Why did the DS use icons for wireless communication?

[Ondrashek06]

All DS games, at least the ones made by Nintendo, had special "wireless" icons present near any button that initiated wireless connection - black and white "bars" for local wireless and orange bars for internet connection.

Why did no other Nintendo console use these kinds of markings to indicate wireless? Not even the Wii did it, even though it also connected to WFC and was in the same generation as the DS.

 

[RAHelllord]

Likely because one denoted a connection towards the internet and the other a local P2P connection. The reason the Wii doesn't have local direct wireless networking is largely because effectively nobody brings a home console and a second TV to a friend's house, but bringing your DS to your friend was a lot more common. Plus Wii has local multiplayer on the same console, not exactly something you can easily do with only a single DS.

As for why it used diffently colored symbols, likely because it was such a new concept to have a wireless connection both to the internet and to replace the link cables, making it distinct like that helps communicate it clearer to the user that those are different things.

 

[Ryccardo]

It's rather hard to accidentally use a Wii on a plane or other place where stupid and/or ignorant rules want you not to use wireless (which, on the Wii, runs almost all the time it's on anyway for the WiiConnect24 sync)

For the GBA you can just not plug in the wireless adapter (assuming you have one in the first place), on the first DS it's soldered and even on the Lite it's required