Codename Revolution: The Nintendo Wii Platform

by Steven E. Jones, George K. Thiruvathukal

Overview

Nintendo’s hugely popular and influential video game console system considered as technological device and social phenomenon.

The Nintendo Wii, introduced in 2006, helped usher in a moment of retro-reinvention in video game play. This hugely popular console system, codenamed Revolution during development, signaled a turn away from fully immersive, time-consuming MMORPGs or forty-hour FPS games and back toward family fun in the living room. Players using the wireless motion-sensitive controller (the Wii Remote, or “Wiimote”) play with their whole bodies, waving, swinging, swaying. The mimetic interface shifts attention from what's on the screen to what's happening in physical space.

This book describes the Wii’s impact in technological, social, and cultural terms, examining the Wii as a system of interrelated hardware and software that was consciously designed to promote social play in physical space. Each chapter of Codename Revolution focuses on a major component of the Wii as a platform: the console itself, designed to be low-powered and nimble; the iconic Wii Remote; Wii Fit Plus, and its controller, the Wii Balance Board; the Wii Channels interface and Nintendo’s distribution system; and the Wii as a social platform that not only affords multiplayer options but also encourages social interaction in shared physical space. Finally, the authors connect the Wii’s revolution in mimetic interface gaming—which eventually led to the release of Sony’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinect—to some of the economic and technological conditions that influence the possibility of making something new in this arena of computing and culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262016803
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	02/24/2012
Series:	Platform Studies
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Steven E. Jones is Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago.

George K. Thiruvathukal is Professor of Computer Science at Loyola University Chicago.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction: Starting with Revolution: The Wii as a Platform 1

2 "Power Isn't Everything": The Wii Console 25

3 Core Controller: The Wii Remote 53

4 Active at the Periphery: The Wii Balance Board 79

5 Channeling the System: Access, Distribution, and Transmission 99

6 "Wii Is for Everyone": A Social Platform 123

7 After the Revolution 149

Notes 171

Bibliography 185

Index 195

What People are Saying About This

Jason Mittell

As a model example of interdisciplinary analysis, Codename Revolution offers a comprehensive guide to the Wii platform, while providing insights into broader interactions between technology, commerce, textual creativity, and cultural practices. A must-read not only for game scholars, but for anyone interested in contemporary media and culture.

Endorsement

Codename Revolution is a remarkable look at the history of the Nintendo Wii, at its design, its games, and how it changed our idea of what video games can be.

—Jesper Juul, visiting assistant arts professor, NYU Game Center, author of Half-Real

From the Publisher

As a model example of interdisciplinary analysis, Codename Revolution offers a comprehensive guide to the Wii platform, while providing insights into broader interactions between technology, commerce, textual creativity, and cultural practices. A must-read not only for game scholars, but for anyone interested in contemporary media and culture.

—Jason Mittell, Associate Professor of American Studies and Film & Media Culture, Middlebury College

Codename Revolution is a remarkable look at the history of the Nintendo Wii, at its design, its games, and how it changed our idea of what video games can be.

—Jesper Juul, visiting assistant arts professor, NYU Game Center, author of Half-Real

Jesper Juul

Codename Revolution is a remarkable look at the history of the Nintendo Wii, at its design, its games, and how it changed our idea of what video games can be.

Editorial Reviews

...make[s] indispensable contributions to game studies...by exploring the theoretical, economic, and political implications of expanding the idea of a 'platform' to include physical paratexts, communication networks, and cultural environments.—J.A. Saklofske, Acadia University—

From the Publisher

...make[s] indispensable contributions to game studies...by exploring the theoretical, economic, and political implications of expanding the idea of a 'platform' to include physical paratexts, communication networks, and cultural environments.

—J.A. Saklofske, Acadia University

Reviews

...make[s] indispensable contributions to game studies...by exploring the theoretical, economic, and political implications of expanding the idea of a 'platform' to include physical paratexts, communication networks, and cultural environments.

J.A. Saklofske