The International Toy Fair in Nürnberg had 163 companies submit a total of 223 products for awards in 8 different categories. The Wii and WarioWare: Smooth Moves won Nintendo of Europe a ToyInnovation award for the “Trend & Lifestyle” category. Here’s what the description says for the winning duo:

Category: Trend + Lifestyle
Wii & Wario Ware: Smooth MovesTM
Nintendo of Europe GmbH

The new games console “Wii” is no longer controlled just with the buttons and controllers of a control unit connected to the console. To swing the virtual tennis racket here, you must swing back your arm and strike. An infrared interface converts the controller movement and controls the virtual players accordingly. The jury selected the “Wario Wear: Smooth MovesTM” game together with the console from Nintendo; here the player dances, boxes and jumps through 200 crazy microgames. Fast reactions and smooth movements are called for.

The jury chose the product because the play concept of Wii tends to encourage playing PC games in groups instead of alone. In addition, the product not only appeals to player types with an affinity to PCs, but also to new age groups – a real lifestyle theme. The innovative controller – for more fun and movement – and the “Wario WearTM: Smooth Moves” represents a return to the more classic games in the game console segment.
(Retail price for the game: approx. 55 euros; Wii:Â approx. 249 euros)

Toy Award 2007