Nintendo's Wii console awarded top honors by video game critics

Asian Economic News, June 5, 2006

LOS ANGELES, June 1 Kyodo

Nintendo Co. received top honors Wednesday for its next generation Wii video game console at the 2006 Game Critics Awards.

The Japanese game machine maker's highly anticipated system was crowned ''Best of Show'' out more than 1,000 products that debuted this May at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.

Hundreds of game enthusiasts waited anxiously, sometimes for hours, to try Wii's motion-sensing wireless controllers on games like a tennis simulation and ''Super Mario Galaxy.''

''So despite how many great-looking games were on display at this year's show, the Wii stood out as the single most exciting and remarkable new product at E3 2006,'' Greg Kasavin, executive editor of GameSpot, stated on the Game Critics website.

The critics, a group of 37 North American video game journalists from publications including Time and the Los Angeles Times, also honored Wii with the ''Best Hardware/Peripheral Award'' and ''Best Sports Game.''

With Nintendo set to launch Wii later this year and rival console maker Sony Corp. scheduled to release PlayStation 3 in November, talks among industry insiders and electronic gaming fans have focused on price comparison.

Nintendo recently announced Wii will sell for $250, while Sony's system will retail for $499.