time. Additionally, unlike its rivals, no accessory is required to connect to the internet, such as an Ethernet cable or wireless adapter, saving any extra expense. Although the price of this technology is expensive compared to the Ethernet ports both the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 installed, Nintendo recoup this by using a cheaper processor and graphics card than its rivals
(How much does the Wii really cost?, n.d.) ; relying on simplistic game play to sell their console.
Moreover, complete backwards compatibility at no extra cost with the
GameCube has provided another effective element to the console. Playstation 3 only offer full backward compatibility at the extra expense of £44.59
(Playstation 3 with 40GB Hard Disc Drive, 2009)( Playstation 3 with 80GB Hard Disc Drive, 2009), and XBOX 360 requires the latest updates and, even then, can only play 478 of its previous game titles (around 51%)
(XBOX 360 Backwards Compatibility, n.d.). This improves quality by providing the user with an option of a broader gaming market, without the need to charge for the privilege.
Conclusion
In my opinion, it is clear that these design principles were key to the Wii’s success. Its simplistic nature tackled the previously untouched market of families and non-gamers. Couple this with the current recession, and the Wii console, being the cheapest on the market, seems the logical investment.
References
Fact file: The Wii. (2006, November 17). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6155664.stm
How much does the Wii really cost?. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the My Wii website:
http://www.mywii.com.au/NewsDetail.aspx?id=153
Marks, P. (2008, March 27). Wii and iPhone to help military control freaks. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the New Scientist website:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19726495.800-wii-and-iphone-to-help-military-control-freaks.html
Playstation 3 with 40GB Hard Disc Drive. (2009). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5686917/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CVideo+games%7C10199869/c_2/2%7Ccat_10199869%7CPlaystation+3%7C10199878/c_3/3%7Ccat_10199878%7CPlaystation+3+console%7C10199883.htm?cmpid=GG05X&kwmid=7302577&kmcid=2371846596&match_type
Playstation 3 with 80GB Hard Disc Drive. (2009). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5666786/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CVideo+games%7C10199869/c_2/2%7Ccat_10199869%7CPlaystation+3%7C10199878/c_3/3%7Ccat_10199878%7CPlaystation+3+console%7C10199883.htm?cmpid=GG05X&kwmid=6800475&kmcid=2371856136&match_type
Schoenberger, C.R. (2008, December 1). Wii's Future In Motion. Retrieved May 1, 2009, from the Forbes website:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/28/nintendo-wii-wii2-tech-personal-cz-cs-1201wii.html
Sony PS3 Official Dualshock 3 controller. (2009). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/catalogId/1500001501/partNumber/5660830.htm
WiiConnect24. (2009, April 10). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from the Wikipedia website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiiConnect24#cite_note-wii_online_details-0
Wii Console. (2009). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5683257.htm?cmpid=GG05X&kwmid=7286528&kmcid=2507649576&match_type=
Wii Controller. (2009). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the Amazon website:
http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/videogames/detail-page/B000IMYKQ0-1-lg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Nunchuk-Controller-nintendo/dp/B000IMYKQ0&usg=__441lVG8lJgVOhkNWX0QXbztufls=&h=700&w=434&sz=21&hl=en&start=29&um=1&tbnid=Vaxbn9r_Vd2AEM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwii%2Bremote%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1
Wii Remote. (2009). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5683594/Trail/searchtext%3EWII.htm
XBOX 360 Backwards Compatibility. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2009, from the Giant Bomb website:
http://www.giantbomb.com/xbox-360-backwards-compatibility/92-2132/
XBOX 360 Wireless Controller. (2009). Retrieved April 30, 2009, from the Argos website:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5679261/Trail/searchtext%3EXBOX.htm
