Why "Press A + B" to start a Wii Game?

Share your perspective. Keep it thoughtful, welcoming and on topic.

1. I agree, I dont understand it either.This is the point where I would usually try to insert some reasoning, but I really do not have a clue.

2. I was a little suprised by that as well. It's very strange. I guess we'll find out (or very well not find out) in a little over 2 weeks.

3. I imagine it to be an action similar to pinching your Wii Remote.Or will it be like most games that say "Press Start" but will still respond to just an A button push?I could see them saying "press A + Z" to make sure you're holding the Remote and Nunchuk, but the A+B pinch is sort of odd.Regardless, when my wife saw that at the end of the Zelda intro video she said, "Whoaaa…"

4. At E3 I tried just "pressing a" to no avail. At least then, Ninty was forcing you to press both.

5. I think that they are just worried about people accidentally pushing A or B when they are adjusting their grip on the Wand. I've heard from people who used it that this can easily happen. A tad bit on the over protective side though.

6. I'm not sure why you need to do this, but maybe it is similar to games which require you to press start. Its kind of hard to do by accident.Maybe their worried that given only one button press, you'll leave your Wii on and grandpa will come over later trying to turn on the TV, grab the Wiimote, press random buttons, and accidentally delete your game which is 40 hours into Twighlight Princess.Probably not, but I can't think of a better reason to mandate A+B

7. Since the Wii-mote is just like a remote control it's probably to prevent accidentally starting a game if you sit on it. I've turned on my TV a countless number of times by sitting on the television remote. Add in the fact that the Wii will always be on and it's a pretty good safety mechanism. Joe

8. "I think that they are just worried about people accidentally pushing A or B when they are adjusting their grip on the Wand."Maybe, but this is still bad usability, especially for non-gamers. They won't know where the "B" is at first (without someone telling them) and that could be frustrating, albeit a small frustration. Still, usability is all about mitigating frustrations, not forcing one to think. Pressing A and B creates a fraction more of a thought than just pressing A.(am I really this big of a nerd?)

9. Yes!:o)

10. I think it tries to replicate the feeling of grabbing a sword when you start your adventure.

11. Nintendo is CLEARLY discriminating against people who don't have either an index finger or thumb. [/sarcasm]

12. I also think it tries to recreate holding a sword. Just think about it, its all about inmersion so to start the adventure you must squeeze your swird (wiimote) , you must hold it tight as you enter the battle.

13. i like it, but then again im probably the only one who misses how you had to use select to navigate the menus in old nes games.

14. Blake sez.. "They won't know where the "B" is at first"So then it might be a way to force some familiarity with the controller.ExciteTruck says "Press 1" to start.

15. How to pause a wii game?

16. I like it when games say "press any button to start".I find this A + B a bit unnecessary. It wont hurt me though. Just makes the start menu look crappy IMO.

17. I agree with the "turning the game on by sitting on your remote by accident" comment… that's how I usally turn on my TV. But not by accident.

18. I don't understand why people insist on adding an image when it does nothing for the blog post, or when it is a sloppy photoshop job, as above.

19. Why does it matter at all? I can't believe your bitching about that. Why don't you focus on the good things? Rather than shit that doesnt matter.

20. Anon wrote: "Why does it matter at all? I can't believe your bitching about that. Why don't you focus on the good things? Rather than shit that doesnt matter."Back it up mate, no one is bitching, just asking a question to a very positive community response. You're on a Nintendo blog that covers minutia like this all the time in addition to focusing on "good things." There are plenty of Gamepot's and IGN's out there if you don't appreciate the cultural nuances of gaming.

21. Maybe they did it so we will have to view the beautiful scenerey before actually entering into the game, or just to give us a feeling for the game….. Not us who have seen the video though….

22. Ernest: Probably to prevent people from accidently launching games – remeber always on…Silly: Just wait until you get the wireless keyboard… THEN you can press CTRL-ALT-DEL instead.

23. The Wii is not always on… it's always connected to the internet. There's a difference. You can turn off your Wii so that it won't respond to pressing "A".Anyway, I think they might make you press A and B to make sure you realize where they both are before you start the game, because those are the two buttons you need to actually navigate the menus and get started.

24. I bet there are people out there right now thinking 'Oh man, I have to push A+B to start up a game on the Wii? Screw that, I'm not getting a Wii now"But seriously, I don't see why all of you are making such a big fuss about it. It's not a big deal…like at all.

25. Yea I would have to agree. One button is fine..it also leaves nothing open to complain about or say "hey wait a minute." When you say two buttons to start a game the blogs and websites go nuts. Some people fuss the others fuss about the people fussing about the buttons! It's a vicious cycle. lol i love it One button would have been fine…two buttons is just.."why'd ya go and do that."ONE MORE DAY CLOSER TO Wii…it's like waiting for Christmas x1000

26. Man, it's so obvious! It's so you can use independent presses of A and B to enter codes, like: [Gesture Up] [Gesture Up] [Gesture Down] [Gesture Down] [Gesture Left] [Gesture Right] [Gesture Left] [Gesture Right] [B] [A] [Shake Wiimote] [A + B]Dur.

27. I think the A +B is to ensure you're holding the Wiimote like a TV remote (ie in the Zelda playing style). In Excite Truck, you press 2 because you're meant to be holding the Wiimote like a NES controller.Sorry if this has been mentioned above!

28. "I think the A +B is to ensure you're holding the Wiimote like a TV remote (ie in the Zelda playing style).In Excite Truck, you press 2 because you're meant to be holding the Wiimote like a NES controller." I think that's exactly right, and makes perfect sense. Mystery solved.

29. Yes that's the reason it's just to ensure that you hold the Wii remote correctly.Probably also a "health safety" precaution that ensures that you have a firm grip on your Wii remote when you start the game.Mystery solved indeed – although a lot of people will be searching for B button in the first moment 😉

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