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The Wii Wheel exemplifies why the Wii was successful and just so happened to be bundled with one of the best-selling kart racers ever.
There’s a ton of accessories for the Nintendo Wii, with many being little more than different plastic shells to attach to the Wiimote. Accessories like the Wii Zapper and the wide range of Wii Sports-themed third-party accessories tend to be seen as little more than oddities nowadays, though there’s one that’s still fondly remembered among racing game fans. The Wii Wheel has somehow become an iconic Wii accessory, though there may be a good reason for this.
The Wii Wheel is a white plastic wheel that players can slot a Wiimote into to make the controller feel more like a real steering wheel. Chances are that if someone owns a copy of Mario Kart Wii, they already own a Wii Wheel. The accessory was bundled with copies of Mario Kart Wii, which quickly ensured that the Wii Wheel had a solid userbase. The tactic was so successful that Nintendo tried it again, bundling The Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training, though that didn’t quite have the same drawing power as Mario Kart Wii.
The game that the Wii Wheel was bundled with ended up being a pretty big reason for its success. Not only is Mario Kart Wii currently the 13th best-selling game of all time but the Wii’s target audience ended up being perfect for both the game and the Wii Wheel accessory. The Wii was primarily targeted towards kids, casual audiences and families, meaning that the Wii Wheel ended up in the hands of the exact demographic it was designed for.
The idea of turning a Wiimote to steer a car isn’t too complex, though back in 2008, most casual audiences weren’t super familiar with motion controls. Turning the Wiimote into a car’s steering wheel helped casual players grasp the concept much easier. The Wii was already designed to be an easy-to-understand games console for everyone, and the Wii Wheel fit this design philosophy perfectly.
Mario Kart Wii was essential to the Wii Wheel’s success as well. Not only did the game show that the Wii Wheel had used and worked, but it also gave the accessory some solid support with one of the Wii’s most successful games. Plus, the Wii Wheel didn’t require any extra programming for other racing games to support it, as long as there were similar motion controls to Mario Kart Wii.
Mario Kart Wii‘s motion controls are rather well-designed from a conceptual standpoint since turning the Wiimote as if it were a steering wheel on a car or bike was a simple concept. While it may not be the preferred control scheme of Mario Kart fans, it’s hard to deny that the game’s motion controllers are possibly the easiest to understand. This further exemplifies why the Wii Wheel’s simple design played right into the game.
The Wii’s design was focused on appealing to as wide of an audience as possible, which is evident by the Wii’s massive sales numbers. The Wii Wheel follows this design mindset by turning one of Nintendo’s most well-known series, Mario Kart Wii, into an easy-to-understand family game when using its motion controls. The Wii Wheel shared its main design purpose with the Wii, making the two a natural fit for each other.
That’s one area where the Wii Wheel really succeeded compared to other accessories. It had a clearly defined purpose that was effortless for other developers to support, which meant that the accessory could easily have a massive userbase as long as people bought it. The fact that the Wii Wheel was bundled with Mario Kart Wii practically guaranteed that almost every Wii owner would have a Wii Wheel. Accessories like the Wii MotionPlus or even the Wii Balance Board had niche uses requiring serious effort for third-party games to support.
The Wii Zapper did some things similar to the Wii Wheel, such as shaping the Wiimote and Nunchuck into a far more understandable form based on its function. The Zapper could also be easily incorporated into games since it was also just a plastic holder for the controller. However, the Wii Zapper suffered from a lack of support and a small buyer-base, mainly due to Link’s Crossbow Training drawing far fewer buys than Mario Kart Wii. The Wii U’s gamepad would suffer from a similar issue, as developers struggled to incorporate it into their games.
Very few accessories could be considered just as much of a success as the Wii Wheel. The Pro Controller, previously mention Wii MotionPlus and the Nunchuck are probably the only accessories that could be seen as equal in success to the Wii Wheel. However, even those three accessories aren’t quite as supported or easy to understand as the Wii Wheel. This ensured that the Wii Wheel would easily become the Wii’s most successful accessory.
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