4. New Structure

Wii U can connect directly with the Wii Balance Board. From here on out, how do you want to change Wii Fit?

You're asking good questions! (laughs) Of course I'd like people to play Wii Fit, I don't think people have to do training in front of the big screen every day. I think it's enough if people just check their weight.

I see.

At first I only thought "it would be great if you could check your weight with just Wii, without having to turn the TV on." And then I thought this new controller could be the middle ground. Instead of turning on the TV, just this is enough to display graphs and such while you’re checking your weight, so it's handy in a way that you are able to play Wii Fit with just this and the Wii Balance Board⁶. ⁶Wii Balance Board: One of the accessories for the Wii console, it can measure the player's weight and check their balance. The Wii Balance Board accessory is available with the Wii games Wii Fit (no longer available) and Wii Fit Plus.

I see.

And you can leave it in a state where you're able to check your weight right away. In that way, it'll be closer to what we envisioned Wii Fit to be. I can't really talk about it in detail, but we're working on new ways to do training exercises with Wii Fit, like using the camera , you can place it against something and play while the game looks at your status.

It certainly seems possible from an engineering standpoint that the camera will recognise you if you position the new controller to look at you. Moreover, it would be much more accessible if all you have to do is to hold it, press a button and stand on the Wii Balance Board.

I think so. I hope it turns out that way.

And by having two screens, aside from the ways to play which involve the connectivity that we just talked about, there are an endless possibility of ideas which can change, for example, highly strategic games like sports game, where things can move back and forth between the screen in your hands and the TV monitor that's away from you.

Yeah, there's a lot to it. Games are basically simulations, but it's too much if you try to take it too far and do something too true. That's why we've been making a lot of "fake play that seems real" up until now.

Yeah.

The reason for that is there were restrictions that limited what you could do when making the simulation only with a single screen and a controller. You had no other choice but to make it that way. But now it can be more real, or "seem more realistic". I think we're able to add more realism in different ways without making the gameplay too difficult. Um... I laugh at myself about this, but the game of golf... I don't play a whole lot of golf at all, so when the golf ball gets stuck in rough terrain, I don't really understand how tough that is! (laughs) But if I put this on the floor, it shows images of the ball buried in the sand , and I get a sense of how tough it is in the rough.

Right, and another thing, is that you can look at the ball, then see what's ahead of you, and look at the ball again and see what's ahead again. You can look down, and away as you swing the club. Even with the Wii Remote and how it can be swung like a golf club, you never looked down. Until now, at least.

It makes it more realistic, it's very good.

That way you look down as you play, it's so fun whether you're the one doing it or watching someone else play it. (laughs)

It really is. It changes things in baseball too. Until now, baseball games were more about how to control professional athletes. But now you actually feel like you're a player, and there's this sense of immersion that you're protecting the field .

Like this. (as if raising a glove)

Yeah, it feels like you're chasing after the ball. So you can run really fast to catch a ball, and feel as if you just made a play of the day. In that sense, you can now play in more of a simulation mindset.