1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF DECEMBER 17 | THE ESSENTIAL 100, PART FOUR

The Essential 100, No. 10: Wii Sports

Cover Story: Nintendo's pentalogy of mini-games made the world stand in attention.

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t still amazes me that in the fall of 2006, Nintendo delivered a console launch title that made us engage in the simple act of standing up, something that has never quite been associated with gaming. In a sense, Wii Sports was a litmus test of sorts. Were it to fail, this past generation of gaming might have played out quite differently. Perhaps Sony and Microsoft would've thought twice about releasing Move and Kinect, costly peripherals that felt like a gut reaction to combat the Wii's inherent capabilities. But it didn't fail â?? in fact, it did quite the opposite. Because of its existence as a pack-in, Wii Sports became synonymous with the console, and an absolute sign of things to come.

Before the Wii, it felt like the only time video games became a part of the national conversation was amidst condemnation. The media found a way to take all of America's problems, from violence to obesity to desensitization, and make our medium the boogie man. But suddenly, the conversation changed. Nintendo's new console wasn't met with a wagging finger, but rather heralded for its ability to change. Gaming was no longer viewed as a fickle hobby. It was now a legitimate form of recreation that shed its visage of an exclusive club and embraced the masses. Our parents and grandparents could pick up a Wiimote and understand the fundamental nature of controlling Wii Sports, despite the fact that they might've never touched a game in their lives. Likewise, toddlers could waggle the small controller and see that their movements had a tangible effect on the action occurring on their television. Despite its admitted simplicity, Wii Sports was a revolution.

For me personally, I was amazed that Wii Sports finally lent some merit to my strange habit of having physical reactions to the events of a given game. For those of us armchair commandos who pantomime their way through an adventure, Wii Sports gave us a reason to imitate our onscreen avatars. There's no reason for us to slightly elevate our NES controllers to usher in a jump in Super Mario Bros. or physically move to the side to avoid an oncoming rocket in Halo, but mimicking an accurate bowling motion in Wii Sports was the difference between success and failure. Sure, each of the five events could be broken by finding out the slight motions that led to victory, but part of its charm was imitating those sports without having to leave your living room.

I wrote about it for our Wii-centric cover story, but during the six months following the launch of Nintendo's console, it was impossible for me to step foot anywhere near my college campus without finding a group of people gesturing with white Wiimotes in their hands. From frat parties to intimate gatherings, everyone I knew had their own personal Miis residing on multiple consoles throughout the neighborhood. It was even more surprising to see the types of people who flocked to these digital gatherings -- no longer were video games relegated to those of us who grew up eagerly awaiting each new console launch. The interface of Wii Sports was simplistic and intuitive enough to allow anyone to engage with it, no matter their gaming background. It also had the uncanny ability to make itself immediately appealing after just a slight glance. Certain titles require quite a bit of explanation, or a steep barrier to entry in order to enjoy yourself. But anyone could "get" Wii Sports just a few seconds after seeing it in action. Along with later games like Angry Birds and Draw Something, it has been as powerful a gateway drug as our medium has seen.

I've never understood the backlash Wii Sports and its fellow "casual" titles receive from many seasoned gamers. The thought that a game's merit is somehow diminished just because it can be enjoyed by the masses is completely asinine. In fact, I'd argue that it's even more difficult to create an experience that's comprehensive in its target audience. It's a feat rarely seen in art. For as much as I love punishingly difficult things like Dark Souls and Super Meat Boy, our medium would be little more than a niche hobby were it not for games like Wii Sports.

Regardless of how "hardcore" you consider yourself to be, Wii Sports' impact on video games is undeniable. Alongside the explosion of iOS gaming, it broadened the very definition of our medium to a staggering degree. It provided merit to Nintendo's risky paradigm shift, put video games in homes that have no idea of what a Konami code is, and it may have very well been the last across the board pack-in that we ever see. It shattered the conception of video games as a compartmentalized hobby, and helped solidify our medium as a major facet of popular culture.

Marty Sliva

1UP editor Marty Sliva thinks that anyone who discounts the impact of games like Angry Birds and Wii Sports is a complete doofus. There, he said it. To see him slay other doofi, follow him on twitter.