Wii

The Wii (ウィー Wī, pronounced /ˈwiː/) is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others.

A distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions. Another distinctive feature of the console is WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode.

The Wii is Nintendo's fifth home console and the direct successor of the Nintendo GameCube, being fully backwardly compatible with all GameCube games and most accessories. Nintendo first spoke of the console at the 2004 E3 press conference and later unveiled the system at the 2005 E3. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show. At E3 2006, the console won the first of several awards. By December 8, 2006, it had completed its launch in four key markets.

Two budget variants of the Wii hardware have been released. The "Wii Family Edition", released in late 2011 in all territories but Japan. It looks and functions identically to a normal Wii minus GameCube compatibility. The "Wii Mini" was released in late 2012 only for the UK and Canada, and sold surprisingly well, given that it is a severe departure from the original Wii; it lacks GameCube, online, SD Card, and Wi-Fi functionality, so it can only play retail Wii discs. Unlike the Wii Family Edition, the Wii Mini distinguishes itself with a smaller casing made of red and black textured plastic.

The Wii proved to be a massive commercial success; with over 98 million sales worldwide so far, it has outsold all of its competitors and broken several records. Its sales remain strong despite the release of its successor, the Wii U.