The Wiimote is very recognizable thanks to its similarities with a TV remote. But you may be surprised to hear about one particular prototype Nintendo had created prior to finally settling on the final design. A new book called Nintendo Magic: Winning The Video Game Wars details the prototype, noting that it “had a large star-shaped button in the center, surrounded by three smaller buttons, and used internal accelerometers that let the player control by tilting it forward, backwards, left, or tight.”
The big news, however, is that the controller was met with a great deal of opposition. Developers at Nintendo felt that it would not work very well established franchises such as Zelda and Mario. As we know now, the idea was eventually shot down.
You can read additional details about how the controller would have worked below and we’ve also included a picture of it in this post as well.
“Development on the new [Wii] controller was in full swing by the middle of 2004. With Iwata focusing on the DS, Miyamoto acted in his place on the project. Takeda’s engineering team searched for sensors that would enable intuitive game control, which Miyamoto’s people used to implement the actual controller.
At first, they started just as Iwata had suggested – by aiming for a simple, TV remote-like controller. But as they did the work of testing the controller prototypes that included new sensors, the form factors began to take an unexpected direction.
‘No one liked that one,’ recalls Miyamoto with a rueful grin, of a large, disc-shaped example. It had a large star-shaped button in the center, surrounded by three smaller buttons, and used internal accelerometers that let the player control by tilting it forward, backwards, left, or tight. The prototype was orange, and its bizarre appearance earned it the nickname ‘cheddar cheese’ from the development team.
It was admittedly simple and easy to understand, but was also far too garish. Miyamoto’s team met with around 40 game developers within Nintendo bimonthly to hear their opinions. This iteration of the controller was met with opposition — they complained it was totally unsuited to traditional games like Mario and Zelda.”
A new Iwata Asks interview has gone live on the U.S. Wii website. Iwata, along with developers from Nintendo and Treasure, discuss the development of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor as well as the original game. We’ve picked out some of the notable quotes below, though you can check out the full interview here.
Iwata
Yamagami-san and I had actually been talking for some time about making Sin & Punishment for the Wii console.Maegawa
Huh? Really?!Yamagami
Yeah. (laughs)Maegawa
I was surprised when I got a reply a mere three days after submitting the proposal. It can take up to a few months to hear results, so I was telling these two to take it easy.Nakagawa and
Suzuki
(nods)Yamagami
When I received the proposal from Maegawa-san, I was really pleased with it, but I didn’t get to discuss it with Iwata-san until three days later.Iwata
If I’d been able to meet with Yamagami-san the same day it arrived, I would have approved it that very day.
SHOWCASE YOUR GAMING CREATIONS, SAVE THE TURTLES AND SURVIVE THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE OF ALL – HIGHSCHOOL
28th April 2010: Let your creative side shine this week as WarioWare™: Do It Yourself – Showcase is available on WiiWare. Play and share wacky microgames with your friends and showcase your WarioWare creations on the big screen.
On Nintendo DSiWare this week you’ll be called upon to Save the Turtles from predators such as crabs and seagulls, struggle to master the art of SURVIVING HIGH SCHOOL and fight your way to the top of the tennis championships in VT Tennis.
This information comes from XSEED’s Twitter…
“XSEED is poised to announce one of our hidden titles next week. It’s sure to be a feather in our cap…”
Will it be an announcement for the Wii or DS? I hope so! There are plenty of games that I’d love to see the company localize.
A number of developers who worked on Scribblenauts have discussed the possibility of bringing the series to Wii in recent months. But even though there seems to be some interest there, when Warner Bros. announced a sequel, the press release stated that it will be heading to the DS only.
A Swedish retailer, though, was thinking otherwise. An online listing from the retailer popped up (an additional listing can be seen here) that stated the title will be released for Wii. I’m doubtful at this point that it’s really going to happen, but this is what the retailer said about the situation:
“Our purchasing department has put the product on the website as information from our distributor. Currently, all data is preliminary and is subject to change.”
Thanks to Anders for the tip!
