Console Hardware - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 150

controller was suggested early on, followed by the suggestion of making
the controller rod shaped, based on inspiration from devices commonly
used by people such as mobile phones and car navigation remotes. The
accelerometer was added relatively late in the process, partially infl uenced
by technology from a U.S. company (Gyration) which had licensed motion-
sensing patents to Nintendo (Gizmondo 2007). Experimentations also went
in other directions with a two-handed pointer controller, rejected intui-
tively after experimentation with the prototype “just didn't feel quite right”
(Nintendo 2006b). It was challenging for the company to depart from the
engrained established notion of two-handed controllers in the innovation
process. Yet, repetitive experimentation with the alternatives seems to have
been important in the process of breaking with established heuristics and
refl ecting on alternatives (Nintendo 2006b).
The intuitive judgment of key managers was essential in the selection
of the fi nal controller design. Rather than trying to take everybody's opin-
ion into consideration, Shigeru Miyamoto pushed the discontinuous design
based on his intuitive impressions:
This time [with the Wii controller], instead of just asking for everyone's
opinion, I strongly felt the need to persuade everyone because this was
the idea we were looking for . . . I felt that there was a reason to per-
suade everyone of this idea. How can I put it? It was like a realisation
for me. (Nintendo 2006b)
President Iwata refl ected:
I still remember the fi rst time I saw the pointer demo in one of the
conference rooms. From the moment I picked it up, it just felt right.
(Nintendo 2006b)
Once the decision was made, additional elements were then added to
the controller. Together, the pointer, rod shape and accelerometer defi ned
a large part of the unique innovative player experience from the controller.
To make the Wii compatible with some old games and games requiring a
dif erent control scheme, an extension connector with a nunchakus attach-
ment was developed.
OVERCOMING FIRM-EXTERNAL BARRIERS AND POST-LAUNCH
Nintendo had to overcome barriers with the Wii and its discontinuous con-
troller design among third-party game development studios and its most
dedicated consumers (“hardcore players”, “Nintendoboys”). Among third-
party game development studios, Wii initially received signifi cantly less sup-
port than the competitor's consoles. With a few exceptions, third-party game
development studios also had considerably more dii culties than Nintendo