Controllers had been wired up to this point (2004) since the very beginning. From the Atari 2600 on, wired controllers were thought to be the only way you could control a character or vehicle onscreen without lag. There had been some experiments in the past but were largely a novelty that didn't work as well as they could have. Then came Nintendo with the WaveBird controller for the GameCube and showed Sony and Microsoft that it was not only possible but practical to have a wireless controller. Though bulky, the WaveBird was more than accurate and fast enough that it rivaled wired controllers in speed and precision. Only a year or two later would we see widespread adoption of wireless controllers for the next generation consoles and it then becoming the standard. No longer tied to the console by wires, we could now sit comfortably on our beds, couches or lounge chairs gaming away until we comfortably fell asleep.