10 Video Games That Had A Bigger Impact Than You Realise
5. Wii Sports Perfected Motion Controls & Made Gaming Truly Mainstream
The fact that motion and gyro controls are still such a popular, requested feature in most AAA games is largely thanks to one game above all others: 2006's Wii Sports.
A pack-in game for the Nintendo Wii, Wii Sports was pivotal in serving as a glorified demo of the Wii's motion controls tech, allowing players of all ages to play fun sports mini-games without the need to learn offputting control schemes.
The game's accessibility, and the fact it was packaged with the Wii, helped make the console a massive success, while inviting non-gamers into the gaming space in a welcoming, low-key way.
And so, Wii Sports' legacy isn't simply confirming the appeal of motion controls, which continue to be prominently featured today, but also helping video games transition into the truly mainstream sphere, far beyond their prior stigma as a nerdy past-time.
If Wii Sports wasn't such a mechanically perfect example of motion controls' potential, and didn't strike such a strong chord with people who wouldn't traditionally call themselves "gamers," then the industry might be looking very different today.