It’s almost Christmas so my parents asked me for some advice regarding my little brother’s Christmas present. The first thing that came to my mind was the Nintendo Wii. Before recommending that to my parents, I decided to read up on it and did indeed find some interesting facts to share! (And personal opinions too, whether you like it or not)
The first Nintendo Console came to light in 1983 and was the most popular gaming console in Japan at that time. Nintendo’s successful launch of the Nintendo Famicom ultimately drove Nintendo to release a similar product in the North American Market. Of course, the evolution of the Nintendo Gaming Consoles has always been closely related to the technology at the time as each upgrade features an incremental improvement such as a faster CPU and a faster PPU/GPU (with more bits and higher clock rates). For instance, the Nintendo Famicom only had a 8 bit CPU that is clocked at 1.7MHz plus a PPU that is clocked at 5.3 MHz. On the other hand, the latest Nintendo Wii has a 64 bit CPU that is clocked at 729 MHz and a GPU that is clocked at 243 GHz. (Wow, what an improvement) For those of you who are interested, below is a evolution graph that I have created to illustrate the amazing growth of Nintendo’s Gaming Consoles.
Now, let’s focus on one of the most successful video gaming consoles ever released by Nintendo, the Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo Wii was first unveiled at the 2005 E3 and then followed by an international release in four key markets on December 8th, 2006. Without a doubt, Wii is a case of open innovation product with an update of several technologies. Firstly , the Wii remote was co-developed by Gyration Inc and Bride Design, where both companies specializes in motion-sensing and motion-control technologies. In addition, Wii’s CPU is an IBM developed 729 MHz microprocessor, made with a 90nm SOI CMOS process. Similar to GCN, Wii’s 243 MHz 90 nm CMOS process GPU is developed by ATI, which is now part of the AMD graphics division.
Personally my experience with the Nintendo Wii was amazing. I loved all their games and have never had troubles with the system itself. What I enjoyed the most must be the interactive sporting and racing games you can play with your friends and family. My personal favorite is the tennis game where the remote controllers were used as tennis rackets! Also, playing Mario Cart with a couple friends on a big screen TV was fun too!
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the summary I have written and if you will excuse me, I need to go tell my parents my recommendation now. If you are interested in getting one, Amazon is having a special Wii package that is only $167.88!!! Please find the link attached below!
zen0219 