Jane McGonigal of 4orty 2wo Entertainment/ARG 'fame' has a very interesting post on Nintendo's Wii on her blog, urging to game developers of all creeds and Cheeto-consumption levels : "I want to suggest that we ought NOT to be talking about the wonders of Wii in terms of "simulation.""

But to what is she referring? "Consider the latest issue of Game Developer Magazine [PLUG: available online as a free sample, go subscribe if you like it - ithangyou!]. There's a great post-mortem of a Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam skating game for the Wii console. In general, a really excellent read. But I was troubled by part of the article, in which the developer (Toby Schadt) discuss why the Wii is so great and how the game sought to take advantage of the new controller."

She then references Schadt's comment that "That's why the Wii is so compelling--the way you control your character in a game is a more realistic analog to what you would do in the real world, as opposed to pressing buttons", before suggesting: "I certainly get that the Wii controller is way more fun and cool because it's not just pushing abstract combinations of buttons. But you know what? I think it's way more fun and cool because MOVING VIGOROUSLY--shaking, waving, pumping, pointing, and so on--is more fun than pressing buttons."

Her conclusion: "Indeed, the fact that there is a real, live, embodied performance happening when a player engages the Wii games creates the kind of gameplay legibility that enables "non-gamers" to get in the game, and that creates a setting where you can really cheer on other players... So when you play Wii games, are you simulating? Or are you REALLY playing and performing? I say the Wii does not simulate. The Wii is real." This is a subtle but interesting point.