Evolution of the Wii Controller

Recently, Nintendo President turned Journalist, Satoru Iwata, has been doing features about the development of the Wii. This post focuses on Iwata’s investigation into the evolution of the anticipated Wiimote.

While being interviewed by Satoru Iwata about the development of the controller, head of wii development Genyo Takeda said that the DS was the main influence while they were designing the Wii’s controller – now affectionately referred to by fans as the Wiimote.

So influential was the DS that they even considered adding into the controller a touch panel or similar pointing device.

Controller and system designer Kenichiro Ashida admitted that though there was a clear direction in terms of arriving at an innovative control interface, the design of the actual controller was tricky because they were still unsure of how it will interact with the games software.

Interestingly Ashida said this: “Specifically, wouldn’t it be okay to reset the style where you hold a controller in both hands and play intently from the morning? Not that we’re criticizing that deep play style, but I felt the future in this concept of resetting the style of holding the controller in both hands.”

Gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto (viva miyamoto!), adopted a viewpoint from the game developers perspective. He said that the biggest problems they considered when designing the controller involved was “how to persuade users and designers who’ve gotten used to current interfaces.”

Given the eagerness of fans to swing the Wii-mote around and pretend it’s a real sharp sword… I’d say they got that problem solved.

Recently, Nintendo President turned Journalist, Satoru Iwata, has been doing features about the development of the Wii. This post focuses on Iwata’s investigation into the evolution of the anticipated Wiimote.

While being interviewed by Satoru Iwata about the development of the controller, head of wii development Genyo Takeda said that the DS was the main influence while they were designing the Wii’s controller – now affectionately referred to by fans as the Wiimote.

So influential was the DS that they even considered adding into the controller a touch panel or similar pointing device.

Controller and system designer Kenichiro Ashida admitted that though there was a clear direction in terms of arriving at an innovative control interface, the design of the actual controller was tricky because they were still unsure of how it will interact with the games software.

Interestingly Ashida said this: “Specifically, wouldn’t it be okay to reset the style where you hold a controller in both hands and play intently from the morning? Not that we’re criticizing that deep play style, but I felt the future in this concept of resetting the style of holding the controller in both hands.”

Gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto (viva miyamoto!), adopted a viewpoint from the game developers perspective. He said that the biggest problems they considered when designing the controller involved was “how to persuade users and designers who’ve gotten used to current interfaces.”

Given the eagerness of fans to swing the Wii-mote around and pretend it’s a real sharp sword… I’d say they got that problem solved.