Nintendo brought the world the mustachioed plumber Super Mario and has sold nearly 200 million Game Boy hand-held machines over the years. It's also been coaxing the elderly and other video-game novices to try out puzzles and virtual pets on its DS portables instead of the standard shoot-em-up and sports games.
Now the Japanese pioneer of video games is about to embark on its biggest push in home consoles in years with a machine called Wii that puts simplicity above fancy graphics and computing horsepower.
Nintendo Co. is banking on Wii's remote-controller wand that can be swung around like a tennis racket, fishing pole, drumstick or orchestra baton in easy-to-play games that are expected to appeal to a wider audience than young males. It goes on sale Sunday in the United States and Dec. 2 in Japan.