Believe it or not, but it was six years ago when Nintendo unveiled the very first details of the Nintendo Wii. Known only by its code name at the time, the “Revolution,” Nintendo showcased a lot of promise for the system that would eventually change the entire landscape of the video gaming world.
As great as the Wii eventually became, many of the promises for the system made by Nintendo all those years ago never came true. The following is a look back to E3 2005 and E3 2006 to see which promises Nintendo made regarding the Wii came true or not.
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[Wii] Owners can also choose a small internal attachment to play movies and other DVD content. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2005 keynote)
True or Not True?
Not True.
It seems as if Nintendo originally planned to have the Wii be able to play DVD movies. Six years later, unfortunately, and the system doesn't do anything when a DVD movie is placed into the drive. Considering that DVD playback on the Wii is possible with homebrew, it's strange that Nintendo decided to ignore this feature, which has been a standard for Sony and Microsoft's systems for years now.
Strong 3rd party support in both hemispheres, because we believe they will appreciate our creative approach. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2005 keynote)
True or Not True?
Not True.
Third party support for Nintendo systems have been relatively weak since the days of the Nintendo 64. The weak third party support for the Wii, unfortunately, is more apparent than any of their other consoles. The system is designed to be developer-friendly, with lower development costs so that game design companies are able to take more risks. However, high-quality Wii games from third parties simply did not sell well. The Conduit and Dead Space Extraction, for example, are examples of high-quality Wii games that weren't exactly examples of commercial success.
To help us, key 2nd party developers who have been so important to game creation for Nintendo GameCube will provide exclusive content for Revolution. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2005 keynote)
True or Not True?
True!
Many of the greatest games to be released on the Wii were actually developed by 2nd party developers, thus increasing the amount of key franchises that Nintendo was able to release. Metroid Prime 3, for example, was one of the two Metroid titles to be released on the WIi and was developed by Retro Studios, an independent 2nd party studio that makes games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.
When you turn on Revolution, and see the graphics, you will say “Wow.” Our partners IBM and ATI are working with us to assure this. But, our advances in our technology will also relate to areas that have no direct bearing on gameplay. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2005 keynote)
True or Not True?
Not True.
Many HDTV owners were upset when Nintendo announced that the Wii would not support high-definition graphics. At the time, Mr. Iwata believed that HDTVs had a low adoption rate, and weren't in enough households. However, after 6 years of lower-quality versions of XBOX 360 and PS3 games and the popularity of high-def televisions, the Wii's ugly graphics are more apparent than ever.
Nintendo Revolution is technically capable of playing virtually every Nintendo game ever created. The idea of a single device transporting us back to the first Excite Bike, Earthbound, or Punch Out! should make us all feel young again. At least for a while. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2005 keynote)
True or Not True?
True!
The Virtual Console for the Wii was mostly a success. It was technically able to play just about any Nintendo game since the NES, and games from other systems such as the Sega Genesis. The best part about this feature is the once-unreleased Japanese games that eventually were available to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, there were a few games that were never available for download due to licensing issues. Earthbound, Mother, and Killer Instinct were among a few highly-requested games that may never see the light of day on the Virtual Console.
[Nintendo] designed a machine to provide owners a variety of services, even when it seems like it's turned off.” On all the time. Wii Connect24. Uses about the same power as miniature light bulb. Developers can push a new weapon, vehicle, or whatever, to you even while you sleep. (Satoru Iwata, E3 2006 keynote)
True or Not True?
Not True.
One of the most promising features during the initial announcement of the Wii was the mysterious “Wii Connect24” feature. This feature was supposed to always have the Wii system connected online, and would be incorporated into various games so that it can always be online to receive data at any hour of the day. Unfortunately, this feature did not do what was promised. The Wii's online connectivity was slow, and there weren't any games that took advantage of Wii Connect24. The only thing that came out of this feature was the blinding blue light that would appear whenever your Wii receives an update notice.
