Understanding the Wii Console

Understanding the Wii Console

The Nintendo Wii has been released in some countries but other countries are still awaiting the local release of the consoles and software. Earlier Nintendo released information about the prices and projected delivery dates of the Nintendo Wii consoles. The majority of the initial units produced were released in the Americas and most software was to be available there initially, too. Despite the preparations, there was still a shortage of console units when they were released.

Initially, the game console was named Revolution but eventually it was changed to Wii. They omitted the brand name Nintendo to simplify the name. This is the first time, outside Japan, that Nintendo did not include their company name in the trademark. There were some negative reactions when the name was announced but Nintendo only intensified advertising and promotions of the Wii console.

Wii Statistics

The Nintendo Wii console is so far the smallest console for homes. It is also the lightest video game console available among the major names in the video gaming industry. The console can be placed vertically or horizontally in consideration of space. Several features of the Nintendo Wii console are the capacity to load both the Wii Optical Discs and the Nintendo Game Cube Game Discs. The console has WiiConnect24 that enables information transfer. There are also a couple of USB ports at the rear of the Wii console. An SD card slot is at the front of the console and it can be used to upload photos and music. It can also be used to save back up for games and to download Virtual Console games.  

Wii Colors

The Wii console comes in different colors although; at the moment it is just in white. The Wii Remote color usually corresponds with the Wii console it comes with. The other soon to be available colors are red, green, silver and black. Previously, the Wii Remote which was presented at E3 2006 came in a light blue color.

The Wii console comes with a Wii Remote that uses a combination of accelerometers and infrared detection to sense the console's position in 3D space. This allows the players to control the game using gestures along with the traditional buttons. The controller connects to the Wii console using Bluetooth while the Wii Remote connects to other devices using a port at the bottom part of the Wii console. Nintendo has bundled the Wii console with a Nunchuck unit that has an accelerometer and analog stick with trigger buttons. A wrist strap accompanies the Wii Remote to avoid it being dropped or thrown by the player while playing. Some straps have been known to fail and Nintendo offers a better replacement strap for free.

Tags: Wii Console