Wii

This article is about the video game console. For other uses, see WII.

Wii
Wii logo
Wii with Wii Remote
Original white Wii standing upright on its stand next to an original Wii Remote
Also known as
  • Revolution (pre-release)
  • RVL (codename)
DeveloperNintendo IRD
ManufacturerFoxconn[1]
TypeHome video game console
GenerationSeventh
Release date
    • NA: November 19, 2006
    • JP: December 2, 2006
    • AU: December 7, 2006
    • EU: December 8, 2006
    • KR: April 26, 2008
    • TW: July 12, 2008
    • HK: December 12, 2009
  • Revisions
Introductory price
Discontinued
  • Revisions
    • RVL-101
    • Mini
      • WW: Yes
Units shipped101.63 million (as of September 30, 2019) (details)
Media
Operating systemWii system software
CPUIBM PowerPC Broadway @ 729 MHz
Memory24 MB 1T-SRAM @ 324 MHz (2.7 GB/s) + 64 MB GDDR3 SDRAM
Storage512 MB NAND flash memory
Removable storage
Display
Video output formats
GraphicsATI Hollywood @ 243 MHz
Controller input
Connectivity
Online services
Dimensions
  • Width: 157 mm (6.2 in)
  • Height: 60 mm (2.4 in)
  • Depth: 197 mm (7.8 in)
  • Revisions
    • RVL-101
      • Same
    • Mini
      • Width: 160 mm (6.3 in)
      • Height: 46 mm (1.8 in)
      • Depth: 193 mm (7.6 in)
Mass
  • 1,220 g (43 oz)
  • Revisions
    • RVL-101
      1,130 g (40 oz)
    • Mini
      724 g (25.5 oz)
Best-selling game
Backward
compatibility		GameCube[a]
PredecessorGameCube
SuccessorWii U
Websitewii.com

The Wii[g] (/wiː/ WEE) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube, and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

In developing the Wii, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata directed the company to avoid competing with Microsoft and Sony on computational graphics and power and instead to target a broader demographic of players through novel gameplay. Game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda led the console's development under the codename Revolution. The primary controller for the Wii is the Wii Remote, a wireless controller with both motion sensing and traditional controls which can be used as a pointing device towards the television screen or for gesture recognition. The Wii was Nintendo's first home console to directly support Internet connectivity, supporting both online games and for digital distribution of games and media applications through the Wii Shop Channel. The Wii also supports wireless connectivity with the Nintendo DS handheld console for selected games. Initial Wii models included full backward compatibility support for GameCube games and most accessories. Later in its lifecycle, two lower-cost Wii models were produced: a revised model with the same design as the original Wii but without the GameCube compatibility features, and the Wii Mini, a compact, budget redesign of the Wii which further removed several features, including online connectivity and SD card storage.

Because of Nintendo's reduced focus on computational power, the Wii and its games were less expensive to produce than its competitors. The Wii was extremely popular at launch, causing the system to be in short supply in some markets. A bundled game, Wii Sports, was considered the killer app for the console; other flagship games included entries in the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and Metroid series. Within a year of launch, the Wii became the best-selling seventh-generation console as well as a social phenomenon in many countries. Total lifetime sales of the Wii had reached over 101 million units, making it Nintendo's best-selling home console until it was surpassed by the Nintendo Switch in 2021.[h] As of 2022, the Wii is the fifth-best-selling home console of all time.

The Wii repositioned Nintendo as a key player in the video game console marketplace. The introduction of motion-controlled games via the Wii Remote led both Microsoft and Sony to develop their own competing products—the Kinect and PlayStation Move, respectively. Nintendo found that, while the Wii had broadened the demographics that they wanted, the core gamer audience had shunned the Wii. The Wii's successor, the Wii U, sought to recapture the core gamer market with additional features atop the Wii. The Wii U was released in 2012, and Nintendo continued to sell both units through the following year. The Wii was formally discontinued in October 2013, though Nintendo continued to produce and market the Wii Mini for a few years afterwards, and offered a subset of the Wii's online services through 2019.

  1. ^ Marketwatch. "Nintendo to probe Foxconn conditions: report". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
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  12. ^ a b Parfitt, Ben (October 26, 2013). "Time also called on Wii in Europe". MCVUK. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
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  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference EurogamerWiiMiniReview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ McDonough, Amy (November 6, 2006). "Wii Get It Now: technical specs from 1UP.com". 1up.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  16. ^ "Factfile: the Wii". BBC News. November 17, 2006. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference verge wificonnection shutdown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference engadget wiishop closed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Nintendo style guide" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  21. ^ "Company History". Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.


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