Nintendo has completely defied the odds makers with their Wii system, which is centered around its unique Wii Remote controller. After getting trounced in the last two console wars by Sony and finishing a distant third in the most recent console generation to Sony and Microsoft, there was a good deal of speculation that Nintendo would go the way of Sega before it and leave the console development world behind, instead becoming a third-party game developer for the others while likely continuing to create handheld systems, which they’ve had great success with.

It goes without saying that Nintendo simply doesn’t have the financial resources that Microsoft and Sony do when it comes to researching and developing a console in terms of sheer processing power. Nintendo instead went a different route, creating a control scheme so unique and addictive to the masses and gamers of all ages that the console has gone head to head with its two adversaries, and in fact leads the console wars by a sizable margin over Microsoft, despite having the least impressive graphics of the three current systems.

In case you’ve been under the proverbial rock for a few years, the Wii Remote is a motion sensitive wireless controller that allows the player to manipulate just about all actions in the game world through its movements, at times in conjunction with the buttons on the remote.

The remote also has a built in speaker for close range audio accompaniment as well as a rumble feature. Most Wii games utilize a simple control scheme far less complicated than games for the other systems, which often require gamers to memorize and maximize their use of a 10+ button controller. The numerous motions that must be made with the remote, and seeing those motions carried out on-screen are highly infectious mechanics that anyone can have fun with.

The Wii Remote has also received numerous attachments, in the form of a Nunchuck device, a Classic Controller and others. These additional control methods are designed for maximum playability with particular games, and give the gamer more options as to how s/he wants to play.

The early consensus was that this was nothing more than a gimmick that would quickly fade, but the Wii Controllers continue to captivate gamers and defy the critics.

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