More Nintendo

Reading Hamlet on the Holodeck has made me begin to think how close we really are to having some of the technology described within the science fiction quoted in the book. As I am doing my Thesis on the topic of Videogames, this book has also been quickly added to my bibliography. But back on topic, Nintendo. What are they doing now? Nintendo is releasing their newest video game platform in only a few weeks which is seeking to revolutionize the industry. Titled the Wii (pronounced "we"), some of you might have heard about this strange system and how it pulls you into the game in a way Sony or Microsoft cannot with their systems. Basically, you control the games with a wireless remote control, which looks like a stick. However, inside this super-stick (dubbed the nunchaku) is an 8 way gyroscopic sensor that detects movement. What does this mean? Well, lets say you're playing a Star Wars game and you're facing off against Darth Vader in a lightsaber dual. Instead of mapping the pre-rendered attacks to buttons, you swing the nunchaku left, your lightsaber reacts on-screen by swinging left as well. In this way, you are more attuned to the medium than if you were just hitting standard buttons. Its new, its unchallenged and it might or might not work. Come Nov. 17th we'll all see how far technology can immerse us within a narrative...