2. The Result of Trial and Error

Iwata - The Nintendo Wi-Fi Network Adapter has quite a compact and simple design, doesn’t it? What kind of trial and error did you have to go through to arrive at the final product?

Hatakeyama - One of Buffalo’s first proposals was a design similar to this.

Iwata - The very first design was a small Wii, wasn’t it? (laughs)

Hatakeyama - This proposal was really well received in the city. (laughs) But that’s not the kind of thing you’d place next to a Wii.

Iwata - Rather than a Wii, the Wi-Fi Network Adapter is more meant to be placed next to your PC. More than that, if you placed it next to the Wii then at that point why are you even using wireless? (laughs)

Hatakeyama - Further more, for customers who’s primary device is their DS, a Wii-like design isn’t particularly favorable, is it? And there’s the possibility that new hardware will come out in the future, and we’d like this to be a product that they use for a long time, so we wanted to keep that direction of keeping the device small, but in the end we went with a simple design proposed by Nintendo internally. Compared to other wireless access points it’s different in that it doesn’t have a cylindrical antenna, and because of that some people may be worried that perhaps the transmission rate is slow, or that it wouldn’t work at very long distances, but rest assured that it’s in no way inferior to those devices.

Iwata - What’s notable about this device looking at it from the outside?

Aoyama - As previously mentioned, the color of the connectors. Using blue and gray, two separate colors makes it that much more expensive, however we went with that design in the interest of making things easy to understand. Additionally, we paid a lot of attention to the LED lamps on the front.

Iwata - Standard wireless routers typically have six LEDs, but this only has two.

Hatakeyama - When you have a lot of LEDs it starts to give off this otherworldly feeling when the room is dark. So we decided to go with two LEDs and made sure that all of the absolute necessary information could be portrayed.

Fujiwara - At the beginning of development the LED glow were green and red. It turns out that some people have difficulty distinguishing between those two colors, however, so in the end we went with blue and red. Similarly to the color of the connectors, however, those colors come at a bit of a premium, but we worked it out. (laughs)

Hatakeyama - We also went through a lot of trial and error in deciding the strength of the LED brightness. We brought the prototypes to the dust room of the HQ building and tuned it, saying “Maybe about this bright?”, “Nope, needs to be a little brighter.”

Iwata - The dust room is where they keep the trash, isn’t it? You did it there? (laughs)

Hatakeyama - Our goal was to make sure that they wouldn’t be too bright when the room was pitch black, but also not too dark. We tested with the lights off, the room pitch black, and there were instances when people would come in and get a bit of a surprise. “What are you doing in here?!” (laughs)

Iwata - Of course they’d be surprised. I mean, they’ve come to take out the trash and there’s these guys crouching, doing something in the dark (laughs). Is there anything else you payed special attention to?

Fujiwara - We also paid a lot of attention to the LAN cable. We made many prototypes to make sure we made something that was flexible but also wouldn’t break if pulled. You know, the Wi-Fi Network Adapter was designed with the same standards in regards to endurance, safety and environmental tests as other Nintendo products. We did lots of tests, probably more than what normal network devices used with computers would go through.

Iwata - Speaking of which, how did you test the wireless LAN connection?

Hatakeyama - The first thing we did was measure the transmission speed and distance with a specialized program. We measured in a small room that shuts out all external electromagnetic waves, and then we gradually expanded out to the hallway, and floors in the Nintendo HQ building. Buffalo makes many different wireless network products, so we received a lot of help from their vast technological knowledge base.

The next thing we did was test whether Wi-Fi enabled software would connect. We brought a mountain of Wii and DS software and tested each and every one. And although we can’t provide technical support, we tested connections with music players and what not on PCs with internal wireless LAN functions.

After that, we had employees bring Wi-Fi Network Adapter samples home and had them test all in different environments. Each home’s internet environment is different. And that isn’t limited to just the type of broadband connection you have, but also what kind of network devices you’re connected to.

Wireless is also affected by the layout of your home. For instance, if placed near the microwave, that would have an effect on the electromagnetic waves.

Iwata - Could you connect smoothly?

Hatakeyama - For the most part, yes, but the one place that didn’t work out was one we mentioned before - Aoyama-san’s condo. (laughs)

Iwata - Of all people, Aoyama-san. (laughs)

Aoyama - It just didn’t recognize my setup with the automatic settings, and although it was all fixed as soon as I changed the settings manually, I was a bit shocked. (pained laugh)

Hatakeyama - Speaking of being shocked, when we were doing transmission tests internally it would disconnect so much that we had to bring in Buffalo to figure out what to do. Their response - “There’s too many signals in the room, so of course!”

Iwata - Indeed, there’s so many signals in the Network Development Department that all kinds of wireless routers show up when you boot up your PC. (laughs)

Hatakeyama - That being the case, we decided to perform the transmission tests in the employee cafeteria, where there aren’t many signals. (laughs)

Iwata - Would it be fair to say that the reason the Wi-Fi Network Adapter was born was the USB Connector（※7）?

Hatakeyama - The USB Connector really sold a lot, enough to surprise even our development partner Buffalo.

※7　USB Connector＝ The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector. Just plugging into an internet connected PC allows easy access to the DS and Wii Wi-Fi Connection service.

Iwata - However, for connecting the DS the USB Connector was a quick and helpful product, but it can be said that it didn’t work so well with the Wii.

Aoyama - Yes. The USB Connector only works when your PC is on. For Nintendo, launching the idea for “WiiConnect24”（※8）, we wanted to provide new experiences having the Wii connected to the net 24/7, so it didn’t work well in that regard. So from that perspective as well, it became an urgent matter that we put out our own wireless router.

※8　WiiConnect24＝By running in low-power stand-by mode, only expending about the equivalent of a light bulb, the Wii has the ability to connect to the internet and receive various information, even when users are sleeping.

Iwata - With that, please provide one last thought to the customers.

Fujiwara - Once, a long time ago, I was in charge of the Mobile Adapter GB（※9）…

Iwata - There’s probably many customers hearing Mobile Adapter GB and going, “what’s that?” It’s an accessory that connected the Game Boy to cell phones.

Fujiwara - It’s been 7-8 years since then, and there’s something profound about being able to work on this kind of product now. Compared to then, communication technology has made leaps and bounds in progress, and using the Wi-Fi Network Adapter to connect to the internet allows for all kinds of fun, pleasant experiences, so I’d love to have lots of people enjoy it. In my house it’s already been a big hit, connecting all kinds of devices to it.

※9　Mobile Adapter GB＝ An accessory for connecting the GB Color or GB Advance to your cell phone. It was used for battling against remote friends and receiving data. Service ended in December 2002.

Iwata - Hatakeyama-san?

Hatakeyama - I’m sure there are people who say “I’d like to connect my Wii to the internet, but I don’t know what to do”, even though we’ve tried to make it as easy to set up as possible. That’s why I’d love for people that are more experienced in network setup to bring this to those kinds of people and help them out. After setting it up in no time I’m sure they would gain the respect of their friends, and they’d then be able to play together over the internet. Furthermore, we’re also planning on setting up a campaign where, if someone helps another connect their Wii to the net, both will get 500 Wii Points, so both parties benefit (laughs). I hope that we’ll be able to provide even more helpful network services moving forward.

Iwata - And lastly, Aoyama-san.

Toyama - I, personally, have been thinking of ways to get people to understand what kind of fun they can have by connecting to each other through the net since the GameCube days. So from that perspective, I feel that we’ve filled an important service gap with this Wi-Fi Network Adapter. Over the summer we partnered with Fujifilm to launch the “Digital Camera Print Channel”, where you can order prints of the pictures you’ve taken with your digital camera. With it, not only can you order normal single photo prints, but you can also create photo albums, or even business cards with your Mii on them. This is only one piece, though, and moving forward I hope that we can provide more and more pieces for customers to enjoy.

Iwata - For Nintendo, we don’t expect that customers will just buy this product and suddenly they’ll understand the value of always having the ability to connect their Wii or DS to the net. Moving forward, we realize there is still a lot we need to do in order to get people to take advantage of that network connection. That being said, with this product, we feel that we’ve created one solution for those customers who felt the world of wireless LAN was a high hurdle, and were unable to step into the world of the internet.

Thanks very much to everyone for reading!