Wii Sports Resort Perfected An Already Addictive Gameplay Loop 15 Years Ago

So-called hardcore gamers were laughing when Nintendo revealed its bobbleheaded avatars lovingly called "Miis," and its motion controls. Millions in sales, a brand new family gaming experience and a revolutionized industry later, it wasn't funny, but a lot of fun. Titles including Wii Sports had us all waving our arms around frantically and turned even grandmas into gamers. Wii Sports Resort improved on its wildly successful predecessor in every conceivable way. It waved us down for hours upon hours of fun June 25, 2004 and has sold over 33 million copies. To this day, it has an intensely loyal following among content creators and regular players alike.

As much as fun as Wii games, including the original Wii Sports were, the motion tracking technology they used was in its infancy. More than a few TV screens got cracked trying to use those controllers. All Nintendo could do this console generation was win, so even the fail videos on social media helped promote the Wii as a source of endless entertainment.

The Wii Motion Plus helped greatly with the Wiimotes sensitivity. It was a must-have, and some Wii games require the enhanced control to work properly. Most of Wii's core audience were not hardcore gamers, and thus unaccustomed to buying more peripherals to improve their gaming experience. They would need a reason to buy this thing. They'd need a game every bit as addictive as Wii Sports was. Now that Nintendo had the technology, they could rebuild Wii Sports. Make it better, stronger than it was before..

The game's setting, Wuhu Island, is one of the biggest reasons it is remembered fondly. Gamers have drawn comparisons to Minecraft's environment. To them, it feels like a chill place to be. That was by design. Legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto had been working on what he called the island concept for more than ten years. Why, he thought, couldn't a location be an iconic character? Comic writers have often described locales such as Gotham City as being characters. Think about it. The second you read Gotham City, you envisioned a location. It might have been the film-noir inspired Gotham of Batman: The Animated Series, or the 1960s sitcom vibe of Batman: 66, but you immediately knew what I was talking about. For anyone who played Wii Sports Resort, the name Wuhu Island invokes fun in the sun in a variety of sports.

The best games teach us a skill, let us use it in the game, and then build new skills upon it. By the end of the game, we're a world-class martial artist, tomb raider, or in this case, wakeboarder. The only games that returned from Wii Sports were bowling and golf, dictated by their popularity. The remaining game selection went big including swordfighting, archery, and basketball. Because players were using the Wii's motion controls instead of a typical controller, it actually felt like you had a shootaround with your best buds.

On this 15th anniversary, countless Wii Sports Resort lovers will dust off those motion controls and fall in love all over again. Many others never put them down.