The Big Ideas Behind Nintendo's Wii

Two members of the development team take us behind the scenes of the creation of the new console. Among the goals: spur innovation and please moms

When Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata offered the gaming public a glimpse of the company's next-generation home-entertainment system during the Tokyo Game Show in September, 2005, he was hardly prepared for the stunned silence that followed. "It was as though the audience didn't know how to react," he recalls. But now, as Nintendo prepares for the Nov. 19 launch of its console, dubbed Wii (pronounced "we"), many of the early reviews have been glowing.

The reason: Nintendo's new controller. The device resembles a TV remote but with fewer buttons. It relies on wireless technology with built-in motion sensors to translate movement directly onto a TV screen. Wii can be swung like a tennis racket, twirled like a steering wheel, or pointed at the screen like a gun. BusinessWeek Tokyo correspondent Kenji Hall recently talked with two members of the development team, Shigeru Miyamoto and veteran designer Ken'ichiro Ashida, about developing the Wii and getting inspiration from cell phones, earlier consoles—and moms. Edited excerpts from their conversation follow.

How did you approach the redesign of the controller?

Miyamoto: We started work on the Wii around the time the GameCube went on sale in 2001. [Internally, the Wii had the codename "Revolution."] We started with the idea that we wanted to come up with a unique game interface. The consensus was that power isn't everything for a console. Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction.

Ultimately, it came down to whether power should be a key element of the console or not. We didn't think it was possible to build a powerful machine for less than 50,000 yen ($450). Not only would it use a lot of electricity, it would need a fan, which meant it would be noisy. Moms would rise up against it. Plus, it would take too long to boot up, like a PC, which isn't an ideal toy.

Can you recount the scene at one of those early meetings?

Miyamoto: It was 2003. We got game designers and engineers together to discuss the future of video games. We talked about what specs and features a console should have. But we knew we would get nowhere if we didn't get moms' approval. So we thought about what might convince moms to buy this for their kids. When that happened, we talked about basic concepts and goals, not about the technical specifications of the console. This was the Wii's first major step.

We decided on the basic technology for the console in late 2004, early 2005. By then, we had come up with the remote controller's wand shape and the nunchuk analog controller attachment. We also decided on the motion sensor, infrared pointer, and the layout of buttons.

We tested all kinds of technologies for the controller. We made working prototypes and tested them on games to see how they might be used. We actually were ready to show off the controller at E3 [Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual video game conference in Los Angeles] in 2005, but we had some troubleshooting to do. So we decided not to reveal the controller and instead we displayed just the console.

Was making a console that would cost $250 or less the goal from the start?

Miyamoto: 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. If we hadn't used NAND flash memory [to store data such as games and photos] and other pricey parts, we might have succeeded.

To answer your questions, yes, we set out to design a console that would sell for less than 25,000 yen ($211). It was a tall hurdle. But unless you start off with a target, you can't control costs and you'll inevitably lose money. Also, we thought a low-cost console would make moms happy.

So moms were a key target audience for this console?

Miyamoto: Our goal was to come up with a machine that moms would want—easy to use, quick to start up, not a huge energy drain, and quiet while it was running.