Wii Sports facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wii Sports |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Junji Morii |
| Programmer(s) | Tsutomu Kaneshige |
| Composer(s) | Kazumi Totaka |
| Series | Wii |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
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Wii Sports is a fun sports video game made by Nintendo. It came out in 2006 for the Wii game console. It was first released in North America on November 19, 2006, with the Wii console itself. Other parts of the world got it soon after. For most places, Wii Sports came free with the Wii console. This was a big deal because it helped show off what the Wii could do!
Wii Sports is a group of five different sports games. They were made to show how the Wii Remote could sense your movements. The five sports you can play are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. Players use the Wii Remote to copy real-life sports actions. For example, you can swing it like a tennis racket or roll it like a bowling ball. The rules for each game are made simple so new players can easily join in. The game also has training and fitness modes to help players get better.
Wii Sports was very popular with both critics and players. Many people think it is one of the greatest games ever. It also sold a lot, with over 82 million copies worldwide. This makes it the best-selling Nintendo video game and one of the top-selling video games of all time. It was even shown in TV commercials and news reports. The game became a popular way for friends and families to play together.
In 2009, a new game called Wii Sports Resort came out. It had 12 sports, with 10 of them being brand new. A newer version of Wii Sports with better graphics, called Wii Sports Club, was released in 2014 for the Wii U. Another game in the series, Nintendo Switch Sports, came out in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
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How to Play Wii Sports
Wii Sports has five different sports games. You can choose them from the main menu. These games are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. The games use the Wii Remote's motion sensors. This lets you control your character's arm or the sports equipment they use. For boxing, you use both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk attachment to control both of your character's arms.
You move the remote like you would play the real sport. For example, you swing it like a golf club or a baseball bat. Some parts of the game are controlled by the computer. In tennis, the game's computer moves your player around. You only control the swinging of the racket. In baseball, you handle the batting and pitching. The computer takes care of fielding and running the bases.
Because golf and bowling take turns, many players can share just one Wii Remote. This makes it easy for friends and family to play together.
Your Mii Characters in the Game
The characters you play as in the game are your Miis. You create these custom characters in the Wii's Mii Channel. Wii Sports was the first Wii game to use this cool feature. Your Miis saved on the Wii will even show up in the crowd during bowling games. They also appear as teammates in baseball games. You can even save your Miis onto a Wii Remote's memory. This lets you use them on a different Wii console.
Getting Better and Fitness Fun
After you play a game, you get skill points. These points show how well you played compared to the computer. Some games do not give points during multiplayer games. The game tracks your points on a graph. As you get more points, the crowd in Tennis and Boxing single-player modes gets bigger.
If you get 1000 skill points in a sport, you become a "pro." When you become a pro, your Mii gets a special look in Bowling and Boxing. You will also get a message on the Wii Message Board telling you that you are a pro.
Wii Sports also has a fitness test. This test figures out your "fitness age." This age can be anywhere from 20 to 80 years old, with 20 being the best. The test checks how well you do in three random challenges from the training mode. You can only take this test once a day for each Mii. The fitness age considers your balance, speed, and stamina. Your fitness age results are shown on a graph over one, two, or three months. Daily results are also posted on the Wii Message Board.
The challenges for the fitness test come from the training mode. In training mode, you can practice three challenges for each sport. You can earn medals in these challenges by getting certain scores. Medals go from bronze to platinum, with bronze being the easiest and platinum the hardest.
How Wii Sports Was Made
Katsuya Eguchi was the producer for Wii Sports. Nintendo wanted to make games that people who had never played video games before could enjoy. They needed a game that both new and experienced players could have fun with together. Nintendo also wanted people to play their new system every day. Wii Sports was designed to be a simple game for everyone.
Sports were chosen as the theme because most people know about them. The game was made to be simple so anyone could play. It did not have professional athletes or super realistic graphics. Things like running towards a ball in tennis were left out to keep it simple. At one point, Super Mario characters were used in the game. But players liked using their own Miis more, so the Mario characters were removed. The computer players in the game were also made using the Mii Channel tools.
The game uses a widescreen view and runs smoothly at 60 frames per second. It uses the Wii Remote's accelerometer to understand your movements. Actions like pitching and hitting were made to feel as real as possible. Nintendo decided to include Wii Sports free with the Wii console in most places. They thought this would make more people try the game. They also believed that if players liked the game, they would tell their friends about it.
At first, Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata were not sure about giving the game away for free. But Reggie Fils-Aimé, the President of Nintendo of America, convinced them. He believed Wii Sports would be very important for the Wii console to be a success.
Before the E3 event in 2006, the first sport in the game was called Wii Sports: Tennis. Later, at Nintendo's press conference, it was announced as part of a sports package called Wii Sports. This package would include tennis, golf, and baseball. The game was shown with videos and a live demo. Iwata and Fils-Aimé even played a doubles tennis match against Miyamoto and a contest winner. Other sports like Wii Sports: Baseball and Wii Sports: Golf were also shown. An "airplane" game was also planned but was not in the final Wii Sports. It later appeared in Wii Sports Resort. On September 14, 2006, Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed the five sports and that Wii Sports would come free with every Wii console.
Impact of Wii Sports
Wii Sports was a huge reason for the Wii's success around the world. It was one of the first games made with a special idea: to create fun games for everyone. Other games like Wii Play, Wii Fit, and Wii Music followed this idea. A direct sequel, Wii Sports Resort, came out in 2009.
Matt, a computer opponent in the game, became very famous online. This was partly because he was much harder to beat than other computer players. Because he was so popular, Matt later showed up in Nintendo Switch Sports. You can even unlock him as a boss in the Chambara sport.
Wired magazine called Wii Sports one of the "15 Most Influential Games of the Decade." They said it helped make motion controls popular and changed video games a lot. In 2019, GameSpot said it was one of the most important games of the 21st century. They noted how easy it was to play and how it appealed to many different people. Wii Sports was added to the World Video Game Hall of Fame in May 2023.
Staying Safe While Playing
After the Wii came out, some players got minor injuries while playing Wii Sports. This happened when they accidentally hit other players or objects while swinging the Wii Remote. Sometimes, players would even throw the remote by accident. Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, started a plan to help stop these accidents. A Nintendo spokesperson said, "People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing the game, and in some cases the remote would come loose from their hands." Nintendo then offered new Wii Remote wrist straps that were much thicker.
Other injuries included muscle or tendon problems from playing too much. People called this "Wii-itis."
Health Benefits and Social Fun
Wii Sports has been praised for helping families spend time together. It has also been seen as a way to exercise and even lose weight if played regularly. A study in 2007 found that teenagers playing Wii Sports used a little more energy than playing on other game consoles. They said it was not a replacement for real sports, but it could help with weight management.
The game has also been used to help people in physical therapy. It has helped a boxer, stroke victims, and injured soldiers. Wii Sports was also used to help stroke victims in Scandinavia and children with a type of cerebral palsy.
Wii Sports and Wii Fit are known for attracting more casual players. This includes women and older gamers. Wii Sports has become a popular way for people to gather and have friendly competitions. Many senior centers and retirement homes have even started Wii Sports bowling leagues.
After the game came out in Australia, Nintendo and a department store held a Wii Sports tennis tournament in January 2007. The winners got to play against professional tennis players. An unofficial Wii Sports tennis tournament called "Wiimbledon" was held in a bar in Brooklyn, New York, in June 2007. It had 128 players, and many dressed up in costumes.
Wii Sports in Pop Culture
Wii Sports has been shown on TV many times. It appeared in commercials for the Wii console and on news shows. The game has also been on comedy shows. On Late Night with Conan O'Brien, host Conan O'Brien played Wii Sports tennis against tennis star Serena Williams. Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien beat Rick Mercer in Wii Sports boxing on the Rick Mercer Report. The boxing game was also on The Colbert Report. At the 80th Academy Awards Show, host Jon Stewart and Jamia Simone Nash were seen playing Wii Sports tennis as a joke. Wii Sports has also been in movies like Tropic Thunder and in commercials for products like Kellogg's Smart Start cereal.
Other Games in the Wii Sports Series
Wii Sports Resort
A sequel, Wii Sports Resort, was first shown at Nintendo's E3 event in 2008. The idea for a sequel came up earlier, but development really took off when the Wii MotionPlus accessory was created. This game has 12 sports, with only 2 from the original Wii Sports. New sports include swordplay, wakeboarding, Frisbee, archery, basketball, table tennis, power cruising, canoeing, cycling, and air sports (like parachuting). The game was first released in South Korea and Japan in June 2009. It came out in other places in July 2009. As of March 2020, the game has sold over 30 million copies. It is a favorite for kids all over the world.
Wii Sports Club
On September 18, 2013, Nintendo announced Wii Sports Club for the Wii U Nintendo eShop. This game has the five original Wii Sports games but with much better graphics. It also supports the Wii MotionPlus (like Wii Sports Resort) and lets you play online with others. The game uses a "Club" system. Players join regional or national clubs and can talk to each other. They also compete against other clubs for rankings.
After a free 24-hour trial, players could buy a day pass to play all the games. Or, they could buy full access to individual games. Tennis and Bowling came out first on October 30, 2013. Golf was released on December 18, 2013. Baseball and Boxing came out at the end of June 2014. A physical version of Wii Sports Club was released in July 2014.
Nintendo Switch Sports
On February 9, 2022, Nintendo announced a new game called Nintendo Switch Sports. It was released for the Nintendo Switch on April 29, 2022. This game includes some sports from Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. These are Bowling, Tennis, Golf, Chambara (a type of Swordplay). It also added new sports like soccer, volleyball, and badminton.
See also
In Spanish: Wii Sports para niños
