10 Things You Might Not Know About WII SPORTS - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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10 Things You Might Not Know About WII SPORTS

Tighten your wrist straps...


1. With the Wii, Nintendo's aim was to not only reach their loyal base of gamers who had purchased many of their previous systems but also to attract people who had not played video games before. To do this they needed software that allowed both long time and first time players to interact together in a fun way. Nintendo also wanted players to use the system daily and decided that Wii Sports, designed as being a simple introductory title offering something for both gamers and non-gamers, would be the console's flagship title to help accomplish this.

2. Sports were chosen as the theme of the flagship title because of the widespread familiarity with them. Rather than feature professional athletes or have realistic graphics, though, Wii Sports was designed to be simple so that anyone could play. For instance, gameplay like running towards a ball in tennis was excluded early on in development to maintain simplicity.


3. At one point in development, Super Mario characters were featured as the avatars in Wii Sports, but they were removed because of feedback from players who preferred the ability to design and use their own Miis.

4. Before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Media and Business Summit of 2006, the first sport in what was to be Wii Sports was announced as "Wii Sports: Tennis". It was later announced, at Nintendo's press conference prior to E3 2006, that Wii Sports would include three separate sports games; tennis, golf, and baseball.


5. During the presentation at E3 2006, baseball only featured a batting simulation and golf appeared only in the video demonstration, meaning, of the final five sports included in Wii Sports, only Tennis could be played and tested. However, Wii Sports still won the Game Critics Award for "Best Sports Game", and 1UP.com listed it as the "Best Wii Game" and "Most Original Game" in their "Best of E3 2006" feature.

6. E3 2006 also included an additional proposed Wii Sports title both demonstrated and play tested, that being Wii Sports: Airplane. This was similar to Pilotwings and required the player to maneuver an airplane through rings within a time frame. Although Wii Sports: Airplane was ultimately not included in the final game it later incorporated into Wii Sports Resort.



7. Later in 2006, at the Nintendo World event on September 14th, it was revealed that Wii Sports would be included free with the Wii for its release in both U.S. and European markets. The bowling and boxing titles were also introduced, completing the five sports line-up.

8. After the Wii's release in November 2006, players began incurring injuries while playing Wii Sports when they accidentally hit other players or objects while swinging the Wii Remote. This string of accidents, and others related to players throwing the Wii Remote while playing Wii Sports, prompted Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to develop a campaign to reduce such incidents. In regard to the issue, Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa commented,
"People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing Wii Sports, and in some cases the remote would come loose from their hands."
Nintendo responded by offering replacement Wii Remote wrist straps that were almost twice as thick. Other injuries sustained playing Wii Sports include muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries - dubbed "Wii-itis".


9. Wii Sports quickly became a popular means for social gatherings and competitions. Residents at senior centers and retirement homes formed leagues using Wii Sports bowling, and after its Australian release, Nintendo and Myer, an Australian department store chain, held a Wii Sports tennis tournament in January 2007 in Melbourne, Australia. The winners competed against professional tennis players Pat Cash and Mark Woodforde, and were awarded new Wiis.

An unofficial Wii Sports tennis tournament titled "Wiimbledon" was even held in the Brooklyn, New York bar Barcade on June 23rd 2007. It featured 128 competitors, many of whom were dressed in costumes.

Wii Sports also did the job of attracting people who had never played video games before. The UK tabloid, The Sunday People, reported that Queen Elizabeth II had become a fan of the bowling minigame after watching her grandson, Prince William, play it one Christmas. Apparently...
"...she played a simple ten-pin bowling game and by all accounts was a natural".

10. By the end of 2007, Wii Sports was the best-selling Wii game, and that's not only because it was bundled with the western release of the system. In Japan the game was not included with the Wii, it was sold separately, and a massive 176,167 copies were purchased in the first two days of release, a record for a seventh generation console game in Japan. By February 2007, Wii Sports had sold over a million copies.

Wii Sports sold 45.71 million copies (including bundled copies) worldwide by March 2009, accounting for 10% of all Wii games sold. By January 2011, worldwide sales were reported at 75.66 million, which increased to 82.88 million as of September 2019, making Wii Sports the bestselling single-platform game of all time, and fourth best selling game of all time overall.

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