Ten minute run-through with the Wii interface

by Jason Wishnov { Oct 28th 2006 at 3:59PM }

Matt must have slept with Perrin or something, because IGN got their grubby mitts on a Wii debugging unit and a few games, to boot. On the latest IGN Weekly, Matt spends around ten minutes going through the Wii interface (mainly, the options menu) in detail. The menu seems to confirm the existence of one Wii code per system, as opposed to per game, which should make matchmaking at least slightly more convenient. He goes through Sound, Screen, Parental Controls, Sensitivity Options, and pretty much everything you'll see come November 19th. It's worth a watch, so check it out.

Tags: Cassamassina, Channels, Debug, Interface, Matt, Menu, Perrin, Screen, Sensitivity, Sound, Unit

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dyobolikal @ Oct 28th 2006 4:29PM

IGN gets pampered too much, but

Patrick @ Oct 28th 2006 4:56PM

It was worth watching but it's not something your gonna sh!t yourself over. It just shows the settings menu (pretty much). But it's nice to just see it. Also I like the thing with the cursor. Also I was thinking "Wonder what the nickname for the console was?". Oh well we may never know. Also...21 days 8 hours 1 min and 19 seconds

ConstyXIV @ Oct 28th 2006 5:16PM

I think the interface looks pretty nice, but I have one thing to say.
Nintendo, if you are reading this forum, there is one thing you could do about text input - Dasher
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/ if you're curious
It's a alternative input method designed for a mouse, and would fit quite well on the Wiimote. And, it's Open-Source, so what part of NO ROYALTIES or any other costs do you understand?

Grant @ Oct 28th 2006 5:30PM

Wow, that Dasher thing is definitely not something someone who isn't used to computers could just pick up intuitively. Normal text input is the way to go.

Bipedal @ Oct 28th 2006 9:45PM

Agreed. That dasher thing looks like total bullshit to me. I'd rather point and click on a virtual keyboard than have to use that thing.

Smoke @ Oct 28th 2006 6:23PM

I don't think that Dasher would be a good option, at least not without some alterations so it relies less on word prediction and more on just picking the right height, making URL entering and unknown words a bit easier to add. It's also not something people will pick up easily without having to read the manual first.

Also, the GNU GPL it's released under might be a bit on the restrictive side for Nintendo to adopt it(Considering they'd have to release either the source code or a legally binding offer to provide the source to whoever they redistribute it to), unless they go for dual-licensing.

More on topic: The interface looks pretty nice, especially how loading up a disk gives you different music. I have a feeling the main menu music could get annoying over time, but hopefully an option to select random MP3s from an SD card or the builtin memory will be included, or even a few classic tunes available for (free) download.

Josh @ Oct 28th 2006 6:32PM

Nope, that Dasher thing is definitely not doing it for me. It's EXTREMELY unintuitive and I couldn't figure out how to make a space. It just kept adding letters as I looked for th space. The standard onscreen keyboard is unquestionably better.

Anyway, although I don't like the whole IGN Weekly thing or the rest of the video, I do love IGN's Nintendo team and this run-through. Very informative.

Jaille @ Oct 28th 2006 6:38PM

They could use the text input widgets on the DS as a secondary input option since they want to push that connectivity (and sell DSs).

And, have you guys heard of Fitt's Law:

"In ergonomics, Fitts' law is a model of human movement, predicting the time required to rapidly move from a starting position to a final target area, as a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target. Fitts' law is used to model the act of pointing, both in the real world, for example, with a hand or finger and on computers, for example, with a mouse. It was published by Paul Fitts in 1954."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts'_law

...with the tiny onscreen KB buttons and wiimote, its gonna problematic i think.

Zach @ Oct 28th 2006 6:53PM

Sounds like the kids at Wii Fanboy have sand in their vagina. They keep on ragging on IGN because they don't get the same perks. Jealousy. Envy.

And by the way, IGN got the debug kit from an external developer because Nintendo wouldn't give them one yet.

Dan @ Oct 28th 2006 7:09PM

First of all, the way that the discs go in is really sexy. They slide in and out without a hitch.

Second, the whole menu interface in general is really, REALLY slick, particularly the transition from the main system menu to the game bootup menu.

Ah, and once my wireless router arrives, I'll be able to have wireless internet access with my Wii. This makes me really, REALLY excited.

DemonicAngel @ Oct 28th 2006 8:29PM

That Dasher program is actually pretty damn clever, but possibly a little inappropriate to a system that's supposed to be simple to use from the get-go.

Anyway. Cool video. The whole interface is very well thought out.

Dan @ Oct 28th 2006 8:47PM

OK, I just tried that Dasher program, and it is VERY intuitive! To those of you who didn't like it, try actually learning how to use it (which doesn't take long) and you might just be surprised.

Burnt Meatloaf @ Oct 28th 2006 9:45PM

Dasher is awful. ZIP (zooming interface paradigm) has been very a popular concept among interface designers for years, but very, very few practical implemenations have been made.

There were a lot of words I was completely incapable of spelling (namely, "this"), because it is also a statistical interface -- which is anything but practical as you're constantly fighting between "prediction" mode and "non-prediction" mode. Yes, Dasher definately does have modes, and they are autonomous, which is REALLY bad. It's bad enough that you can't control it, but it does things that you don't expect, so you have to backtrack constantly, fighting with the interface when it doesn't predict something correctly.

This is a classic case of people liking something because it is clever and new, not because it is well designed. As an interface designer, I see this crap all the time.

A ZIP that works much better is the on-screen keyboard in that presentation where the size of particular letters increases as the pointer passes over them. Voice regognition would still be best, though, as that doesn't require any learning at all -- a perfectly natural interface. Dasher has its own paridigm that is completely unlike anything we do on a daily basis.

Anyway, the Wii interface is OK, but nothing special. Navigation could be a lot better, and I can imagine that the note system will quickly become overwhelmed by volume. The channels menu should have used ZIP, too, like the photo album.

It's nice that Nintendo did get rid of a boot-up screen, which is just a waste of time. That could be different for the final units, though.

Josh @ Oct 28th 2006 10:21PM

Dan (#11), if I have to learn how to use it, then it isn't very intuitive, is it?

brian @ Oct 29th 2006 11:37PM

>First of all, the way that the discs go in is really sexy. They slide in and out without a hitch.

Ha. Sexy like my ex girlfriend. ;-)

kidding aside, I think it's really cool that when you calibrate the remote, two dots show up on the screen to detect rotation.

getting rid of the boot up screen is great too, I'm sure since it's an always on device is the reason for that.

overall, I really have to say that while watching matt explaining the wii with the wiimote really just feels natural, and moreso than any console has been to this point. My impression of when he's facing us and then points on the screen with the wiimote is that it will do very well to pick up casual gamers.

Probot @ Oct 29th 2006 12:19AM

I doubt anything will be as intuitive as a keyboard. I hope Nintendo announces support of keyboards eventually. If they don't, why have the USB ports in the first place?

As for the video, the best thing in my opinion is knowing that WPA2 encryption is supported. That was the only thing stopping me from playing my DS online regularly.

Dan @ Oct 29th 2006 12:21AM

#14, The thing is, it's not hard to learn. After a few seconds of messing around, I realized that I could zip through all the letters to spell whatever I want. Although from other people's points, it's understandable why you wouldn't like it.

David @ Oct 29th 2006 11:20AM

Notice how when he wrote hello it said English in the botom left hand side of the screen. Take that, and then the fact that he was useing a North American system (seeing that only French, Spanish, and English were available) and it makes me wonder if I'll be able to write notes in Japanese on a North American Wii.

Author X @ Oct 29th 2006 2:57PM

@Dan: Easy for you does not mean easy for everyone else. I picked up on Dasher after several minutes of playing around with it, and then it felt somewhat natural, but I pick up on things easily (switching it to only moving where I click also made it MUCH easier to learn on the fly). In fact, I think it's a skill of gamers, and certainly the computer-savvy to see a foreign interface and be able to dive right in and figure out how it works without instructions. Nintendo, however, is trying to appeal to non-gamers, and non-nerds remember? For that matter, even when I was used to it, the word-prediction was REALLY obnoxious, and it would have been infinitely better if I could turn that off. Even when you were obviously outside the realm of known words, it seemed like it would make GUESSES either at random, or possibly based on the last few letters, ignoring what came before them. One of words I tried that I assumed would be unknowable was "bishounen", and after I got to "bishoun" I found that the entire area was almost completely filled with 't' - I know it couldn't have known what a bishounen is, but would bishount really have made more sense? (I can only assume it was associating 'oun' with 'count' for some reason).
Personally, I think it would be really cool if there was some patch created to change Wii's input to a Dasher interface, but it should in NO WAY have been the default.
Also, as Smoke said, Open Source does NOT automatically mean "use it in any way for any thing you could ever want" - in the case of GPL, everything derived from Dasher would have to also be open source, and also be licensed under GPL. I very much doubt Nintendo would choose to develop open-source software over making their own proprietary interface (and that's aside from arguable advantages of having a more standard virtual keyboard)

Erich @ Oct 29th 2006 7:14PM

@ #17

If you prefer Japanese as your primary language, wouldn't you want to import the system instead? That being said, this is still just a devkit, the final may or may not be different.

Grant @ Oct 29th 2006 6:38PM

I couldn't complete a single sentence with Dasher, and I tried for a good few minutes. There were lots of times where the letter I wanted was completely obscured by other letters and I couldn't find it. And in searching for it, letters I didn't want would end up going into the word instead. Nope, no good. Anyway, did you guys see how quickly Matt managed to type hello? It really wasn't very hard. It was quick and easy. Those buttons are big enough. Anyone who's used a mouse will know what to do.

Also, to the comment "if I have to learn how to use it, then it isn't very intuitive, is it?": I disagree. Just because you might have to learn something doesn't mean it's not intuitive. It just means you have to overcome the way you've already learned how to do it, which might be even less intuitive. For example, most people would agree that using a mouse is a more intuitive way to manage your computer files than using keyboard commands. Yet when the mouse came out, people had to learn how to use it. Non-computer users still have trouble controlling the cursor effectively and landing on the correct icons. But it's still a more intuitive system than what had existed before it.

Joe @ Oct 29th 2006 8:34PM

What everyone here has failed to notice is the most important part of that video- the Wii will support not only WEP (a useless method) for wireless encryption, but WPA and WPA2.

Moogle @ Oct 30th 2006 8:58AM

Author X said everything I wanted to but better.

I tried bishounen after he said and I didn't see the 't' behavior.

I found click mode and uniformity of 75 get me up to something like 1/4th typing speed, but for all the screen space dasher takes up it's really not any better than an on screen keyboard.

I had heard of Dasher before but hadn't found the demo last time. It's a bit disappointing really.

Author X @ Oct 30th 2006 4:53PM

I tried it again, and it seems that the 't' problem was on the second n, when I was trying to end the word (that is, I was trying to find punctuation, and it was trying to insist the word I meant was 'bishounent' - still not very helpful).
Oh well. It's not really meant to be easier than a traditional keyboard anyway, it's intended for those with disabilities that cannot use a regular physical keyboard. It's still an interesting amusement for those of us without the neccessity.