Game design History Beginnings of sports games

Physical movement

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, one of several recent games controlled by the player physically simulating the sport involved

In 2006, Nintendo released Wii Sports, a Sports game for the Wii console in which the player had to physically move their Wii Remote to simulate movement of their avatar.^[71] The game contained five different sports – boxing, bowling, golf, tennis, and baseball – which could all be played individually or with multiple players. Players could also track their skill progress through the game, as they became more proficient with at the different sports, and use the training mode to practice particular situations.^[72]

Wii Sports opened the way for other physically-reactive sports-based video games, such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the first official title to feature both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, in which players used the Wii Remote to simulate running, jumping and other Olympic sports.^[73]In 2008, Nintendo released Wii Fit, which allowed players to do aerobic and fitness exercisesusing the Wii Balance Board.^[74] In a similar light, 2008 saw the release of Mario Kart Wii, a racing game which allowed the player to use their remote with a Wii Wheel to act as a steering wheel, akin to those on traditional arcade racing games.^[75]