The strangely sensual diagrams in the Wii instruction book

Peal
Sprinkled throughout the 17-page Wii Remote Operation Manual is a suite of diagrams that feature the oblong white toy methodically stripped, strapped-on, and caressed by a mysterious and gender-neutral hand. The closely cropped, softly-colored illustrations bring to mind an electronic version of Dr. Alex Comfort's "The Joy of Sex".

As a technical writer I take special enjoyment in reading the documentation for every new piece of hardware I buy. In this case, the Wii's booklets are fairly standard stuff - it contains legal warranties and safety information along with fairly obvious explanations of how to load the batteries. The diagrams, however, are a different story.

Could the Wii's success and the company's confidence in their design superiority led to fetishization of the electronic device? Perhaps these troubling diagrams hint toward the documentation team's potential "objectum sexual". Wii games such as Wario Ware: Smooth Moves have hinted at this lust with their bedroom-soft voice overs describing how to use the "Form Baton". Furthermore, news of Shigeru MIyamoto's habit of performing "Employee Kidnappings" are increasingly pointing towards a kinkiness that is endemic to the company.