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121-786: The GameCube controller was released alongside the console and comes bundled with every unit. Standard colors include Indigo, Black, Spice (orange), Emerald Blue (green, only available in Japan), Platinum, Indigo-clear, and Pearl White (only available in Europe). There are also limited edition controllers available such as a split blue and red, with the Mario "M" logo replacing the regular GameCube logo seen on standard controllers (there have also been green and blue Luigi "L" controllers and similarly yellow and pale blue Wario "W" controller). There are also specially colored controllers bundled with systems, such as

242-577: A Bluetooth antenna that communicates with its controllers. A USB-based LAN adapter can connect the Wii to a wired Ethernet network. The Wii reads games from an optical media drive located in the front of the device. The drive is capable of reading Nintendo's proprietary discs, the 12 cm Wii discs and 8 cm GameCube discs , but cannot read other common optical media—namely, DVD-Video , DVD-Audio or compact discs . Although Nintendo had planned on incorporating this feature into later revisions of

363-935: A composite A/V cable with RCA connectors , and in appropriate regions such as in Europe, a SCART adapter was also included. A copy of the game Wii Sports was included in most regional bundles. Although Nintendo showed the console and the Wii Remote in white, black, silver, lime-green and red before it was released, it was only available in white for its first two-and-a-half years of sales. Black consoles were available in Japan in August 2009, in Europe in November 2009 and in North America in May 2010. A red Wii system bundle

484-434: A directional pad (d-pad), three face action buttons and a shoulder trigger, and four system-related buttons include a power switch. The Wii Remote connects to the Wii through Bluetooth with an approximate 30 feet (9.1 m) range, communicating the sensor and control information to the console unit. The Wii Remote includes an internal speaker and a rumble pack that can be triggered by a game to provide feedback directly to

605-620: A pointing device towards the television screen or for gesture recognition . The Wii was Nintendo's first home console to directly support Internet connectivity, supporting both online games and for digital distribution of games and media applications through the Wii Shop Channel . The Wii also supports wireless connectivity with the Nintendo DS handheld console for selected games. Initial Wii models included full backward compatibility support for GameCube games and most of

726-403: A proprietary port at the base of the controller. The Wii shipped with the bundled Nunchuk —a handheld unit with an accelerometer, analog stick , and two trigger buttons—which connected to this port on the Wii Remote via a 4 feet (1.2 m) cable. Players hold both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in separate hands to control supported games. The Wii MotionPlus accessory plugs into the port at

847-462: A silicon -based Wii Remote Jacket to shipments of the Wii and Wii Remote, as well as a free offering for existing users. The Jacket wraps around the bulk of the remote but leaves access to the various buttons and connectors, providing a stickier surface in the user's grip to further reduce the chance of the Remote falling out of the player's hand. Accessories can be connected to a Wii Remote through

968-543: A 32-bit IBM PowerPC -based processor named Broadway , with a clock frequency of 729 MHz. The reduced size of Broadway—based on a 90 nm process compared to the 180 nm process used in the GameCube's CPU —resulted in 20% lowered power consumption. The Wii's GPU is a system on a chip produced by ATI and named Hollywood ; the core processor runs at 243 MHz, 3 MB of texture memory, digital signal processors , and input/output functions. Additionally,

1089-522: A Macronix CMPV-DOL video chip (a digital-to-analog converter ). This converts the YC B C R digital video coming from the digital port to the YP B P R analog format used by component video equipment. CMPV-DOL's reconfigurability allows it to carry out unusual functions such as YC B C R to RGBHV conversion, but it cannot take advantage of the digital audio from the console's digital port. This means that

1210-419: A Memory Card 59 with game-themed stickers. Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire was bundled with an exclusive translucent red and blue colored Memory Card 59, with matching stickers. Club Nintendo members in Japan briefly had the opportunity to exchange points for a white and blue Memory Card 251, with club themed stickers. The GameCube-Game Boy Advance cable was used for games that support connectivity between

1331-508: A PC, to be stored there or sent over the Internet. The MAX Memory is a 128 Mb dongle by Datel that contains up to 2048 blocks of data. The MAX Media Player allows videos and other downloadable media to be played on a GameCube. Movies and media are transferred to the included 1 GB Micro SD card, that is then inserted into a dongle for the GameCube and into memory card slot B. The kit also includes boot disc, SD adapter (for use on

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1452-566: A Wii or for those who wanted a second Wii in a different location. Ryan stated that while removing the online functionality would prevent some games from being played, most Wii games could still be played without it. The Wii Mini is styled in matte black with a red border, and includes a red Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk. According to Ryan, the red coloring was indicative of the planned exclusive release in Canada . A composite A/V cable, wired Sensor Bar and power adapter are also included. The Wii Mini

1573-401: A black Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk, along with New Super Mario Bros. Wii and a limited-edition soundtrack for Super Mario Galaxy . It was released in Europe on November 4, 2011, in a white finish, bundled with a white Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk, along with Wii Party and Wii Sports . A special bundle featuring a blue version of the revised Wii model and Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk with

1694-434: A company of his own in 1992, named Impress . On November 26, 2001, CSK Corporation and Unison Capital Partners L.P. announced the approval of transferring the control of its subsidiary ASCII to Unison Capital Partners L.P., effective on March 30, 2002, as part of a strategy to focus CSK's operations on B2B enterprises. The transfer was approved on December 21, 2001. As a part of deal, ASCII's outstanding debt owed to CSK

1815-569: A composite to Scart adaptor in European territories to allow Composite input via a Scart port (ScartAV). The S-Video Cable provides a better quality picture than composite cables, although not up to that of the Component or RGB Cables. Identical to earlier Nintendo (N64 and the original model SNES) S-Video cables and compatible with their respective consoles, it carries dual-channel (stereo) audio and s-video at 480i/60 Hz (NTSC). This cable

1936-447: A firm that had developed several patents related to motion detection , to prototype future controllers using their licensed patents. Over the next two years, sales of the GameCube languished behind its competitors—Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox . Satoru Iwata , who had been promoted to Nintendo's president in May 2002 following Hiroshi Yamauchi 's retirement, recognized that Nintendo had not been keeping up with trends in

2057-693: A lesser extent, the Nintendo Switch . Each player on a Wii console was encouraged to create their own Mii via the Mii Channel to be used in games like Wii Sports and some of the system software like the Mii Channel. For example, players would select their Mii in Wii Sports , creating their in-game avatar for the game. Miis could be shared with other players through the Mii Channel. ASCII Corporation ASCII Corporation, Ltd.

2178-489: A new way to play". The ads began in November 2006 and had a budget of over $ 200 million for the year. The ads targeted a wider demographic compared to ads for other consoles, inviting parents and grandparents to play on the Wii. Nintendo hoped that its console would appeal to a wider demographic than that of others in the seventh generation. In December 2006, Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo did not think of themselves as "fighting Sony", but were focused on how they could expand

2299-542: A resting position, translating that motion into gesture recognition for a game. For example, the pack-in game Wii Sports includes a ten-pin bowling game that had the player hold the Wii Remote and perform a delivery of a ball; the Wii Remote could account for the player's position relative to the Sensor Bar, and their arm and wrist rotation to apply speed and spin to the virtual ball's delivery on screen. The infrared detectors are used to track emissions from LEDs in

2420-588: A separate cable, such as the system's standard A/V cable, must also be connected to the Analog AV port in order to transmit the audio signal. This cable is only compatible with DOL-001 models of the GameCube, as Nintendo chose to omit the Digital AV port in subsequent models of the console. The D-Terminal Video Cable is identical to the Component Video Cable but for its connector, which

2541-497: A separate television screen. Such screens are powered by the GameCube's power supply and connects to the console's digital AV outlet. These snap-on LCD screens make the GameCube more portable. The Pelican Bongos were made by Pelican Accessories and resemble DK Bongos . They are a much darker color and have a 10% larger surface than the Nintendo bongos. Various adapters allow PlayStation and PlayStation 2 controllers to be used on

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2662-548: A simpler design of the Super Smash Bros. logo on it and was available only in Black. Both re-released controllers featured a longer 3 m/10 ft cable. The WaveBird Wireless Controller is an RF -based wireless controller based on the same design as the standard controller. It communicates with the GameCube system wirelessly through a receiver dongle which connects to one of the system's controller ports. It

2783-529: A top-loading disc drive. In addition to the lack of GameCube support, the Wii Mini removes Wi-Fi support and online connectivity, along with the removal of the SD card slot. It also removed support for 480p and component video output. According to Nintendo of Canada's Matt Ryan, they stripped these features to bring down the price of the console further as to make it an option for those consumers that had not yet gotten

2904-465: Is Datel's version of the Game Boy Player. This dongle connects to memory card slot B and is booted up with the included boot disc. Some models have code generators for built in cheat devices. The advantage is that no removal of plates on the bottom, nor tools, are needed to install it. There are a few problems with the audio and video framerate and it is not 100% compatible with GBA games. Unlike

3025-437: Is a more popular format in Japan. Like the component cable, it may be used to output video in 576i/50 Hz, 480i/60 Hz or 480p/60 Hz, uses the Digital AV port, needs a separate analog cable for audio, and is only compatible with DOL-001 models of the GameCube. The GameCube's memory card options comprise three distinctive capacities, with each exhibiting a different color variant. Specifically, these card models include

3146-402: Is equal in quality to RGB Scart (at 576i/50 Hz or 480i/60 Hz). It enables progressive scan ( 480p /60 Hz) in supported games which is not possible with most other cables. The Japan-only D-Terminal cable also has this feature. PAL released games lack progressive 480p output. The connector plugs into the Digital AV port rather than the Analog AV port used by other cables and contains

3267-542: Is only compatible with NTSC GameCubes. The RGB SCART cable provides a better quality picture than RF, composite or S-Video cables. It utilizes the SCART connector standard and is sold in Europe only. Operates at 576i/50 Hz or 480i/60 Hz. This cable is only compatible with PAL GameCubes. The Component Video Cable provides video quality superior to that of the RF modulator, composite video cable and s-video cable and

3388-542: Is powered by two AA batteries. As a power-conservation measure, the WaveBird lacks the rumble function of the standard controller. The WaveBird controller was available in most regions only in light gray and platinum colors. In Japan two limited edition WaveBird models were released through Club Nintendo : 1,000 Special Edition Gundam "Char's Customized Color" WaveBirds (two-toned red with the Neo-Zeon logo) to coincide with

3509-414: Is the same as the original Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES . The composite video cable , or AV cable, is included with the GameCube. It provides clearer and sharper picture quality and audio than an RF Switch. It is identical to earlier A/V cables. It carries dual-channel (stereo) audio and composite video at 576i /50 Hz (PAL) or 480i /60 Hz (NTSC/PAL60). PAL consoles come with

3630-568: The Game Boy Player , it can be used with certain 2D GameCube games, such as Alien Hominid , Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO , Mega Man Anniversary Collection , Sonic Mega Collection , Sonic Gems Collection , or a few 3D GameCube games that support D-pad movement, like Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance . Hori built an arcade stick that was licensed by Nintendo. The controller does not support control stick or C-stick functionality. The system treats

3751-521: The Internet Channel , a modified version of the Opera web browser for the Wii which supports USB keyboard input and Adobe Flash Player . The Wii Menu channels feature music composed by video game composer Kazumi Totaka . The Wii introduced the use of player-customized avatars called Miis, which have been continued to be used by Nintendo in the Wii U, the Nintendo 3DS family, and, to

GameCube accessories - Misplaced Pages Continue

3872-763: The MSX , a standardized specification for 8-bit home computers. In 1984, ASCII entered the semiconductor business, followed by a further expansion into commercial online service in 1985 under the brand of ASCII-NET. As the popularity of home video game systems soared in the 1980s, ASCII became active in the development and publishing of software and peripherals for popular consoles such as the Family Computer and Mega Drive . After Microsoft's public stock offering in 1986, Microsoft founded its own Japanese subsidiary, Microsoft Co., Ltd. , traded as Microsoft Kabushiki Kaisha (MSKK), and dissolved its partnership with ASCII. At around

3993-482: The Need for Speed series, among others. An optional accessory pack includes foot pedals and a lap attachment. Compatibility with various A/V cables vary by region and console model. The RF Switch/modulator is for older televisions predating composite audio/video ports. It is identical to and compatible with earlier Nintendo RF modulators. It has the Nintendo 64 RF modulator cased in GameCube packaging, and its RF switch

4114-463: The SmashBox controller . Specifically designed for competitive play of Super Smash Bros. Melee , it replaces the GameCube controller's analog stick with a button layout. It may allow more precise and rapid input, though it has a steeper learning curve than the traditional controller, and puts less stress on the hands. After a half year test period, various prominent tournament organizers prohibited

4235-583: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System , with a d-pad, four face buttons, Start and Select buttons alongside the Wii connection button, and two shoulder buttons. Additionally, Nintendo included inputs present in modern controllers, like 2 analog sticks and pressure sensitive shoulder buttons. Players can use it with older games from the Virtual Console in addition to games designed for the Wii. In 2009, Nintendo released

4356-553: The Wii Remote Plus , first released in October 2010. A number of third-party controller manufacturers developed their own lower-cost versions of the Wii Remote, though these generally were less accurate or lacked the sensitivity that Nintendo's unit had. The Classic Controller is an extension for the Wii Remote, released alongside the Wii in November 2006. Its form factor is similar to classic gamepads such as that for

4477-558: The 2018 Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! via the Gamecube Controller Adapter for Nintendo Switch. Several indie games were also designed around them, such as Beat Nebula (2016), Squatbot (2018), and Beat Bull (2022). They are commonly used in challenge runs as a non-standard control method, such as being used in 2020 to beat Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice . The Action Pad was included with Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix . It has 4 arrows. The Beat Pad

4598-580: The Digital AV port. Wii The Wii ( / w iː / , WEE ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo . It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube , and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft 's Xbox 360 and Sony 's PlayStation 3 . In developing

4719-575: The GCVideo firmware because it is open-source software. Many companies have made solutions that use the software to output an HDMI signal that can be used with any modern TVs. It also can handle audio, sending a digital 16-bit PCM audiostream. This includes the GCHD Mk-II by EON Gaming and the Carby by Insurrection Industries. Both do not require modification of a GameCube and can simply be plugged into

4840-465: The GPU included an additional 24 MB of 1T-SRAM and an additional 64 MB of 1T-SRAM on the motherboard, totaling to 88 MB of memory for the console. The Wii's computational power was roughly 1.5 to 2 times as powerful as the GameCube, but was the least powerful of the major home consoles of its generation. The Wii's motherboard has a WiFi adapter which supports IEEE 802.11 b/g modes, and

4961-460: The Game Boy Player, it is compatible with the Wii. The Powerboard is a USB keyboard by Datel with a GameCube adapter for the online Phantasy Star games and for Action Replay codes. The keyboard without the adapter was released for the PlayStation 2 . The MAX Drive consists of a dongle, USB cable, and a PC software disc, which allows the user to upload saved games from a memory card to

GameCube accessories - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-598: The GameCube and the Game Boy Advance (bundled with some games). The cable also worked with the Wii and the Game Boy Advance SP . The Modem adapter and Broadband adapter , models DOL-012 and DOL-015 respectively, were developed by Nintendo for Internet and LAN networking. Only eight games support the devices. Both connect to Serial Port 1. The Game Boy Player allows Game Boy games to be played on

5203-523: The GameCube controller ports, and memory card slots found on the original model. This means that this model is incompatible with GameCube games alongside the GameCube Controller for Wii games that support it. This model is sometimes referred to as the "Wii Family Edition", the name given to the bundle in which it was first sold in Europe. Additionally, it does not include a stand, as it is intended to be positioned horizontally. Nintendo announced

5324-477: The GameCube, including: The SD Media Launcher allows homebrew games to be played on the GameCube without modifying the console. The dongle connects into the memory card slot and contains a removable SD card which holds the games. It has a boot disc for starting the unit up, a 1 GB SD card, and an SD card adapter for uploading games from a PC to the GameCube. In the mid 2010s, Dustin Hoffer of Hit Box designed

5445-477: The GameCube. The Hip Screen is a controller made by Hip Gear that features a small full color LCD screen as TV. Its size was roughly that of the Game Boy Advance , so games that had very fine text could not be well read on it. Various manufacturers (such as Intec, Mad Catz , and Zenith Electronics ) have produced LCD screens that can snap onto the GameCube, allowing the console to be used without

5566-531: The Japan-only GameCube release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Z Gundam , and a "Club Nintendo" WaveBird (white top with light blue bottom and Club Nintendo logo) DK Bongos ( Japanese : タルコンガ , Hepburn : Tarukonga ) were designed for use with the music games Donkey Konga , Donkey Konga 2 , and Donkey Konga 3 , and the platformer Donkey Kong Jungle Beat , all of which were packaged with DK Bongos. A racing game, DK Bongo Blast ,

5687-604: The Memory Card 59 in grey, boasting a storage capacity of 4 Mbit or 512 KB; the 251 model in black with a capacity of 16 Mbit or 2 MB; and the 1019 model in white, exhibiting the largest storage capacity of 64 Mbit or 8 MB. The maximum capacity for a single card is 127 files. Each card necessitates five blocks of system data, denoting that the physical dimensions of the cards are either 64, 256, or 1024. Certain games, such as Animal Crossing and Pokémon Colosseum , require very large save files and were originally bundled with

5808-597: The Mobile Suit Gundam Edition (Red), Symphonic Green Edition (Turquoise Green) and the Final Fantasy Crystal White Edition. The controller can also be used to play certain games on the Wii system and as a result in 2008 Nintendo issued a white GameCube controller (Japan only). This controller also features a white 3 m/10 ft long cable, rather than the standard 2 m/6.5 ft black cable. In 2014, there

5929-692: The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection were discontinued in May 2014, while the Wii Shop was closed in January 2019, effectively ending all online services for the console. The Wii Mini continued to be manufactured for some time after. Despite the Wii's discontinuation, some developers continued to produce Wii games well beyond 2013. Ubisoft released Just Dance games for the Wii up to Just Dance 2020 (2019). Vblank Entertainment's Shakedown: Hawaii along with Retro City Rampage DX are

6050-740: The Photo Channel which could be used to view and edit photos stored on an SD card; the Wii Shop Channel to purchase new games and applications; the Forecast Channel and the News Channel. In addition to default channels that came with the Wii, new channels could be added through system updates, downloaded applications from the Wii Shop Channel, or added by games themselves. Shortly after launch, other free channels created by Nintendo were made available to users, including

6171-613: The Revolution controller at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005. At this stage, the controller unit resembled the final Wii Remote device along with the separate Nunchuk attachment. Iwata demonstrated its motion sensing gameplay capabilities, and incorporated commentary from developers, such as Hideo Kojima and Yuji Horii , who had tested the controller and believed people would be drawn in by it. The console's name

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6292-544: The SmashBox controller and similar alternative controllers in high-level tournaments for the foreseeable future. The VGA Cable is a modified component or d-terminal cable. It allows the GameCube play on a standard computer monitor in 480p. GCVideo is an open-source video solution created by Unseen that uses the Digital AV port (DOL-001 only) to output a digital video signal via HDMI or an analog signal via an component cable. Anyone can produce an adapter that uses

6413-499: The Vitality Sensor had been shelved, as internal testing found that the device did not work with all users, and its use cases were too narrow. Despite this, Nintendo has continued Iwata's quality of life program with further products on later consoles and games. A number of first- and third-party accessories were developed that the Wii Remote could be slotted into and then used in a more physical manner that took advantage of

6534-558: The Wii Classic Controller Pro, which was modelled after the GameCube and PlayStation 2 controllers form factor and amongst other additions, adds grips on the bottom of the controller and rearranges the placement of the shoulder buttons. However, unlike the GameCube and original Classic Controller, the Classic Controller Pro does not have pressure sensitive shoulder buttons. The Wii Balance Board

6655-562: The Wii Menu, the main user interface for the Wii, was led by Takashi Aoyama of Nintendo's Integrated Research & Development Division. The project, named the "Console Feature Realization Project", was to figure out what the Wii interface could show running in a low-power mode on an around-the-clock schedule that would be of interest for people to look at if they were not playing games. The idea of having continually updated weather and news reports made logical sense from testing, and this led to

6776-526: The Wii Mini's release. The Wii Mini was never released in countries outside of Canada, Europe and the United States. The console has many internal features made available from its hardware and firmware components. The hardware allows for extendability (via expansion ports), while the firmware (and some software) could receive periodic updates via the WiiConnect24 service. The development of

6897-459: The Wii and its games were less expensive to produce than its competitors. The Wii was extremely popular at launch, causing the system to be in short supply in some markets. A bundled game, Wii Sports , was considered the killer app for the console; other flagship games included entries in the Super Mario , Legend of Zelda , Pokémon , and Metroid series. Within a year of launch,

7018-411: The Wii became the best-selling seventh-generation console as well as a social phenomenon in many countries. Total lifetime sales of the Wii had reached over 101 million units, making it Nintendo's best-selling home console until it was surpassed by the Nintendo Switch in 2021. As of 2022, the Wii is the fifth-best-selling home console of all time . The Wii repositioned Nintendo as a key player in

7139-445: The Wii channels. Users could expand their storage for downloaded games and saved games, as well as provide photos and music that could be used with some games and Wii channels, through SD cards (and later SDHC cards ) inserted into an external slot on the console located under a front panel. A later system update added the ability to launch Wii channels and play Virtual Console and WiiWare games directly from SD cards. The rear of

7260-399: The Wii from commercial off-the-shelf hardware rather than seek out customized components. This helped to reduce the cost of the Wii system to consumers. Miyamoto said "Originally, I wanted a machine that would cost $ 100. My idea was to spend nothing on the console technology so all the money could be spent on improving the interface and software." The console's central processing unit is

7381-511: The Wii in China in 2008, but failed to meet the requirements to circumvent the ban on foreign-made consoles the Chinese government had put in place. Nintendo announced the successor to the Wii, the Wii U, at E3 2011 . Nintendo had recognized that the Wii had generally been shunned by the core gaming audience as it was perceived more as a casual gaming experience. The Wii U was aimed to draw

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7502-550: The Wii in GameCube mode), USB micro SD Card adaptor, and a small remote control for easy management. The Afterglow Controller was produced by Pelican Accessories. It's known widely for being a largely unsuccessful addition to the Gamecube ecosystem. Intec produced a battery pack which can be attached securely to the bottom of a GameCube, offering about two hours on a charge. It was designed to work with an LCD screen. Various companies have produced controller extension cables for

7623-427: The Wii served part of this, but Nintendo developed additional accessories to give awareness of one's health as a lead-in for the company to break into the health care field. At E3 2009 , Nintendo had presented a " Vitality Sensor " accessory that would be used to measure a player's pulse as a lead-in to a larger quality of life initiative, but this product was never released. In a 2013 Q&A, Satoru Iwata revealed that

7744-453: The Wii's design, as the company found that the DS's novel two-screen interface had drawn in non-traditional players and wanted to replicate that on the new console. Designer Ken'ichiro Ashida noted, "We had the DS on our minds as we worked on the Wii. We thought about copying the DS's touch-panel interface and even came up with a prototype." The idea was eventually rejected because of the notion that

7865-546: The Wii, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata directed the company to avoid competing with Microsoft and Sony on computational graphics and power and instead to target a broader demographic of players through novel gameplay. Game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda led the console's development under the codename Revolution . The primary controller for the Wii is the Wii Remote , a wireless controller with both motion sensing and traditional controls which can be used as

7986-501: The Wii, the demand for the console meant a delay in their schedule, until the feature lost interest. The slot of the optical drive is backed by LED lights which show the system's status. For example, it will pulse blue when the system is communicating with the WiiConnect24 service or when reading a disc after being inserted. The Wii includes 512 MB of internal flash memory for storing saved games and downloaded content from

8107-479: The X button on the controller. The microphone bundled with Mario Party 6 and 7 , Odama , and Densetsu no Quiz Ou Ketteisen is grey, and the one with Karaoke Revolution Party is black. ProDG is an officially licensed development tool for the GameCube. Several official carrying cases for the GameCube and discs have various size and shapes. They were all manufactured by A.L.S. Industries INC and use an NGC model number. A pedometer and walking pad controller

8228-473: The accelerometer and gyroscopic functions of the controller. Some copies of Mario Kart Wii shipped with the Wii Wheel , a plastic steering wheel frame with the Wii Remote could be inserted into, so that players could steer more effectively in game. Rhythm games that used plastic instruments, such as Guitar Hero III , shipped with instruments that the Wii Remote could be slotted into; the remote powered

8349-465: The base of the Wii Remote and augments the existing sensors with gyroscopes to allow for finer motion detection. The MotionPlus accessory was released in June 2009 with a number of new games directly supporting this new functionality, including Wii Sports Resort which included the accessory as part of a bundle. The MotionPlus functionality was later incorporated into a revision of the controller called

8470-419: The choice. President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé justified the new name over Revolution by saying that they wanted something short, distinctive, and easily pronounceable for all cultures. The Wii was made available for a press demonstration at E3 2006. Planned launch titles were announced at a press conference alongside the unveiling. At the same conference, Nintendo confirmed its plans to release

8591-408: The company continued to suffer from accumulated debts, until an arrangement was made that CSK Corporation would execute a major investment into ASCII in 1997. In the mid-1990s, ASCII acquired the company Something Good, and renamed it to ASCII Something Good , through which they developed three Sega Saturn games: AI Shogi (1995), AI Igo (1997), AI Shogi 2 (1998). ASCII originally used

8712-489: The console by the end of 2006. Nintendo announced the launch plans and prices for the Wii in September 2006. The console was first launched in the United States on November 19, 2006, for US$ 249.99 . Other regional release dates and prices included Japan on December 2 for ¥25,000 , followed by Australasia on December 7 for A$ 399.95 , and was later launched on December 8 in the United Kingdom for £179.99 and for

8833-791: The console features the unit's video output and power connections along with two USB ports. The top of the console, when placed vertically, includes a panel that includes four ports for GameCube controllers and two GameCube memory cards. The Wii was Nintendo's smallest home console at the time (the current smallest is hybrid home-portable console Nintendo Switch, when in portable mode); it measures 44  mm (1.73  in ) wide, 157 mm (6.18 in) tall and 215.4 mm (8.48 in) deep in its vertical orientation, slightly larger than three DVD cases stacked together. The included stand measures 55.4 mm (2.18 in) wide, 44 mm (1.73 in) tall and 225.6 mm (8.88 in) deep. The system weighs 1.2  kg (2.7  lb ), making it

8954-409: The console's accessories . Later in its lifecycle, two lower-cost Wii models were produced: a revised model with the same design as the original Wii but without the GameCube compatibility features, and the Wii Mini, a compact, budget redesign of the Wii which further removed several features, including online connectivity and SD card storage. Because of Nintendo's reduced focus on computational power,

9075-496: The core audience back in with more advanced features atop the basic Wii technology. The Wii U features the Wii U GamePad , a controller with an embedded touchscreen and output 1080p high-definition graphics that serves as a secondary screen alongside the television. The Wii U is fully backward-compatible with Wii games and peripherals for the Wii, including the Wii Remote, Nunchuk controller and Wii Balance Board, and select Wii U games including support for these devices. The Wii U

9196-526: The core gamer market with additional features atop the Wii. The Wii U was released in 2012, and Nintendo continued to sell both units through the following year. The Wii was formally discontinued in October 2013, though Nintendo continued to produce and market the Wii Mini for a few years afterwards, and offered a subset of the Wii's online services through 2019. Shortly after the release of the GameCube , Nintendo began conceptualizing their next console. The company's game designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that, in

9317-631: The early stages, they decided they would not aim to compete on hardware power, and would instead prioritize new gameplay concepts. The console was firstly named "GameCube Next" as a placeholder. The price of the new console was originally envisioned to be as low as 100 euros but the NAND flash memory desired by Satoru Iwata would force that price to slightly more than the double. Miyamoto cited Dance Dance Revolution 's unique game controllers as inspiration for developing new input devices. Later on September 24, 2001, Nintendo began working with Gyration Inc.,

9438-554: The first major steps Iwata had made based on the company's research was directing the development of the Nintendo DS , a handheld incorporating dual screens including a touchscreen , to revitalize their handheld console line. In 2003, Iwata met with Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda to discuss their market research. Iwata instructed Takeda "to go off the tech roadmap" for this console, but said it had to be appealing to mothers. Iwata wanted their next console to be capable of playing past Nintendo games, eliminating clutter in houses. Takeda led

9559-503: The gaming demographic. This proved to be a success as the Wii would become a social phenomenon globally throughout 2007. It took several years for the Wii to launch in other regions. It was released in South Africa on September 30, 2007, South Korea on April 26, 2008, Taiwan on July 12, 2008, India on September 30, 2008, and Hong Kong on December 12, 2009. Nintendo had planned work with its localization partner iQue to release

9680-632: The gaming industry. BBC News ' technology editor Alfred Hermida wrote that Nintendo's struggle to match Sony and Microsoft in the home console market made success crucial. The console, still named "Revolution", was formally presented to the public at E3 2005 . The motion controller interface had not yet been completed and was omitted from the unveiling. Iwata held the console above him with one hand to emphasize its size relative to its rivals. A smaller device meant it would draw on less power as to not overheat, and thus appealed to parents who were willing to have an attractive, small, power-efficient device in

9801-405: The idea of presenting these similar to a row of televisions each set to a different television channel as if in an electronics shop, creating the "channels" concept. A user can navigate to any channel window to bring that to the forefront, whether to launch the game or application or to get more information that was being displayed. For example, the Forecast Channel would display a brief summary of

9922-430: The included Sensor Bar , which is placed just above or below the television display, as to track the relative orientation of the Wii Remote towards the screen. This gives the Wii Remote the ability to act as a pointing device like a computer mouse on the television screen, with an approximate 15 feet (4.6 m) range for accurate detection. In addition, the Wii Remote features traditional controller inputs, including

10043-522: The inclusion of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games was released in Europe on November 18, 2011, in collaboration with Sega . Nintendo later revised the North American bundle by replacing the prior pack-in game and soundtrack with the original Wii Sports duology; the new bundle was released on October 28, 2012. The Wii Mini (model RVL-201) is a smaller, redesigned Wii with

10164-414: The lightest of the three major seventh-generation consoles. The Wii may stand horizontally or vertically. The Wii Remote is the primary controller for the console. The remote contains a MEMS-based three-dimension accelerometer , along with infrared detection sensors located at the far end of the controller. The accelerometers allow the Wii Remote to recognize its orientation after being moved from

10285-425: The living room. Iwata reportedly used a stack of three DVD cases as a size guide. The prototype held by Iwata was black, but at release the following year, the console was only available in white. In their book on the console, two Loyola University Chicago professors suggested that Nintendo was inviting comparisons with Apple 's first iPod line. Iwata later unveiled and demonstrated their current prototype of

10406-515: The local area's temperature and short-term weather forecast, while clicking on the channel brought up an interactive globe that the user could manipulate with the Wii Remote to explore real-time weather conditions across the Earth. The Wii launched with six channels: the Disc Channel which was used to launch Wii and GameCube titles from an optical disc; the Mii Channel to create Mii avatars;

10527-449: The majority of Europe for €249.99 . Nintendo planned to have around 30 Wii games available by the end of 2006, and anticipated shipping over 4 million consoles before the end of the year. As part of its launch campaign, Nintendo promoted the Wii in North America through a series of television advertisements (directed by Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan ); its Internet ads used the slogans "Wii would like to play" and "Experience

10648-414: The most recent Wii games, which were released on July 9, 2020 (more than 13 years after the Wii's launch). On January 27, 2020, Nintendo announced that it will no longer repair any faulty Wii consoles in Japan starting on February 6 due to a scarcity of spare parts. In building the Wii, Nintendo did not aim to outpace the performance of their competitors. Unlike the company's previous consoles, they built

10769-527: The name ASCII Media Works , effective on April 1, 2008. The merger was approved in 2008. On January 10, 2010, the formerly named ASCII company MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain, dissolving the last of the ASCII entity. MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII on June 16, 1983. It was conceived and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-president at Microsoft Japan and director at ASCII Corporation. Nishi conceived

10890-575: The name Nexoft on early American releases. In 1991, they renamed Nexoft to ASCII Entertainment , although releases around this time used the Asciiware name. To focus on supporting the interactive entertainment channel in America, startup company Agetec (for "Ascii Game Entertainment Technology") was spun off as an independent corporation in 1998 and later became a fully independent publisher one year later. Co-founder Tsukamoto had left ASCII to create

11011-416: The new revision in August 2011 as a replacement for the original Wii model which it was discontinuing in certain regions including Europe and the United States. The new unit in its bundles was priced at $ 149.99 , a further reduction for the Wii's MSRP at the time of $ 199.99 established in September 2009. The console was first released in North America on October 23, 2011, in a black finish, bundled with

11132-423: The offline Wii Mini, though the Wii Shop Channel remained available. Nintendo discontinued production of the Wii in October 2013 after selling over 100 million units worldwide, though the company continued to produce the Wii Mini unit primarily for the North American market. The WiiConnect24 service and several channels based on that service were shuttered in June 2013. Support for online multiplayer games via

11253-400: The player's hand. Up to four Wii Remotes could connect wirelessly to a Wii, with LED lights on each remote indicating which controller number the Remote had connected as. The remote is battery -operated, and when the Remote is not powered on, these LED lights can display the remaining battery power. A wrist-mounted strap is included with the Wii Remote, with one end affixed to the bottom of

11374-402: The project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period. MSX systems were popular in Japan and several other countries. It is difficult to determine how many MSX computers were sold worldwide, but eventually, 5 million MSX-based units were sold in Japan alone. Despite Microsoft's involvement, few MSX-based machines were released in

11495-716: The range of exercises using the Wii Balance Board, the accessory can be used in other third-party games that translated the player's balance on the unit into in-game controls such as Shaun White Snowboarding and Skate It . Namco Bandai produced a mat controller (a simpler, less-sophisticated competitor to the Balance Board). One of Iwata's initiatives at Nintendo was focused on "quality of life" products, those that encouraged players to do other activities beyond simply sitting and playing video games as to promote physical wellbeing. The use of motion controls in

11616-475: The red Wii system bundles feature the Wii Remote Plus, with integrated Wii MotionPlus technology. The prefix for the numbering scheme of the Wii system and its parts and accessories is "RVL-" for its codename , "Revolution". The base Wii console had a model number of RVL-001, for example. A cost-reduced variant of the Wii (model RVL-101) was released late into the platform's lifespan that removed

11737-510: The same time, the company was also obliged to reform itself as a result of its aggressive diversification in the first half of the 1980s. The company went public in 1989. ASCII's revenue in its fiscal year ending March 1996 was 56 billion yen, broken down by sectors: publications (52.5% or 27.0 billion yen), game entertainment (27.8% or 14.3 billion yen), systems and semiconductors (10.8% or 6 billion yen) and others. Despite its struggles to remain focused on its core businesses,

11858-452: The sharing of custom-made codes. Action Replay MAX is the same but its dongle has more storage, 64 Mb card with 1019 blocks. FreeLoader disables the regional lockout in the GameCube, allowing games from any region ( PAL , NTSC , NTSC-J , etc.) to be played on a console from any region. Some Freeloaders are compatible with the Wii, allowing out of region GameCube games on it (later blocked by system updates). The Advance Game Port

11979-515: The stick like the D-pad on a standard controller, so it is ideal for fighting games and shoot 'em ups. A standard variant has a purple faceplate, and the other has a SoulCalibur II faceplate. The Logitech Speed Force Racing Wheel is an officially licensed force feedback steering wheel made exclusively for the GameCube. It is supported by a number of games, including F-Zero GX , R: Racing Evolution , Mario Kart: Double Dash , Burnout 2 , and

12100-402: The team building the console's hardware components, and Miyamoto spearheaded the development of a new type of controller, based on Gyration's motion-sensing technology. Iwata had proposed that this new console use motion sensing to simplify the gaming interface, increasing appeal to all audiences. An initial prototype was completed within six months. The Nintendo DS was said to have influenced

12221-448: The television, using either a GameCube controller or a connected Game Boy Advance which connects to the controller port. The Microphone plugs into one of the memory card slots. The Microphone functions with Mario Party 6 , Mario Party 7 , Karaoke Revolution Party , Odama , Chibi-Robo! , and Densetsu no Quiz Ou Ketteisen . Odama includes a clip to attach the microphone to the controller. Commands are issued when users hold

12342-487: The two gaming systems would be identical. Miyamoto also stated, "if the DS had flopped, we might have taken the Wii back to the drawing board." Prior to E3 2004, Iwata had referred to Nintendo's upcoming console offering as the GameCube Next (GCNext or GCN). Iwata first unveiled some details of Nintendo's new home console at E3 2004 under the codename "Revolution", as Iwata believed the console would revolutionize

12463-479: The unit. Nintendo strongly encouraged players to use the strap in case the Wii Remote accidentally slipped out of their hands. Nintendo recalled the original straps in December 2006 and provided a free, stronger strap as a replacement, as well as packaging the new strap in future bundles after the company faced legal challenges from users that reported damage to their homes from the Wii Remote slipping from their hands while playing. In October 2007, Nintendo also added

12584-430: The various buttons on the controller and relayed that to the Wii. The Wii launch bundle included the console; a stand to allow the console to be placed vertically; a plastic stabilizer for the main stand, one Wii Remote, a Nunchuk attachment for the Remote, a Sensor Bar and a removable stand for the bar to mount on a television set, an external power adapter , and two AA batteries for the Wii Remote. The bundle included

12705-452: The video game console marketplace. The introduction of motion-controlled games via the Wii Remote led both Microsoft and Sony to develop their own competing products—the Kinect and PlayStation Move , respectively. Nintendo found that, while the Wii had broadened the demographics that they wanted, the core gamer audience had shunned the Wii. The Wii's successor, the Wii U , sought to recapture

12826-411: The video game industry, such as adapting to online gaming. He also thought that video gaming had become too exclusive and wanted Nintendo to pursue gaming hardware and software that would appeal to all demographics. Nintendo's market analysis found that their focus on novel hardware had created consoles that made it difficult for third-party developers to create games for, hampering their position. One of

12947-564: The world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion." The name resulted in criticism and mockery. Forbes expressed a fear that the console would be seen as juvenile. BBC News reported the day after the name was announced that "a long list of puerile jokes, based on the name," had appeared on the Internet. Some video game developers and members of the press stated that they preferred "Revolution" over "Wii". Nintendo of America's Vice President of Corporate Affairs Perrin Kaplan defended

13068-621: Was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo . It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works . The company published Monthly ASCII as the main publication. ASCII is best known for creating the Derby Stallion video game series, the MSX computer, and the RPG Maker line of programming software. ASCII

13189-582: Was a re-release of the Standard GameCube controller coinciding with the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U . It was very limited and is the same as the original controller other than replacing the GameCube logo with the Super Smash Bros. logo instead. It was available in Black or White. A similar controller was released on November 2, 2018 to coincide with the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch , featuring

13310-459: Was also set to use the peripheral, but the GameCube version was canceled, and the game eventually released on the Wii without Bongo support as Donkey Kong Barrel Blast . Players hit the controller like a pair of bongo drums . The controller has an analog sound-sensor module between the two drums to detect clapping. Due to the uniqueness of the peripheral, the bongos were utilized by various games long after their release. They are compatible with

13431-458: Was available in Japan on November 11, 2010, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. The European version of the limited-edition red Wii bundle was released on October 29, 2010, which includes the original Donkey Kong game pre-installed onto the console, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Sports . The red Wii bundle was released in North America on November 7, 2010, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Sports . All of

13552-595: Was bundled with the Japanese pilgrimage simulation game Ohenro-San: Hosshin no Dojo . Action Replay is a cheat device made by Datel , allowing input of codes that modify the game. A FreeLoader is included with the software. It contains a boot disc with the codes and startup, and a dongle that connects into memory card slot B and stores 1 or 2 memory blocks. Its save file can be copied onto other memory cards, as well, allowing for one person to share their codes with someone who may have an earlier version of Action Replay, or

13673-462: Was developed for use with Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II . The Hori Game Boy Player Controller comes in the colors Indigo and Jet Black, in the shape of a SNES control pad. It does not include the Control Stick or C-Stick, and the R and L buttons lack a range of pressure sensitivity; thus, only uses the D-pad for movement and the usual buttons for playing. Although meant for

13794-521: Was first released on December 7, 2012, exclusively in Canada with a MSRP of CA$ 99.99 . It was later released in Europe on March 22, 2013, and in the United States on November 17, 2013. The Canadian and European releases did not include a game, while Mario Kart Wii had been included in all launch bundles in the United States. Nintendo added several best-selling and critically acclaimed Wii games to its Nintendo Selects label and marketed those alongside

13915-404: Was first released on November 18, 2012 in North America; November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia, and December 8, 2012 in Japan. Nintendo continued to sell the revised Wii model and the Wii Mini alongside the Wii U during the Wii U's first release year. During 2013, Nintendo began to sunset certain Wii online functions as they pushed consumers towards the Wii U as a replacement system or towards

14036-473: Was forgiven, and under Unison's control, the ASCII's Enterbrain and IT publishing divisions would maintain autonomy, while ASCII was restructured to concentrate on PC and IT publishing businesses. On May 28, 2002, Unison Media Partners announced ASCII became a fully owned subsidiary of via share exchange, and ASCII would be delisted, effective on October 1, 2002. On November 18, 2002, the Astroarts subsidiary

14157-460: Was formally announced as the Wii in April 2006, a month prior to E3 2006 . Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" (with two lower-case "i" characters) was intended to represent both two people standing side by side, and the Wii Remote and its Nunchuk. In the company's announcement, they stated: "Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around

14278-494: Was founded in 1977 by Kazuhiko Nishi and Keiichiro Tsukamoto. Originally the publisher of a magazine with the same name, ASCII , talks between Bill Gates and Nishi led to the creation of Microsoft's first overseas sales office, ASCII Microsoft , in 1978. In 1980, ASCII made 1.2 billion yen of sales from licensing Microsoft BASIC . It was 40 percent of Microsoft's sales, and Nishi became Microsoft's Vice President of Sales for Far East. In 1983, ASCII and Microsoft introduced

14399-419: Was made by Mad Catz and officially licensed by Nintendo. It was included with the game MC Groovz Dance Craze and sold separately. It has 8 arrows. The ASCII keyboard controller resembles a standard GameCube controller pad stretched to accommodate an alphanumeric keyboard in the center. The keyboard requires the use of two controller ports and contains both Latin and Japanese hiragana characters. It

14520-436: Was released alongside Wii Fit in December 2007. It is a wireless balance board accessory for the Wii, with multiple pressure sensors used to measure the user's center of balance . Wii Fit offers a number of different exercise modes which monitored the player's position on the board, as well as exercise gamification, as to encourage players to exercise daily. In addition to use in Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus that expanded

14641-498: Was renamed to ASCII, while ASCII was renamed to MediaLeaves. The former Astroarts subsidiary would inherit the publishing business of the former ASCII. On January 29, 2004, Unison Capital Partners, L.P. announced the sale of ASCII's parent company MediaLeaves to Kadokawa Group Holdings , to be completed in March 2004. On September 27, 2007, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced the merger between subsidiaries MediaWorks and ASCII under

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