You are probably wondering why have I grouped “Wii Fit” and “Wii Sports” together for the 14 spot. Well, I think they are part of the same group of games or experience which I refer as a “Mainstream accessible interactive sport experiences”. Without “Wii Sports” would “Wii Fit” be accepted as a gaming experience? They go hand to hand as “Wii Sports” was free title included with “Wii” to wet people’s appetite for causal interactive experiences. What’s so clever with these titles isn’t actually everyone to play these games but the simple fact that they can actually understand/relate to what’s going on screen.The real innovation isn’t just the concept as this idea has been
attempted so many times throughout the years (failing each time) but Nintendo’s approach and subtleties that make these games work so well filled with simple interface design, accessible control schemes, diversity of gameplay modes, etc. This is the very beginning of this type of games and stereotypically gamers dislike these games labelling them “casual experiences” and not "games". But without these titles; do you think “Wii” would be so successful? I think not, I look forward to see what Nintendo does next with their subgenre of casual gaming with “Wii Music” and “Wii Sports 2” which will no doubt turn to gold with millions of sales.13 . Miis and Wii channels (2006: Wii)
This is another factor why I believe “Wii” was so successful, Nintendo invested on having software/functions which can be used straight out of the box without extra cost making it both acceptable and affordable for everyone. Whereas Microsoft has spend their money on their dashboard interface for the overwhelming freedom of choice for a download content heaven for hardcore gamers, Nintendo chosen the opposite with a simple I-pod accessible interface where less is more, focusing on simple easy to understand functions of channels such as “Mii Channel”, “Photo Channel”, “Wii Shop Channel”, “Forecast Channel”, and “News Channel”, etc.“Miis” creation via the “Mii channel” was Nintendo’s own t
ake on avatars which have been previously successful with PC gaming experiences like “IMVU” and “Second Life” showing that this can be done within the console space proving very popular. Typically with almost every great Nintendo innovation, other players in the battlefield shamelessly copy it, with Sony’s “Home” which you could argue is more inspired by “Second life”, but Microsoft’s avatar approach is very much directly inspired by Nintendo’s “Miis”. Yet again like “Wii sports” and “Wii Fit” (position 14) it’s not the concept that’s the innovation but the Nintendo’s execution with simple understanding of “Less is more” and approachable simple designed interface for anyone to use and understand.12. Nintendo Wii and the Wii Remote (2006)
You could argue that the “Wii” console belongs with interface design of the “Miis” and “Wii channels” with position 13 but I believe they are two different things as “Miis” are software within the console, here I’m stating another innovation with console and the controller design (Wii remote and Nunchuck) embracing their continuous conquest for less is more, towards accessibility over game depth. The controller setup is in a way the first step towards making VR mainstream with early gaming notions of motion detection, it be interesting to see how they take this to the next step with “Wii 2”. Yet again, the competition copied this approach with Sony’s SIXAXIS controller featuring motion detection as desperate afterthought for a checklist controller feature. Nintendo has shown that motion detection is the future being the first to be successful with this approach of controller interactivity and I bet that all competition will implement this feature as standard with the next generation of consoles.11. Animal Crossing (2002: Nintendo Gamecube)
“Animal Crossing” is another unique title which is hard to define within a specific genre just like “Pikmin”, Nintendo describes as “Family communications game” whereas many gamers describe it as “alternative life/ life simulation” game like “Sims” or “Second Life” which sucks your life with it’s addictive nature. This game creates a great sense of achievement with everything you do within game as has consequences affecting the game world around you but also the simple fact that does this with such personality and charm reflected by the unique villagers/animals (NPCs) within the village. This game gives a sense of dependency for you (making you feel wanted) as the game encourages you to play daily to maintain the village and this is how you create artificial bond with the village and village
rs as you spend so much time creating this village/world around you.Innovation within this game is not just the design of the game world interactions but with the use of the “Gamecube” hardware and other Nintendo peripherals to emulate this, such as use of the Gamecube’s internal clock and calendar for real time events like “Halloween”, “Xmas” and even your birthday, use of the Gamecube’s “Card E-reader” (which I was going include this list but it had minimal impact on industry overall) where you could upload new items via physical cards to the game, use of connectivity to the “Game boy advance” to play AC on your GBA, etc, the list goes on. The innovation with this game also lies with the fact that everyone that plays this game plays it for a different reason creating their own experience finding their own unique elements of gameplay. This is why “Animal crossing” has proved to be both truly inspirational and innovative making it very popular, with the 3rd in the series coming to “Wii”.
End of part two - Written by: Jonesy
1 comment:
I like Animal Crossing on the Gamecube, I think the only thing that was missing was the online connectivity of the DS one. But I guess that’s where the upcoming Wii one comes in...
And regarding Wii Fit and Wii Sports, I think that did more to the public perception of video games, rather than change the industry. Although you can argue they are the same thing.
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