Nintendo Wii

About

As of 2026, it's 20 years old.

While rivals raced to out-muscle each other on graphics, Nintendo zigged in 2006 with the Wii: a modest white box bundled with a motion-sensing remote and the audacious idea that games should make you stand up and flail.

It worked spectacularly. Wii Sports turned living rooms into bowling alleys and tennis courts, sold the console to people who'd never touched a game before, and led to the noble tradition of apologizing to a TV after a wild backswing.

The Wii was the great gaming equalizer: less powerful, more popular, and the only console that got your grandmother off the couch and into a virtual boxing match.