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It's time for another one of those special episodes, as we celebrate six years and 300 numbered entries (plus many more one-offs and live events) of Radio Free Nintendo. This year, we decided to mark the occasion by doing what we do best -- talking about Nintendo! A lot. Probably way too much. This episode is all about Wii. In fact, we probably set a world record for the longest any group of friends has talked about Wii in a semi-serious manner.
This incredibly long episode is broken into a few segments for easier digestion. The first couple feature your friendly neighborhood RFN crew --Jon, James, Gui, and Jonny-- covering the Wii from its debut as Revolution at E3 2005, right up to the present day. It's a lot like the DS feature we did for #200, except even more ridiculous and long-winded. Later, we go through the whole saga again from the start, but this time with a series of special guests discussing the beginning, middle, and end of the Wii story in a small group format. You'll hear insider tales and fond personal memories from RFN favorites such as Billy Berghammer, Craig Harris, Michael "TYP" Cole, Karl Castaneda, co-founder Mike Sklens and, of course, our escaped editing slave, Greg Leahy. If you make it through this entire, monstrous podcast and still want more Wii coverage... try the previous 299 episodes! They're pretty good. Except for 103.
We'll get back to normal next week with Listener Mail, so send in yours today! RetroActive is also coming very soon, so hit up that forum thread if you're playing Wario Land 4. And finally, thanks so much to everyone who listens, corresponds, comes to our live panels, promotes the telethon, viral markets on GAF, etc. We love y'all.
This podcast was edited by Guillaume Veillette, James Jones and Jonathan Metts.
Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon (CD) (MP3), or iTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!
Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo and is included under fair use protection.
No, seriously – that’s it! What simply resembles a remote control is the main core of the Revolution controller. While Nintendo cringed every time the word “remote” came out of our mouths, that’s exactly what it looks like at first glance, and that’s how I will refer to it through out this feature. Trust me, I was in the same boat as you when we first saw it. Nintendo’s philosophy stays in line with what they’ve been saying recently in interviews. Simplicity is key. Nintendo wants people of any age and gamer type to pick up this controller and be able to play a game – whether you’re a hardcore gamer, or that hardcore gamer’s Mom who has never played a videogame before. As Miyamoto explained, “It’s not meant to be technologically advanced controller scheme-wise. We want to use new technology for new gameplay experiences.” Nintendo wants to completely stray away from the general controller paradigm - two hands on a controller. Miyamoto also joked, “Technology mothers buy tends to succeed.”
For the Revolution to recognize this movement there’s a separate thin bar with two black sensors that pick up how the controller is positioned. We’re assuming one bar will be used for all controllers. The bar itself doesn’t have to be part of the setup at all, and the controller’s movement will be detected as long as the two sensors are centered on the TV. These sensors can be above or below the TV, so depending if you have your TV on a stand, case, or even mounted on the wall, as long as you center the sensors and space them out accordingly and the bars are on the same horizontal plane, the controller’s movement will be detected correctly. Also, since the Revolution controller uses these sensors and not light gun or regular RF technology, the setup will work with regular analog televisions, as well as HDTVs or computer monitors. The controller itself is currently working wirelessly from about 10-15 feet from the receivers, which is less than the Wavebird, but should be a good standard for most living rooms. This distance could eventually change as well.
Since the Revolution will be able to download the entire history of Nintendo titles, as you can probably notice that by holding the controller horizontally, it will feel much like a NES controller. 
But what about for SNES or N64 games where there are more buttons or a need for a second analog stick? The Revolution controller can rest in a sort of controller shaped cradle which could add different buttons or control sticks to mimic the controller’s predecessors. For example the analog stick portion would work quite well in the center of a N64 shell. Whether or not these shell cradles will come in the box, or if third parties will make shell cradles is also not determined. Not only that, but the expansion slot will enable any controller type to be hooked up to it allowing for wireless gameplay including dance pads, konga drums, and the like. No specific peripherals have been announced, but the possibilities are virtually endless.
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