Features// Wii:The Jury

[b]Candidate 4
Name: Terri Quinlan
Age: 54
Occupation: Homemaker, retired dental hygienist.
Gaming experience: Regular but lapsed casual gamer. Played NES, SNES, Genesis, enjoyed Super Mario series, Sonic, Tetris, Dr Mario.
Expectations of the Wii: “Knew it was coming out in relatively plentiful supply.”[/b]

Game-Time Experience
“I thought the Wii was truly great fun, the learning curve for the controllers wasn't steep and the first thing I noticed was how physical the games are. You get tired playing, though it's enjoyable. I liked how you could play with your own [Mii] character, which means you really relate to the game. The machine I thought was amazing. The way the controller knows where it is, that you can move it in all directions and it responds so amazingly to what you're trying to do in the game, I couldn't quite believe it was happening.

“I couldn't believe the other things the Wii did. I mean, I don't even know what it can do fully but I was really surprised to find out that it had wireless capabilities. Putting my photo card in the machine and it having music and a slideshow, to zoom in and out and show all the difference angles was mind-blowing to me. It's like having a computer, but for the price - you get so much stuff! And having a wireless connection makes it great for me.

“I really liked the Mii Channel. Now when I'm watching TV or a movie, I keep finding myself thinking how much fun it would be to make that person's face, how many options it had to make someone actually look like their character in the game. I wanted to make Nicole Kidman and this funny-loooking guy with bee eyes and a big face from a movie. I want to make all kinds of characters from real faces that I see and out them into my own little world. It'd be so much fun to do that!

“Another point is that my husband and I are both in our 50s. I enjoyed that we could both have our own characters that look like us and I get to beat him at tennis when I couldn't in real life. I also loved the exercise element of the games - I loved that. My arms got a little sore after boxing but not much, I could just tell that I'd gotten a little upper-body workout. The vibration worked really well in the wand which you could feel in your hand and which added another dimension to the game.”

[b]Candidate 5
Name David Pemberton
Age: 56
Occupation: Auto Sales Manager
Gaming experience: Dipped a toe in kids' Atari VCS and some old coin-ops. Reels off Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger.
Expectations of the Wii: “I had heard about it from kids, though knew nothing about it.”[/b]

Game-Time Experience
“I've always been disappointed when I've watched other people playing games, always thought, "How can these people not put this game down, how can they do this for so long, there's better things in life than playing videogames". Wii Sports is the most amazing thing I've seen in my life. The way you build the little people to your own specifications makes the game so addictive because you start taking on the persona of your character.

“I've seen a lot of videogames, at homes, in arcades and nothing comes close to this - you feel like you actually are there in the game. Then you really get into it. You start bad-mouthing your opponent; if they do well you get upset. I was telling my wife that when I was playing the tennis game, and I used to be a pro-tennis player, you physically get so caught up in the mental aspects of the game, you get exhausted - you're mentally tired when you're done playing. When it was taken away from me I was upset!

“The Mii character construction is almost scary - you have so many options. My first attempt at building myself didn't work out so well, so after a few games my whole family got involved. Then I was looking at the character I was playing - skinny legs, great tan, great jock - it's me!

“I'm not a computer-literate person but having Internet and email in your living room on the TV like that is mind-boggling to me, specially at the cost involved. We have a 32" TV right now and I can't imagine how good it would be running it on a 60"-er or something like that.

“It's a truly innovative invention should and probably will make millions and millions, because it's amazing!”

[b]Candidate 6
Name: Efra. Last name secret. "Does Madonna have a last name? What about Prince...?
Age: 31
Occupation: Entertainer
Gaming experience: None, perhaps ten minutes gametime ever.
Expectations of the Wii: “Never heard of it”.[/b]

Game-Time Experience
“Wii Sports was great. It was a game that I might be interested in because it's a lot different to anything I might have been exposed to in the past and it was much more interactive. The controller was interesting. I liked the concept and I noticed it has a little strap to keep it on your wrist. I liked that in general, it was easy to use. I played for a few hours and I got a lot of physical activity out of it so much so that I could feel it afterwards. I don't know if that will be a good or bad thing in the long-run... For example, if you bowl for real you bowl a ten-pound ball, but the controller is only 10oz so this might be a problem with lots of simulated situations in other games. I don't know what the repercussions might be from this. I've been thinking about that a lot.

“The Mii Channel is cute, gives things a bit of a personal touch but what I really liked was the interaction. I'd be just as happy with a symbol for playing games like in Monopoly, I don't care so much for having my picture or a little characature or whatever but it's still cool. The actual creating of the Mii characters was for me more fun than actually having the characters once we finished. Picking out peoples' noses, their eyes, their hair was a lot of fun. The main point was how interactive it was, and how varied; like, when you make little mistakes in Wii Sports, such as the bowling ball being thrown behind your characters, it's much more that you might expect.

“I like the idea of going online and playing against other people, like, if you're in your house and they are somewhere else - that's cool.”

The Conclusion Bit
Bonnie was reluctant to even touch the controller as was Efra. They both exhibited that non-gamer’s shyness, an awareness that videogames are well outside their comfort zones. Yet both were knocking down pins, building Miis, hitting homeruns in no time, just as competently as the true blue gamers they were competing against, and creating with.

The Wii naturally brings people together in a way similar to Karaoke. Everyone has to make a bit of a tit of themself, so standing in front of a TV making some oh-so-realistic sporting actions is okay, as long as you're not doing it alone.

Another important point was the willingness to invest in a Wii. Everyone said they would like one. SPOnG’s experiment prompted calls to friends and family, and everyone involved surveyed some days after they played, had something in common - they'd all been thinking about the Wii. Be it coveting one, imagining installing one in the home of a loved one, mentally designing the faces of those around them in the Mii Channel or simply thinking about the controller in abstract terms. Everyone was touched in a way that they had never been before by a videogame.

It is exactly this kind of momentum that Nintendo needs to pull it into the mainstream, ‘family room’ market, and it really is halfway there; its plan does work. The controller is less intimidating because it's shaped like a remote control. Non and lapsed-gamers do enjoy the Wii a great deal when they are presented with an opportunity to play. Internet access and Photo Channel are selling points; Mii inclusion does endear users to the wider experience of using the machine.

We expect a glorious future for Nintendo's Wii. We will be updating this piece after Christmas with how things have progressed with those we've spoken to. Let us know what you think, how you're going to get non-gamers you know playing, or if you've had any success in converting any you know – do so in the forum below these very words.