LOS ANGELES - Video game giant Nintendo opened fire on rivals Microsoft and Sony by unveiling its new "Wii" console that it says will revolutionize gaming when it is released in the last quarter of 2006.
The Japanese game maker did not announce the exact date of the new console, but said it would be in the last three months of this year, the firm announced on the fringes of the world's biggest computer games show in Los Angeles.
Shaped like a television remote control and engineered with motion sensors and speakers, the Wii control enables users to guide game play by moving as if actually wielding swords, swinging golf clubs, or firing weapons.
Nintendo set out to design a console that would appeal to those who have never played video games and also thrill veteran gamers, said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.
"Today, there are people who play and people who do not," Iwata told the audience. "We will help destroy that wall between them. Anyone can instantly understand Wii."
The Wii console will "never sleep" because it will go into a standby mode that uses the power on par with a miniature light bulb, Iwata said.