ArsTechnica: How the Wii was born

Extensive article published today in ArsTechnica Articles/Culture, by Jeremy Reimer: “How the Wii was born”

The Nintendo Wii represents a bold new direction for the company, one that came as somewhat of a surprise. The integration of a motion-sensitive controller combined with the decision to go with a more modest technological improvement in processing power and graphics were both risky decisions, and the jury is still out on how successful these gambles will play out. Recently, Ars received a translation of an interview from a Japanese magazine with some key executives and engineers at Nintendo. The topic of discussion was the reasoning behind the company’s design decisions with the Wii, and what benefits they expected to receive from these decisions that would give them an advantage over their competitors….

Looks like lots of great details — I’m looking forward to reading it later in full.