Leaked development documentation, pegged together by Murdoch-owned cash-burner IGN, amongst others, has highlighted some secrets that were until now still being held locked away in Nintendo's Wii secrets chest. They may read like the boring bit of the instruction manual, but you're going to read every word you slags and you know it. If only to expedite play on day one after you've queued up all night. And you will queue. Slags...
Sorry. Right, on with the goodies. First up, perhaps the most-asked question is answered. Will you plug in your WiiMote or buy shares in Duracell. The latter appears to be the case, as the unit takes two AA batteries. Nintendo may offer a rechargeable upgrade at some point, though the Wii will launch with AA power. If the precision aim function is being used, the WiiMote will run for approximately 30 hours. If only the accelerometer (tilt) is in use, the WiiMote will last for 60 hours on its antiquated power cells.
Interestingly, the WiiMote controller speaks to its console overlord via Bluetooth, on a 2.4 GHz band if you're interested. SPOnG is sure hackers will provide you with precise logarithms detailing it's inner working within hours of the Wii hitting shelves.
The SYNCHRO button, as recently revealed by countless avid photographers ignoring Nintendo's still-capture image policies, has been detailed. The Wii console's SYNCHRO button is pressed, making the machine broadcast an invite to WiiMotes. Users then press another SYNCHRO button located inside the the WiiMote's battery compartment and controllers are thusly assigned, hinting that Nintendo will push a philosophy of users taking WiiMotes around with them, an interesting possibility. The same lock-on can be achieved by users holding down buttons 1 and 2 on the controller.
Reports state the WiiMote is digital in the main, with the D-Pad, A, B, 1, 2, -, +, Power and SYNCHRO all working on a per-click basis. The C and Z buttons on the nunchuk add-on also are one-press affairs.
In news that actually is a precursor to the Wii's instruction manual, it transpired that the LEDs on the WiiMote serve a dual purpose. The four light sources will indicate who's talking to the console, player one lighting up the first LED, player 2 the second and so on. The LEDs also indicate remaining battery life. At point of boot, four LEDs blink to indicate the controller has between 75% and full power. Three LEDs indicate 50% and 75% power, two LEDs blink to show 25% and 50% power and one LED blinks to illustrate under 25%.
Nintendo has also briefed developers that light sources may interfere with normal operation on the WiiMote. As to how severe this problem will be remains to be seen though all light sources, as well as mirrors and windows are mentioned. Not ideal... Nintendo does state the sensor bar the Wii uses will overcome 'basic light issues'. We'll update you as we learn more.
Finally, speculation abounds that the WiiMote may act as a camera. IGN's take reads, "Interestingly, according to documentation the Wii-mote is able to act as something of an eye, measuring coordinates between 0-1023 on the X axis and 0-767 on the Y axis, which means that it is more or less seeing a megapixel image. Whether or not this data can be interpreted into visual information remains unknown, but we're not ruling out the possibility that the pointer could sub as a camera. This is, of course, purely speculative on our part, but stranger things have certainly happened - like, for instance, an internal speaker."
The above speculation is, to take a measured view, just so much shit - IGN have not got a clue and their reporter was either smoking crack or just being plain stupid, to make up such guff out of thin air. It’s nothing more than a clueless opinion based on a misreading of technical information.
“Which means that it is more or less seeing a megapixel image” they excitedly infer. Errr, no guys.
Put simply, the WiiMote measures it's POSITION to those resolutions, not the colour of pixels.
Besides, swinging it back and forward 767 times to get one photo is absurd. “This would be like trying to use your mouse as a scanner,” as one SPOnG staffer succinctly put it.
So, let's scotch that rumour now. Nintendo is not going to use the WiiMote as a camera and, what’s more, it is not going to introduce an Eyetoy style camera add on to the Wii.
The Wii has an SD card slot. 99% of Wii owners will already own digital cameras. Why bother providing users with costly add-ons when you can make fun and innovative gameplay uses out of gadgets they already own.
We look forward to the final act in the Wii’s teasingly long striptease this coming September.
Sorry. Right, on with the goodies. First up, perhaps the most-asked question is answered. Will you plug in your WiiMote or buy shares in Duracell. The latter appears to be the case, as the unit takes two AA batteries. Nintendo may offer a rechargeable upgrade at some point, though the Wii will launch with AA power. If the precision aim function is being used, the WiiMote will run for approximately 30 hours. If only the accelerometer (tilt) is in use, the WiiMote will last for 60 hours on its antiquated power cells.
Interestingly, the WiiMote controller speaks to its console overlord via Bluetooth, on a 2.4 GHz band if you're interested. SPOnG is sure hackers will provide you with precise logarithms detailing it's inner working within hours of the Wii hitting shelves.
The SYNCHRO button, as recently revealed by countless avid photographers ignoring Nintendo's still-capture image policies, has been detailed. The Wii console's SYNCHRO button is pressed, making the machine broadcast an invite to WiiMotes. Users then press another SYNCHRO button located inside the the WiiMote's battery compartment and controllers are thusly assigned, hinting that Nintendo will push a philosophy of users taking WiiMotes around with them, an interesting possibility. The same lock-on can be achieved by users holding down buttons 1 and 2 on the controller.
Reports state the WiiMote is digital in the main, with the D-Pad, A, B, 1, 2, -, +, Power and SYNCHRO all working on a per-click basis. The C and Z buttons on the nunchuk add-on also are one-press affairs.
In news that actually is a precursor to the Wii's instruction manual, it transpired that the LEDs on the WiiMote serve a dual purpose. The four light sources will indicate who's talking to the console, player one lighting up the first LED, player 2 the second and so on. The LEDs also indicate remaining battery life. At point of boot, four LEDs blink to indicate the controller has between 75% and full power. Three LEDs indicate 50% and 75% power, two LEDs blink to show 25% and 50% power and one LED blinks to illustrate under 25%.
Nintendo has also briefed developers that light sources may interfere with normal operation on the WiiMote. As to how severe this problem will be remains to be seen though all light sources, as well as mirrors and windows are mentioned. Not ideal... Nintendo does state the sensor bar the Wii uses will overcome 'basic light issues'. We'll update you as we learn more.
Finally, speculation abounds that the WiiMote may act as a camera. IGN's take reads, "Interestingly, according to documentation the Wii-mote is able to act as something of an eye, measuring coordinates between 0-1023 on the X axis and 0-767 on the Y axis, which means that it is more or less seeing a megapixel image. Whether or not this data can be interpreted into visual information remains unknown, but we're not ruling out the possibility that the pointer could sub as a camera. This is, of course, purely speculative on our part, but stranger things have certainly happened - like, for instance, an internal speaker."
The above speculation is, to take a measured view, just so much shit - IGN have not got a clue and their reporter was either smoking crack or just being plain stupid, to make up such guff out of thin air. It’s nothing more than a clueless opinion based on a misreading of technical information.
“Which means that it is more or less seeing a megapixel image” they excitedly infer. Errr, no guys.
Put simply, the WiiMote measures it's POSITION to those resolutions, not the colour of pixels.
Besides, swinging it back and forward 767 times to get one photo is absurd. “This would be like trying to use your mouse as a scanner,” as one SPOnG staffer succinctly put it.
So, let's scotch that rumour now. Nintendo is not going to use the WiiMote as a camera and, what’s more, it is not going to introduce an Eyetoy style camera add on to the Wii.
The Wii has an SD card slot. 99% of Wii owners will already own digital cameras. Why bother providing users with costly add-ons when you can make fun and innovative gameplay uses out of gadgets they already own.
We look forward to the final act in the Wii’s teasingly long striptease this coming September.
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Comments
TwoADay 18 Jul 2006 12:41
1/15
AAs? Are you serious? This is the first really bad news I've heard about the Wii....
Other lights may interfere? really? this could be the second bad news, depending on how it works.
Geeze, bad day for big N.
Other lights may interfere? really? this could be the second bad news, depending on how it works.
Geeze, bad day for big N.
RiseFromYourGrave 18 Jul 2006 13:04
2/15
yeah, i would be playing a lot when i get my wii and dont want to have to spend loads of money on AAs all the time...
hopefully a hong kong import specialist will come up with a Lithium Ion battery pack before nintendo
as for the lights, it might not be that bad. we shall see
hopefully a hong kong import specialist will come up with a Lithium Ion battery pack before nintendo
as for the lights, it might not be that bad. we shall see
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majin dboy 18 Jul 2006 13:34
3/15
i wud have said nintendo would have gone with a built in rechargable battery, a la DS/DSL/SP etc. but i dont think its "bad news" as the power method of the controller will not be detremental to gameplay,which is what wii is all about.
just invest in a battery charger and ul be fine,plus look at the wiimote battery life,ur gona hav2play a lot of games to get thru one set of AAs
just invest in a battery charger and ul be fine,plus look at the wiimote battery life,ur gona hav2play a lot of games to get thru one set of AAs
TwoADay 18 Jul 2006 13:45
4/15
majin dboy wrote:
i wud have said nintendo would have gone with a built in rechargable battery, a la DS/DSL/SP etc. but i dont think its "bad news" as the power method of the controller will not be detremental to gameplay,which is what wii is all about.
just invest in a battery charger and ul be fine,plus look at the wiimote battery life,ur gona hav2play a lot of games to get thru one set of AAs
just invest in a battery charger and ul be fine,plus look at the wiimote battery life,ur gona hav2play a lot of games to get thru one set of AAs
True, but just think - people see that neat system, seemingly teeming with new technologies. Then they see that batteries are required. I think it's a bigger PR mistake than tech mistake, but I do still think that rechargable internals are much more preferable to AAs.
Does anyone have an idea as to how much cash or wieght Nintendo may save by having it thins way? it would be interesting to find out...
majin dboy 18 Jul 2006 14:19
5/15
probably a lot.but on the other hand they the cud just transfer the cost to us(the consumers),and it would be 6s and 9s for nintendo.
also from an athestical point,the in built rechargeable just make the wiimote look more complete and solid.or for example,what if u drop the wiimote?the battery casing and batteries are gona fling out.
also from an athestical point,the in built rechargeable just make the wiimote look more complete and solid.or for example,what if u drop the wiimote?the battery casing and batteries are gona fling out.
RiseFromYourGrave 18 Jul 2006 16:38
6/15
yeah, it seems almost tacky. imagine the battery cover fell off the dslite all the time and your AAs spilled out.
id assume it was to keep the price of the controllers down, as a lithium ion battery capable of life worthy of a controller not a handheld, 30 hours + i guess, would be quite expensive... maybe even large.
could be weight as well? they want you to swing the thing around all day, without getting tennis elbow or arnold schwarzeneggers arm.
still tacky.
id assume it was to keep the price of the controllers down, as a lithium ion battery capable of life worthy of a controller not a handheld, 30 hours + i guess, would be quite expensive... maybe even large.
could be weight as well? they want you to swing the thing around all day, without getting tennis elbow or arnold schwarzeneggers arm.
still tacky.
warbaby 18 Jul 2006 17:51
7/15
Wow... I read that thing word-for-word last week on IGN... slow news day?
Funny thing is I didn't realize it until the end, then had to go to IGN just to make sure I wasn't going crazy.
The whole leap to digital camera is what set it off in my head...
How do you pull digital camera outta that...
Funny thing is I didn't realize it until the end, then had to go to IGN just to make sure I wasn't going crazy.
The whole leap to digital camera is what set it off in my head...
How do you pull digital camera outta that...
Dreadknux 18 Jul 2006 18:40
8/15
Calm down, eh? It's not really that bad a newsbite.
30 hours is a shatload of gaming time for even the most avid gamer. You may need to stock up about 2 batteries a week, maybe. Go to Wilkos and you can get 12 AA batteries for something like £1.50 or something absurd.
The Wavebird uses AA's. You get craploads of game time from that. :P And let's not forget, the XBOX 360 wireless controllers also take AA's. So I wouldn't say it's in Nintendo's detriment to be going down the same route. Sure, the 360 has a rechargeable option so you can do away with batteries, but I'm sure Nintendo may come out with a similar peripheral for the Wii remote.
30 hours is a shatload of gaming time for even the most avid gamer. You may need to stock up about 2 batteries a week, maybe. Go to Wilkos and you can get 12 AA batteries for something like £1.50 or something absurd.
The Wavebird uses AA's. You get craploads of game time from that. :P And let's not forget, the XBOX 360 wireless controllers also take AA's. So I wouldn't say it's in Nintendo's detriment to be going down the same route. Sure, the 360 has a rechargeable option so you can do away with batteries, but I'm sure Nintendo may come out with a similar peripheral for the Wii remote.
brandon_r87 18 Jul 2006 22:17
9/15
Hopefully they do come out with a rechargeable battery for it. My friend dropped his 360 controller and the battery cover broke. The spring connected to the button shot out, so now it all just drops out without tape over it. I have the Play & Charge and rechargeable battery and its definitely worth it.
Nintendo always treats its customers right, so I was kind of expecting a rechargeable out of the box, but I'm not terribly disappointed. Rechargeable or AA, I'm still going to have an awesome time when I pick up the Wii.
Nintendo always treats its customers right, so I was kind of expecting a rechargeable out of the box, but I'm not terribly disappointed. Rechargeable or AA, I'm still going to have an awesome time when I pick up the Wii.
crs117 19 Jul 2006 05:29
10/15
I dont see the big deal about the wii using aa's. I mean lets say you are having a wii party (snicker) and somebodies wiimote batter dies. Well then the party is over for them until they get their wii mote recharged...that kinda sucks. With batteries, you simply rip out the batteries of the next closest remote control (dvd, vcr, tv, universal, reciever, cd player, etc).
Besides how cheap is a aa charger and a good set of 10 rechargable batteries? It would be much cheaper in the long run to purchase that and have spares in the charger anyway. Thats what i do with my 360.
Besides how cheap is a aa charger and a good set of 10 rechargable batteries? It would be much cheaper in the long run to purchase that and have spares in the charger anyway. Thats what i do with my 360.
dr_faulk 19 Jul 2006 07:53
11/15
Didn't you post that message already!?
Yeah, any set of rechargeable batteries would do, once the current and voltage output are correct.
I find with specialised rechargeable batteries, you are stuck to the wall, so to speak, as in if it goes dead you usually don't have a spare set to swap with, unless you bring the charger around with you.
Yeah, any set of rechargeable batteries would do, once the current and voltage output are correct.
I find with specialised rechargeable batteries, you are stuck to the wall, so to speak, as in if it goes dead you usually don't have a spare set to swap with, unless you bring the charger around with you.
ozfunghi 19 Jul 2006 10:51
12/15
Pictures from last week (Nintendo Benelux event) showed people playing the Wii, with the Wii itself in a glass case, and the lights not exactly turned low, so i doubt this will be a huge issue. You can find the pics on gonintendo.com somewhere.
tyrion 19 Jul 2006 11:58
13/15
ozfunghi wrote:
Pictures from last week (Nintendo Benelux event) showed people playing the Wii, with the Wii itself in a glass case, and the lights not exactly turned low, so i doubt this will be a huge issue. You can find the pics on gonintendo.com somewhere.
Yeah, the Wii is in a box, but the sensor strip isn't and that's the place the lighting issue will be seen.
Anybody wanting to check out the photos will find them here. You can see the sensor strip on the top of the TV in the first picture and on the bottom of the TVs in the fourth and fifth.
majin dboy 19 Jul 2006 12:42
14/15
i cant wait to have a wii party......seriously.
im just gona invite all my mates round and say its to play poker and then just lock in the room with the wii.....seriously.
im just gona invite all my mates round and say its to play poker and then just lock in the room with the wii.....seriously.
majin dboy 19 Jul 2006 12:43
15/15
seriously.