Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii, introduced in 2006 under the codename “Revolution”, brought families together in the living room in ways its competitors could not capture. Under the hood was a PowerPC “Broadway” processor and ATI “Hollywood” graphics processor. It stood out with its unique motion controller, the Wiimote, which used a design most people were already familiar with, resembling a TV remote over more traditional controller designs like the PS3, Xbox 360, or even its predecessor, the Nintendo Gamecube. Although the Wii wasn’t the first home console to bring motion controls to the living room, it was the first time it was the primary way to interact with the console rather than being an accessory sold after. This meant developers could design games utilizing this medium to craft games where you can swing the remote like a baseball bat and get a home run, or face down hoards of enemies by slicing with your controller as if it were a sword. This also attracted an audience that wouldn’t typically play video games. Grandpa may not understand how to time a perfect dodge roll in Dark Souls, but driving a golf ball down the fairway with a golf club he sure can. And that’s really what the Wii was all about, and what led to its success, selling over 100 million units, and it being the 7th best-selling console as of 2026.