The Wii interviews are still pouring in. Latest in a long line of the little buggers is Edge's natter with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
Top of Edge's topic list was people's reactions after Wii made its public debut and, according to Iwata, people generally loved getting their hands on his wand. However, it seems many had initial doubts. "Some people in the beginning showed some hesitation," Iwata explained, "I think it is simply because they are so accustomed to the conventional gameplay style of holding one controller with both hands."
Advertisement:"Even inside Nintendo," he continued, "those who had been working on the Zelda and Super Mario products, some of them are saying now that we have to change completely the way we play the game. At first they were uncomfortable with the new controls, but now they've been working with these controllers for a long time, they now say that they are accustomed to it, and it is rather difficult to for them to get back into the conventional way of gaming. It reminds me of what happened when Nintendo introduced the analogue stick on N64 - at that time we had the exact same feedback given to us."
Despite various reports on the 'net that Wii hardware still isn't finalised, Iwata was keen to reassure that the console is very close to completion. "Except, always, there will always be some minor modification towards the end," he elaborated. "Actually, we have always tried to make the working model very close to the final product that will be mass-produced, and what we are doing at this moment in time is fine-tuning the hardware and the components which will be included in the final retail version of the Wii."
Nothing new...