Wii Sports

Not to be confused with Wii Sports Resort, Wii Sports Club or Nintendo Switch Sports.

Wii Sports (Wii スポーツ Wii Supōtsu) is a sports video game developed and produced by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console, and part of the Touch! Generations brand. It is the first entry in the Sports series. It was first released in the United States. along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month. The game is included as a pack-in game with the Wii in all territories except Japan, making it the first game included with the launch of a Nintendo system since Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy in 1995.

Wii Sports is the fourth-highest sold video game of all time; 82 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, making it Nintendo's highest sold game. Wii Sports has been featured on television in Wii commercials, news reports, and other programmings.

A special limited-edition bundle was also released in Europe in November 2009 featuring both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort on the same disc packaged with a black Wii console and a Wii MotionPlus. The game was followed by a sequel, Wii Sports Resort, in 2009, a remake, Wii Sports Club, in 2013, and another sequel, Nintendo Switch Sports, in 2022.

The video game is a companion piece to Wii Play.

Gameplay[]

Wii Sports is a collection of five sports simulations, designed to demonstrate the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote to new players. The five sports included are Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. Players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real-life sports, such as swinging a Tennis racket. Players also get to play as their Mii for the first time (unless they played another game that supports Miis beforehand). The rules for each game are simplified to make them more accessible to new players.

After winning a game the player is awarded skill points, but if they lose, skill points are deducted. The amount of points the player gains depends on various factors, including the players performance and the skill gap between the player and opponent players. As the players skill, in a sport goes up, the opponents they face in get harder. After gaining 1,000 skill points in a sport, the player is in Pro Class.

The game also features a training mode which include mini games based on the Tennis, Boxing, Bowling, Golf, and Baseball sports and a fitness mode that monitor players' progress in the sports, by determining the players "Wii Fitness Age" on a scale of age 20 to age 80.

CPUs[]

The game introduced 60 starting CPU Miis, who appear as opponents in Tennis, Baseball, and Boxing if a human player is playing by theirself. Each CPU has their own preset skill level. If a CPU is beaten, the player will move on to a CPU of higher skill if they play again. This was the first time that CPU Miis appear in a Wii game.

Reception[]

Wii Sports received generally positive reviews according to Metacritic with a score of 76, four lower than its sequel Wii Sports Resort. The highest score of 90 was given by Official Nintendo Magazine System UK, N-Europe and Nintendojo while the lowest was given by Digital Entertainment News, with a score of 50. IGN enjoyed the simple, pick-up and play style of the game, but criticised the low graphic quality and lack of depth, giving it a 7.5. GameSpot liked the additional training features to the game and the basic pick-up and play features, but still felt it lacked in graphic quality and depth giving it a 7.6. GameTrailers commented that the game provided a lot of depth for long time gamers while still being accessible for new gamers. They criticised the lack of a tournament mode and said that the game was not worth paying for and was only worth it if the game came bundled with the system with an 8/10. The game ended up winning several awards both at E3 and after release. Time said the game was the best of 2006 and IGN gave it the best sport game and 2nd best game of 2006.

Trivia[]

There was supposed to be another sport, Airplane, which was shown off at E3 2006 along with the other sports featured in the final game. This game would've been similar to Island Flyover from Wii Sports Resort, but instead of collecting iPoints and popping balloons, you would instead fly your plane through rings to gain points. After the timer runs out, it would tell you your score along with how many rings you went through. This game also features an incredibly primitive version of Wuhu Island, the first time this island appeared. Wuhu Island would later return in the Wii Fit series and as the main location for Wii Sports Resort, along with appearances in many non Wii Series games.
In E3 2006, there were four Wii Sports minigames showcased: Airplane, Tennis, Baseball and Golf. Airplane was scrapped, although the Island Flyover and Dogfight games in Wii Sports Resort are based on Airplane. Miis also had a relatively more realistic design with ears. Additionally, he E3 announcer isn't Josh Millman, who is the announcer in the final version of the game, but rather who appears to be a female announcer.

Revisional Differences[]

Wii Sports had a re-release about a year later, with some changes being made for later pressings after the Wii Remote began coming packaged with a silicone sleeve. These changes are also present in the Nintendo Selects edition of the game. There are two versions, Rev 0 and Rev 1.

Wii Remote Sleeves[]

The warning screens and all other graphics of the Wii Remote were updated to reflect the silicone jacket's release.


Rev 0	Rev 1

Title Screen Sound[]

The initial North American (Rev 0) release did not play a Wii Remote sound upon pressing A + B on the title screen. This sound was added to the North American (Rev 1) re-release, and all (Rev 0 and Rev 1) European releases.

Baseball[]

The European and Japanese (Rev 0 and Rev 1) releases, as well as the North American (Rev 1) re-release, added an animation to the game-opening scene: as it begins, the opposing teams face one another, and the camera passes between them. As the camera passes each Mii, they look toward the screen, giving the cutscene some personality. This may have been added to make clearer who is on the teams, since all, but the pitcher, are randomly selected.

In the initial (Rev 0) North American release, if a grounder were caught quick enough to call an out, the Mii who caught it would hold it. In all future releases, the Mii will also throw the ball first to appear more realistic.

Boxing[]

In the initial (Rev 0) North American release, after knocking out an opponent, the game would instantly go to the You Won/Lost sequence afterward. In all future releases (including the Rev 0 European and Japanese releases), two replays are shown of the winner's Mii knocking out the opponent, going into slow-motion at the end of each replay. These replays also play a music track that didn't appear in the initial North American version.

Disconnected Wii Remote Glitch[]

If the player disconnects their Wii Remote during a golf shot, and reconnects it before the shot has concluded, they will be able to input a second shot, allowing them to navigate out of bounds. The glitch behaviour is slightly different between the Rev 0 and Rev 1 versions; on the Rev 0 version, the 30 second out of bounds timer will not run during a disconnected shot, whilst on the Rev 1 version, it will run. This means that, on the Rev 1 version, if you reconnect after waiting out the timer, the game will assume you are out of bounds.

Lag spikes[]

In Rev 1, some Boxing training minigames may have lag spikes if punches are quick enough in succession. These lag spikes weren't present in Rev 0.

Gallery[]

References[]

CPU Miis that debuted in Wii Sports[]

There are a total of 60 CPU Miis In Wii Sports. They all return in Wii Sports Resort and Wii Party.

Wii Sports / Wii Party

Abby • Ai • Akira • Alex • Andy • Anna • Ashley • Chris • Daisuke • David • Elisa • Emily • Emma • Eva • Fumiko • Haru • Hayley • Helen • Hiroshi • Jackie • Jake • James • Jessie • Julie • Kathrin • Keiko • Kentaro • Luca • Lucía • Marco • Maria • Martin • Matt • Michael • Mike • Misaki • Miyu • Naomi • Nick • Oscar • Pierre • Rachel • Ren • Rin • Ryan • Saburo • Sakura • Sarah • Shinnosuke • Shouta • Silke • Steph • Steve • Takumi • Tatsuaki • Theo • Tyrone • Víctor • Yoko • Yoshi