The Nintendo Wii is a truly radical departure not just for Nintendo but also for video gaming in all respects. Nintendo took a big risk, but it has clearly paid off, since it's now the top selling video console. What is it that makes the Wii so different? We can pinpoint two aspects: the target market and how games are played.

Wii gameplay is nothing less than a revolution in gaming. For more than 25 years, gamers had to hold a little gamepad or joystick to manipulate on-screen action. Both kinds of conventional controllers tended to create cramps in the fingers and hands. Some types of controllers with rather sharp corners, especially the Nintendo NES, were even apt to gouge into the gamers' hands. Evidently the games were so interesting that they simply ignored the discomfort and kept right on playing!

A common feature in the conventional controller is that they demand fast movement of players' thumbs and, in some cases, the fingers. Though the Wii controllers also have some buttons controlled by fingers and thumbs, the main movements are enacted via hand movement. This is a far more natural kind of play which is ultimately more comfortable for many people.

The new controller style works very well in certain types of games, especially sport games such as baseball or tennis. Nintendo designed the controller in a way that when it is used correctly, it is very similar to the actual sport being played. So when gearing up to bat in a baseball game, you would hold the controller just like a baseball bat. If you are hitting a tennis ball, you would flick the controller as you would with a tennis racket.

This leads into the next area that makes the Wii stand out. With this product, Nintendo has targeted those who don't usually play video games while simultaneously, creating a system which current gamers could appreciate and enjoy. Not everybody will get the knack of grasping a controller with both their hands, and for both avid gamers and casual players, the Wii is the ideal option.

Nintendo's Wii console and the Wii Remote technology are still unparalleled, and for the most part they are also unchallenged. The only possible exception is Sony's PS3 "Sixaxis" controller, which was a last-minute deal, announced only months before the PlayStation 3 came out and not too long after the Wii's motion-sensing technology was made public. The Sixaxis controller integrates some motion-sensing factors of the Wii but still has the old, familiar style for the controller.

So too has Microsoft divulged its development of an Xbox 360 Remote which is reputed to emulate the technology exhibited in the Wii remote. However, the experience of using this yet-undebuted Microsoft remote in actual gaming is still an unknown.

Nintendo hasn't rested on its laurels; it continues to blaze new trails. For instance, a reported new technological enhancement that plugs into the Wii remote will give much more precise sensing. This could lead to better game playing experiences for everybody. We'll have to wait and see while Microsoft and Sony attempt to catch up with the Wii.