Sunday, January 30, 2011

The best user interface: Nintendo Wii

Ok, maybe not THE BEST interface ever, it is built over simple/cheap hardware so it is always not very precise. But I think the concept revolution the game industry so it deserves its place in this post. The Nintendo wii is a videogaming console launched in 2006. This game console does not possess high performance hardware and fancy technical specifications compared to the consoles of the same generation, however it has a user interface that changed the way of playing by having a novel controller. This controller usually called the Wiimote has multiple sensor inputs including a 3axis accelerometer and an IR camera. Also it has built-in Bluetooth communication, rumble actuators, and a speaker. This allows a new game play form where the motions of the avatar on the screen are based on movements of the wiimote. Even with lower technical specifications the wii remote managed to compete fiercely with its rivals just because of the novel interface. Also it catch a new population into videogaming that were before agnostic to videogaming, but with this new easy to use interface feel more free to interact with a videogame machine. I personally enjoy the fact that it comes perfect in family meetings where everyone from the little kids to the grandparents can gather and play, something that not happened with the other consoles. Recently after the amazing success of the wii, Microsoft and sony launched similar devices for their respective consoles, the kinect for the Xbox360 and the move for the PS3 attempt to get back in the game with similar motion based controllers (although with different sensors and approaches). However it was the wii that originally presented a revolution in videogaming by using a technology that has been around for years, but never before was successfully used for videogame controls.

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