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Miyamoto: Wii & Wii U Are White To Appeal To All Ages

Last week at E3 2011, I had a chance to sit down and chat with video game luminary Shigeru Miyamoto. We’ll be posting the interview in full tomorrow, but to offer a glimpse, here’s what the creator of Donkey Kong, Mario, and Zelda had to say when asked why the Wii and Wii U aren’t as colorful as past Nintendo systems.

“Based on my background as an industrial designer and Nintendo and my background in creating entertainment, I’ve always wanted to make greater use of color in our hardware,” said Miyamoto. “If you look back on things like the Famicom and the original Super Nintendo, they were a lot more colorful from a hardware perspective.

"What we found over the years when we included a lot of different colors in our hardware is people would kind of point to that and use it to paint us as more kid-oriented. So really what we looked at is what are some ways from a design perspective that can make the system appeal to all ages One of the ways that we found to best do that is to minimize the use of color. In that process we asked if we’re going to do that, what’s the best way to go? We found that rather than going all black - all white seems to have a broader appeal to people.”

Check back tomorrow to learn more from Miyamoto on Nintendo’s new console, Zelda’s 25th anniversary, and some interesting facts about Nintendo’s past.

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Comments
  • Inb4atrollpostssomethingaboutmiyamtobeingracist

    JK, I actually like the white color. It makes the console look sleeker, but if I had to choose between the 3 consoles looks, it would have to be the 360s. The original 360 was like a big brick; I still don't like the look of the PS3, but the Wii looks sleek and small.
  • meh, i dont mind the white.
  • I think white makes it look too...i dunno it makes me NOT wanna play it.At least mix in more blue or red something that makes it look less childish.
  • White is good since it doesn't show dust so much.I personally like black,but all that dust isn't appealing.
  • I like how the design is so slick in comparison to the xbox or ps3. It really just fits well with almost any aesthetic for any type of room or entertainment center. I really wish the Wii-U would look a little different though. In all honesty, I couldn't tell that the Wii-U looked any different from a Wii until after I watched the press show and looked on google, had to make sure the console was not just the controller.
  • If they want the WiiU to look more mature, then they should just use darker metallic colors. The N64 looked childish because all the colors were very bright and rainbowish.
  • Interesting....

  • Why not do what they did with the Gamecube? I miss that time when consoles were multicolored. Even that ugly orange color!
  • They should have went with yellow. Just kidding but I enjoy a little creativity I would be more inclined to buy if it was a different color, I'm tired of having black or white consoles.Metallic fu**ing blood red or orange and then its game time.

  • I don't get how blah white makes it more kid-oriented. When I was a kid I wanted black, blue, red, clear, anything but plain white or silver.

    I'd think the software and such would be more integral to making it kid-friendly. Besides, are kids really the ones buying it (or just asking their parents)?
  • Honestly white doesn't appeal to a lot of people if anything black does. White has never been a popular color it's fully absent of color when black is all the colors in one. Black in my opinion makes your console look more sleek and less obvious.
  • ....read between the lines.... WHITE is cheaper to produce, and to me black or a combination of colors would look more grown up and no so childish as the old Wii. Most of my A/V components are black anyway, the HD tv, the stereo receiver, my satilite box...come on nintendo. I guess a white Wii would look good next to a kids "CARS 2" tv set.
  • White is too boring ,plus i work at GameStop and that white becomes yellow real fast. You should see some of our trade-ins , EWWWWW!
  • "Wii & Wii U Are White To Appeal To All Ages" - That's racist :) jk Also, what does this mean for the Gamecube? Who does purple appeal to, Nintendo!?!
  • I get using a solid neutral color, but the white just makes it look cheap to me. I know the color has absolutely nothing to do with quality, but cheap is what it screams to me.
  • The solid white color is okay, but I really hope that the Wii U is available in more colors. I remember at E3 '06 they showcased a crapload of Wii colors (white, gray, black, green, and red), and I would have loved a black or green one.
  • I honestly believe that if the Wii U was first shown in black, the Nintendo stocks wouldn't have dropped as much and the system would have been taken more seriously by the people.

    An extreme assumption, I know, but that's how much I feel that it wasn't the best color choice for them. If you're trying to win back the love of the hardcore audience, you have to remind them of the Wii as little as possible.

  • i rather have a black or heck even grey  something to blend into the rest of my electronics  -_-

  • I don't get much of this. The NES was a few dark shades, the SNES was the same way, white/grey with purple buttons. The Gamecube was an exception, I still like the color choice of that dark purple... Hell, even the PS2 came out eventually with about 15 color choices. Color does add some life, but they still ended up releasing a black Wii. This just kind of confused the hell out of me.
  • Black or grey are more appealing colors to me! White stands out too much on my tv stand, I want things to blend in, not stick out! I don't even like my bedroom walls white!

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