Post by: Aussiedude on September 09, 2006, 02:51:19 AM
(dont even bother to do google decode - unreadable)
Slightly better translation here (no Aussie slang to confuse Americans
)Following translation by Reader Okok of GoNintendo, good to see (unlike others) that Nintendo was concerned about reliablity.
“The Design That Nobody Hates”
Mr.Takamoto is in charge of the structure of Wii console and Wiimote. Wii’s smallness — “the size of three DVD cases” — is one of the great feature of Wii console. Actually, Mr.Iwata was stacking three DVD cases, and said “I want Wii to be small like this”. Mr.Takamoto got bewildered rather than amazed. At first, he couldn’t understand why he have to make Wii such a small machine, but he was getting it gradually. Wii should be “unobtrusive presence” in living room. There are a lot of audio-video equipments around the TV, and Wii have to set near the TV because of the pointing device of Wiimote. Spaces between TV and AV equipments are very limited, so he understood that Wii have to be small. “The size of 2 DVD cases” was impossible, but they achieved “the size of 3 DVD cases”.
Mr.Takamoto told that The hardest thing was disc drive, which have to be almost the same width of one DVD case. If disc drive became thinner, it became more breakable. There are a lot of earlier age users, so Nintendo have a very strict standard. After a lot of trials and errors, they finally got it by internal reinforcing pad.
He also told that they strained at using slot-in drive. If they decided to use GameCube-like disc drive (opening the top to change discs), the width of the drive could be thinner, the cost could be cheaper, and the decay durability be better. But, as he said before, the space near TV is very limited, so they thought that Wii-users feel more comfortable by using slot-in for changeing discs.
Mr.Ashida is in charge of the design of the Wii console, the Wiimote, the package and the logo. They don’t want to make it like a mad woman’s breakfast around the TV. Not only the matter of size but also shape. Nintendo64 had a lot of curves in its shape, so it was difficult to find the place to set it. On the other hand, the design of GameCube was “the design of toy”. From SNES, the designs of Nintendo’s console was like a toy, and this was intentional attempt. But the average of the ages of users has changed, he feels that the balance between the “toy-like” design and the “AV-equipment-like” design is very important. The keywords are, “the design that nobody hates”. Not a toy, not a AV equipment, they want Wii to be a kind of interior accessories. Mr.Ashida decided to form Wii-design team. The designs of Nintendo console used to pruduced by one designer, but this time, he consulted widely with young designers inside Nintendo.
The turing point was the idea of the stand. Young desiner produced the Wii’s stand, and it allows representing new shape by combine Wii with it. A few weeks before E3(2005), Mr.Ashida and his team finishd this design. At the first presentation to Mr. Iwata, they got the go-ahead. Then, the design was made in public at E3, and Mr.Ashida was very, very surprized because he
didn’t know that the design was to be displayed at E3 2005.
Post by: Ceric on September 09, 2006, 06:17:12 AM
Post by: jasonditz on September 09, 2006, 06:22:59 AM
Post by: JonLeung on September 09, 2006, 07:19:52 AM
I'm guessing the "like a mad woman’s breakfast around the TV" is a translation error (I had one in French class when I translated Pope Pious to be "Pope Meat Pie"). I wonder what it's supposed to be, and why it's such a concern. I could understand if they maybe meant "kid's lunchbox", but that's some goofed/up translation to become an insane/angry woman's...TV...breakfast...thing?
Post by: zakkiel on September 09, 2006, 07:39:42 AM
Post by: Kairon on September 09, 2006, 11:19:20 AM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: eljefe on September 09, 2006, 12:03:11 PM
Post by: Ceric on September 09, 2006, 12:06:49 PM
Post by: decoyman on September 09, 2006, 12:50:46 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
"like a mad woman’s breakfast around the TV"?!
It's probably just an idiomatic expression (meaning a cluttered mess?) that he translated literally. I mean, if I wrote, "It's raining cats and dogs," and that was translated literally into another language, there'd probably be quite a few confused people.
Good info, though, thanks Aussiedude!
Post by: Aussiedude on September 09, 2006, 01:37:59 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
"like a mad woman’s breakfast around the TV"?!
This is Aussie slang, in Australia this would mean that all the components DO NOT match in design, such as the Wii box, Wii controller, Numchuck etc. If you had an independant person designing each component then they would be a differnt style.
official version of meaning:
Like a Mad womans breakfast - very messy; all over the place. (in thus case syle and design)
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 09, 2006, 03:27:31 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ceric
Less Durable is bad.
"Less durable" doesn't mean much in terms of Nintendo hardware...
But seriously, I'm confident Ninty found the most durable means of implementing the slot-device...
Post by: mantidor on September 09, 2006, 03:54:25 PM
Post by: Aussiedude on September 09, 2006, 04:02:21 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: mantidor
Nowhere there says the console will be less durable.
"If they decided to use GameCube-like disc drive (opening the top to change discs), the width of the drive could be thinner, the cost could be cheaper, and the decay durability be better."
However:
"In addition to this, the problem of strength arises, and as evidenced by the past, Nintendo places a heavy emphasis on designing products that can withstand quite a lot of misuse - especially handling by children. Generally, as far as this factor is concerned, they have a harsh standard internally at the company, the employee says, in laughter. Achieving this goal was mostly trial and error, and saw them resort to using an internal strengthening plate."
"And they did not want to use a disc tray, like an Xbox or PlayStation, because they lack durability when inserting and removing discs. So it was decided that a self loading bay, which lacked fragile components, would be used, especially considering how simple inserting a disc will be. "
So while the slot mechanism may not be as durable as Gamecube top loading mechanism, it is more durable than XBOX or pS2 tray, and at least Nintendo did a lot of tests to make it as strong as possible. Judging by the problems 360 has, I doubt MS$ spent much time on reliability aspect. I dont expect Wii will have anywhere near the same problems.
In my view Iwata has turned the whole Nintendo company around, part of the reason is he is a developer and understands the buisness plus has a vision. Without him Nintendo would be finished by now.
Post by: jasonditz on September 09, 2006, 04:47:50 PM
Post by: Ceric on September 09, 2006, 04:48:55 PM
Post by: Aussiedude on September 09, 2006, 06:18:16 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
Is it obvious which way the discs will go in the slot? I've never seen a vertical slot loading device before, will they make it clear which way the discs go in? And if you put it in the wrong way, will it damage the mechanism or just eject?
As the thickness is the same I dint think it would damage anything, probably just say "no disc found". I have a slot mounted CD player in the car but I wont verify this theory.
Try it in the store
Post by: BigJim on September 09, 2006, 10:04:57 PM
Post by: King of Twitch on September 09, 2006, 10:31:35 PM
Post by: BigJim on September 09, 2006, 10:59:33 PM
This is how slot-load drives work: You gently push the disc in about halfway. At that point, the drive will "grab" it from you and slide it the rest of the way in. When the disc ejects, it'll slide it back out about halfway -- enough for you to take hold of it and remove it.
It's kinda fun for the first 5 minutes.
Post by: King of Twitch on September 09, 2006, 11:15:28 PM
Post by: Kairon on September 10, 2006, 12:28:44 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: MJRx9000
Whew good, I was planning on losing my wiiginity with Zelda but wasn't sure if it that sorta thing could be done.
Just remember to be gentle.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
