Wrist phone
The Wii Remote assumes a one-handed remote control-based design instead of the traditional gamepad controllers of previous gaming consoles. This was done to make motion sensitivity more intuitive, as a remote design is fitted perfectly for pointing, and in part to help the console appeal to a broader audience that includes non-gamers. The body of the Wii Remote measures 148 mm (5.83 in) long, 36.2 mm (1.43 in) wide, and 30.8 mm (1.21 in) thick. The Wii Remote model number is RVL-003, a reference to the project codename "Revolution". The controller communicates wirelessly with the console via short-range Bluetooth radio, with which it is possible to operate up to four controllers as far as 10 meters (approx. 30ft) away from the console. However, to utilize pointer functionality, the Wii Remote must be used within five meters (approx. 16ft) of the Sensor Bar. The controller's symmetrical design allows it to be used in either hand. The Wii Remote can also be turned horizontally and used like a Famicom/NES controller, or in some cases (like Excite Truck and Sonic and the Secret Rings) a steering wheel. It is also possible to play a single player game with a Wii Remote in each hand, as in the 'Shooting Range' game contained in Wii Play.
At E3 2006, a few minor changes were made to the controller from the design presented at the Game Developer's Conference. The controller was made slightly longer, and a speaker was added to the face beneath the center row of buttons. The "B" button became more curved resembling a trigger. The "Start" and "Select" buttons were changed to plus "+" and minus "–", and the "b" and "a" buttons were changed to 1 and 2 to differentiate them from the "A" and "B" buttons. Also, the symbol on the "Home" button was changed from a blue dot to a shape resembling a home/house, the shape of the power button was made circular rather than rectangular, and the blue LEDs indicating player number are now labelled using small Braille-like raised dots instead of Arabic numerals, with "1" being "•", "2" being "••", "3" being "•••", and "4" being "••••". The Nintendo logo at the bottom of the controller face was replaced with the Wii logo. Also, the expansion port was redesigned, with expansion plugs featuring a smaller snap-on design.
The blue LEDs also show how much battery power remains on the Wii Remote. By pressing any button, besides the power button while the controller is not being used to play games, a certain number of the four blue LEDs will light up, showing the battery life: four of the LEDs flash when it is at, or near, full power. Three lights flash when it is at 75%, two lights when at 50%, and one light flashes when there is 25% or less power remaining.
Similarities have been noted between the Wii Remote and an early Dreamcast controller prototype.
In the Red Steel trailer shown at E3 2006, the Wii Remote featured a smaller circular shaped image sensor, as opposed to the larger opaque IR filters shown on other versions. In the initial teaser video that revealed the controller at Tokyo Game Show 2005, the 1 and 2 buttons were labelled X and Y, respectively.
Colors
At E3 2006, Nintendo displayed white, black, and blue controllers. At a Wii event held on August 15, 2006 held by THQ, where the publisher's launch titles were demonstrated to press and children, all the controllers were in a two-toned scheme, black on the face, gunmetal on the reverse side. The controllers were glossy on the front, matte on the back, similar to the controllers Nintendo showed after the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. IGN published numerous photos of the event featuring the black controllers, but have since taken them down, as well as requesting their removal at other sites that had republished the photos. The Wii console launched with only the white model, with Shigeru Miyamoto commenting that new hues will be provided after the relief of supply limitations. Currently, controllers are only available in white, but third party protective skins, stickers and replacement shells are available in different colors. These colors would include solid colors like pink and green, as well as designs like camouflage and flames.
Strap
The Wii Remote comes with a wrist strap attached to the bottom to ensure the safety of the device. Every Wii game displays a caution screen upon loading to warn the player to use the strap in order to avoid the remote slipping from the grip during erratic movements.
Video game web site IGN reported that the strap tends to break under heavy use, which would potentially send the Wii Remote flying in various directions. WarioWare: Smooth Moves also sometimes requires the Wii Remote to be dropped, which would cause problems in the event of a strap failure. In response, Nintendo has posted guidelines on proper use of the strap and the Wii Remote. On December 8, 2006, units with thicker straps began to appear in some areas of the world. On December 15, 2006, Nintendo denied reports of a Wii wrist strap recall. While Nintendo refuted claims that three million straps had been recalled, it provided replacement wrist straps free of charge for users who have broken theirs. However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has become involved in the "replacement program". The old 0.6 mm (0.024 in) diameter strap is replaced by a larger, 1.0 mm (0.039 in) diameter version. Nintendo's online "Wrist Strap Replacement Request Form" allows owners to receive up to four free straps when a Wii serial number and shipping details are provided.
On August 3, 2007, a new wrist strap was discovered to be in circulation. The strap featured a lock clip instead of a slide to ensure that the clip would not slide away from a player's wrist during frequent play. The lock clip wrist strap is featured in the newest wrist strap reminder screens.
Jacket
Nintendo announced a free new accessory for the Wii Remote, the Wii Remote Jacket, on October 1, 2007. The removable silicone sleeve wraps around the Wii Remote to provide users a better grip and cushioning. The cushioning intends to keep the Wii Remote protected in case it is accidentally dropped or thrown. Nintendo started shipping consoles, separately-packaged controllers, and the controller included in the game Wii Play with the jacket on October 15, 2007. Just as with the wrist strap replacements, Nintendo has put up a Wii Remote Jacket request form on its Australian, British, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, North American and South African websites allowing current Wii owners to request up to four of the jackets free of charge, including shipping charges.
Home Menu
Accessed with the Wii Remote's home button, the Home Menu displays information about the controller(s) currently being used, and allows the user to configure certain options. At the bottom of the menu screen, the battery life of all connected controllers is displayed. Below that is a bar labelled Wii Remote Settings. Selecting it brings users to an options screen where they can control the audio output volume, rumble settings, and reconnect the controllers, for example to connect Wii Remotes through one-time synchronization. Depending on when the Home Menu is accessed, there will be a different amount of buttons displayed.
Wii Menu: No matter when the menu is accessed, the Wii Menu button will always be present. Selecting this will bring back the Wii Menu, where users can choose another channel.
Reset: In applications, the Reset button is available. This performs a soft reset of that particular application, for example returning a game to its title screen or returning to the loading screen of a Wii Menu channel, what would happen if the player were to press the console's physical reset button.
Operations Guide: On Wii Menu channels, including the News Channel, Forecast Channel, Internet Channel, Everybody Votes Channel and Virtual Console titles, the Operations Guide button will appear on the Home Menu. The guide accessed acts as an instruction manual for the currently played game.
The Home Menu can be compared to the Xbox 360's in-game menu (accessible by the "Xbox" button). It may be accessed under most circumstances during Wii operation, which pauses the on-screen action. Otherwise a Home symbol with a strikethrough appears onscreen. It is also inaccessible during Nintendo GameCube play.
Functionality
Sensing
The Wii Remote has the ability to sense acceleration along three axes through the use of an ADXL330 accelerometer. The Wii Remote also features a PixArt optical sensor, allowing it to determine where the Wii Remote is pointing.
Unlike a light gun that senses light from a television screen, the Wii Remote senses light from the console's Sensor Bar (model number RVL-014), which allows consistent usage regardless of a television's type or size. The Sensor Bar is about 20 cm (8 in) long and features ten infrared LEDs, five at each end of the bar The LEDs farthest away from the center
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JD on EP This is a historical site. New entries are at blogs.adobe.com/jd. Comments are closed on these old entries.
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