Portable Planet

Wii is pretty cheap when compared to the cost ofSony’s PlayStation 3or Microsoft’s Xbox 360. But if Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto had gotten his way, it wouldhave been even more inexpensive.

“Originally, I wanted a machine that would cost $100,” he told Business Week. “My idea was to spend nothing on the console technology so all the money could be spent on improving the interface and software. If we hadn’t used NAND flash memory [to store data such as games and photos] and other pricey parts, we might have succeeded. To answer your questions, yes, we set out to design a console that would sell for less than 25,000 yen ($211). It was a tall hurdle. But unless you start off with a target, you can’t control costs and you’ll inevitably lose money. Also, we thought a low-cost console would make moms happy.”

It was a conscious decision for Nintendo not to try to out-power its competition; gameplay won out over graphics. “We didn’t think it was possible to build a powerful machine for less than 50,000 yen ($450). Not only would it use a lot of electricity, it would need a fan, which meant it would be noisy. Moms would rise up against it,” explained Miyamoto.