Wii Play

Did You Know?

• The game was developed as a compilation of prototype games originally shown off at E3 2006.
• Tanks! is the only minigame in Wii Play that can be played using the Wii Nunchuk.
• In single-player mode of Tanks!, there are a total of 100 missions which can be played through after earning a gold medal for completing mission 20.

Development

Wii Play was part of Shigeru Miyamoto's Wii Project, alongside Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Wii Music. The project compiled technical demos that exhibited the capabilities of the Wii console and its Wii Remote controller. These prototypes used features such as rotation sensing, employed in Pose Mii and Laser Hockey, and depth movement detection, used in Table Tennis, Fishing, and Billiards. The tech demos were first publicly shown at the 2006 E3 convention alongside those used in Wii Sports. A demo of the shooting range minigame, titled Shooting, was also presented during the 2006 Nintendo Fusion Tour. Development officially began when Miyamoto decided to flesh out the demonstrational games and release them together. The Nintendo EAD development team had about seven to eight months to create the game, with Motoi Okamoto, who previously worked on Pikmin and the touchscreen minigames in Super Mario 64 DS, serving as director. The demo games were split into two categories: sports-themed games became Wii Sports, while the remaining pointer-based games became Wii Play. The game was developed alongside Wii Sports, with the two teams sharing artists and programmers. As development progressed, more attention went to Wii Sports, which was deemed higher priority. Some E3 demos were cut due to time constraints; these later inspired other games. For example, Obstacle Course was adapted into the Wii Fit game Balance Bubble, and Bird influenced the Balloon Fight-inspired Balloon Trip Breeze in Nintendo Land. Wii Maestro, an orchestra-themed demo, was planned for inclusion but was moved to Wii Music.

Reception

Wii Play received mixed reviews from critics, with aggregate scores of 61.64% on GameRankings and 58/100 on Metacritic. Common Sense Media gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, concluding it is not as fun as Wii Sports. Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers gave scores of 6.0, 4.5, and 5.0, noting that while anyone can play it, players will likely be bored in minutes. GamesTM scored it 3/10, stating that even the working games break down due to being extremely bland or too repetitive, and that Shooting loses its charm when targets follow similar paths each time. Pete Metzger of Variety called the controls a step backwards from Wii Sports. GamePro's The Grim Wiiper described the games as repetitive and mediocre but found the included Wii Remote made the package more compelling. IGN Australia was more positive, awarding 8.3/10, noting the game was effectively sold at a low additional cost and succeeded as a training game. Official Nintendo Magazine gave it 91%, describing the games as surprisingly addictive and citing the value of the extra Wii Remote.

Sequel

A sequel, Wii Play: Motion, was announced in a press conference on April 12, 2011, and later shown at E3. It was released for the Wii in June 2011. The game uses the Wii MotionPlus peripheral for more precise motion control and features minigames designed to demonstrate its enhanced capabilities. Like its predecessor, it was bundled with a Wii MotionPlus Wii Remote, black in North America and red in Europe.