Deconstructing Product Design

Wii

Nintendo, 2006

1. What does it look like to have fun? This is in many respects the most basic question for game design, but it was rarely if ever discussed — until, that is, Nintendo introduced the Wii. Should a game system encourage players to sit alone, hunched in dark rooms in front of televisions, intensely gripping controllers and thumbing buttons, or encourage players to stand with friends and family, in lit rooms, casually moving their arms and bodies in what appears to be dancing or calisthenics? Shigeru Miyamoto, general manager of entertainment analysis and development at Nintendo, comments: “I think what’s really important is to think of how the player feels while they’re playing. For instance, with the Tennis games, you don’t ...