| The Wii is a home video game console
released by Nintendo. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily
competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states
that its console targets a broader demographic than that of both. The Financial
Times reported that as of September 12, 2007, the Wii is the sales leader
of its generation, based on sales figures from Enterbrain, NPD Group, and
GfK.
A distinguishing feature of the console
is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld
pointing device and detect movement in three dimensions. Another distinctive
feature of the console is WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages
and updates over the Internet while in standby mode.
The Wii is Nintendo's fifth home console,
the direct successor to the Nintendo GameCube, and able to play all official
GameCube games. Nintendo first spoke of the console at the 2004 E3 press
conference and later unveiled the system at the 2005 E3. Satoru Iwata revealed
a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show. At
E3 2006, the console won the first of several awards. By December 8, 2006,
it had completed its launch in four key markets. |
