Earthling

I've been wrong about so many things, and judging by my experience with it so far, you can add the Wii to the list. Before E3 when I heard about what Nintendo was doing, I thought it was too silly to work in this country. Will we all really be waving motion-sensitive controllers around in the air, and waving them like we just don't care? I couldn't see it. It seemed too foreign to the living rooms I know, and their inhabitants. But somewhere between playing with the Wii myself and seeing others interact with it, the vision of Americans having a great time looking like fools waving white sticks around in front of the tv started to come into focus. I can see it now. And what's more, in an era when no one seems all that excited about a set of new consoles that feel like version 1.5 of the old consoles, the Wii feels like something completely new. It's a different experience, and quirky enough to make you want to own it even if you buy another console.

Wii Controllers, including the remote, the nunchaku("nunchucks"), and the new zapper

The photos you see above are sterile and futuristic-looking, but I just wanted you to see the hardware first. Next I'll upload some photos of people using the thing, including me.

The first thing I saw was a demonstration where they had two professional drummers in the center of a circular stage showing how easy and fun it is to play air drums with the new controllers. It was like Blue Man Group without the makeup, or Stomp without the, um, pretense. Can playing air drums be considered a "video game"? In today's gaming landscape crowded with first-person shooters, sports franchise games, and adventure stories, I'd forgotten to think about it that way, but of course it can. Even if I'm not a drummer and have no interest in becoming one or honing my drumming skills, I could still have a blast with a couple of sticks that work like drums. It's just like the appeal of Guitar Hero -- it empowers you to do something that you'd otherwise have no way to play around with.

Did they look stupid? No, they looked like they were having a good time. The expressions on people's faces playing with the Wii reminded me of how kids look when they are out riding bikes. It made me smile goofily to myself to see others having such fun.

This guy's smile is so broad you can even see it from this angle...

..and he's a pro drummer who does this all the time with real drums and he's *still* having a good time.

The next thing I saw was people playing Wii tennis.

Notice how they stand at ready position as if they were playing real tennis. The Nintendo folks explained that the system is adaptable to many different styles of play. If you want an intense, physical experience alomst like a workout, you can stand up like these people are doing. Or if you want a more relaxed, low-energy experience, you can sit on your sofa and just move your hands around gently. The games will play well either way.

...and topspin and backspin work.

Next, I got to play some Wii myself, with guidance and explanation from Derrick Aynaga, Producer in EA's Wii division. Derrick showed me the new EA Madden NFL 07 football game in development for the Wii. The Madden games have been around for a long time (since 1990, depending on how you count it). Although the title has evolved slowly over time into the complete football game that it is now, without the Wii there really wasn't anywhere new for the game to go in my opinion. Having a new, freer way to control the action breathes some new life into a franchise that had been more about refinement than innovation in the past few years.

The Wii managed to make kicking in Madden fun

Aynaga explained that through testing, his group learned that users didn't like to learn a pre-set group of gestures or movements, and after going part way down that path, decided to re-focus on making the game work no matter what you decide to do with your hands. For example, to kick on a field goal attempt, you can swing your arm up or down or sideways. The game will work right with all of those gestures. I asked how that affects game development. He said they had to conceive of the whole galaxy of possible gestures people might want to make, and create a common language and visual library for all of them. They created an internal set of names and library of video clips in order to communicate about this new form of game control.

This is the kind of thinking that makes me believe they are serious about bringing gaming to non-gamers. I asked Aynaga if Nintendo had created any standards for the way game developers should implement use of the controllers, and he said that it's pretty much anything goes. They have put those decisions in the hands of each game studio. Based on the games on display at E3, it seemed like the studios were putting some good thinking into the best way to use the controller for each individual title.

To control the Madden game, Aynaga had me use a combination of a remote control-like device, and a stick with a trigger on it. I used a wired version, but there is also a wireless set of controllers. They were very responsive, and I didn't see any issues with them picking up my movements quickly. It was all very fluid. The remote also has a pointer that works sort of like a laser pointer, which I used to choose plays in the game.

The pointer functionality had some issues when I first started with the demo(it didn't appear on screen), but this is development equipment so it's not the bulletproof, consumer version you'd buy in a store. And the Nintendo techs were right there to jump in and replace the controller (thanks Okada Atsushi and Kuniaki Takehara!).

I took photos of various games under development for the Wii. I haven't confirmed it yet, but Aynaga said he thought there were as many as 27 games in development for it and on display at E3.

Wii Music Orchestra

Obstacle Course

SD Gundam

Baseball

Nintendo hasn't released pricing or what would be in a box full of Wii yet. But if the $250 rumors turn out to be true, this strikes me as a great place for them to be in comparison to the $600 Playstation 3 and $400 "core" Xbox 360.