More Wii-mote Info 191
Psykechan writes "IGN has revealed some more info about Nintendo's Wii remote controller. Paraphrasing from the official Developer documentation, the controller will communicate with the console using Bluetooth and will last up to 60 hours on two AA (R6/UM3) batteries using only accelerometer functionality or 30 hours using precision aim functionality via the sensor bar. There's also details on memory, LEDs, possible camera functionality, and environmental distractions." From the article: "Light sources from fluorescent and halogen lamps, plastic, mirrors and more may occasionally interfere with the pointer, based on official documentation. To eliminate this interference, the pointer must identify the sensor bar and mark its two coordinates. When pointing with the Wii-mote, the unit is actually interacting with the sensor bar, which then translates data to the television, in effect simulating a direct aim to the television."
Distances (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Weird information (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't believe it at all. You can see my other comment in this topic to see why.
That said, I can give you some ideas. One that has been floated around is that you would be able to have a little avatar of yourself that you could put into various games. This rumor seems to have come from the customized characters in the Wii Sports demo. You could use the camera to put your face on the model.
It could also be used more... creatively. Through image analysis you could turn any rough surface (even carpet) along with the Wiimote as a pen tablet type setup. I wouldn't think Bluetooth would be fast enough to transfer high enough resolution images, and to do the analysis on the controllers would be expensive to battery life.
Or you could do something else. Monster Rancher had an interesting idea when they let you put music CDs into your PlayStation to release the monsters in them. There was a little hand-held game back around the time of Nintendo's little Pikachu toy/pedometer (which was kinda fun) that would read barcodes to teach your Digimon type thing (I don't think it was Digimon) new attacks (or something). By using the camera in this way you could put interesting data into the Wii. Release the monsters from your food packages, find the Elfs living in your books with their bar codes. Keep track of your life with Delicious LIbrary for the Wii.
Don't believe the camera bit. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:AA Batteries? Are they kidding? (Score:2, Interesting)
That's the beautiful part about the 360's play and charge cable. It'll recharge and let you play at the same time (it'll recharge much more slowly that way, of course). Of course, then you're tethered to the console again, but it's better than waiting an hour or two for the batteries to charge back up. I guess if being wireless is really that important, you could buy two battery packs and a charging station and just swap out batteries as necessary (that'd be major overkill, since the 360 battery pack lasts for a good 2-3 weeks on a single charge, depending on how much you play of course).
Re:Don't believe the camera bit. (Score:2, Interesting)
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http://sprite.student.utwente.nl/~jeroen/projects
Ok so it's not a camera, but it's cool anyway.
they now make a separate charger... (Score:5, Interesting)
The play and charge doesn't really excite me. I use it, but when it runs down, I just grab my other controller with 2 AAs in it while the play and charge charges from my iPod USB power supply.
The play and charge has two major flaws:
1. If you charge your controller off your 360 while the 360 is "off", the 360 isn't really off, it is taking over 80W of power. It basically just turns off the video out. It gets hot and wastes a lot of power.
2. If you charge your controller off your 360 while the 360 is on, you must use that controller as player 1. That is, if any controller is attached by the play n charge kit to the 360, it becomes controller 1. If you turn it off (perhaps to make another controller #1), it just turns right back on and becomes #1 again. This sucks. This forces you to use the tethered controller to play, even if you have another that is charged. That is, unless you want to wait until your 360 is "off" to charge, in which case you end up at #1 again.
That's why I have to plug my controller into my iPod power supply (via the play n charge cable) to charge it. Weak.
Still, all in all it is a good controller, Sony will have trouble matching it with their PS3 controller.
Re:Bounds of the TV (Score:5, Interesting)
Ha, something I have a little experience with...
first let's take old NES era light gun games, pull the trigger, the screen flashes white. some of the older arcade shooters use something similar, but can get away with much shorter flashes and the gun interprets that. Now the more modern ones, mostly SEGA ones where I work have a series of IR LEDs located at the edges of the screen (5 top 5 bottom usually) that are strobed in series. I'm pretty sure it measures the intensity of each LED to determine the position of the gun, and covering even one will make it think it's pointing off screen (a common problem in cold weather when people just thrown their coats on top of the game when they play it) I'm assuming the sensor bar they keep talking about will function slightly similarly to the later. You will probably want to calibrate it anytime you drastically change the relative distance from the TV because it starts to make a difference when you double the distance [i.e standing 5 feet away, or sitting 10 away on the couch with your buddies playing Mario Part-wii]
Re:Weird information (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:So... (Score:2, Interesting)
1. How often do you need to replace a proprietary battery in a device that just charges in a docking station?
2. How often do you need to replace the standard batteries by pulling them out (one by one) and popping them into your charger (one by one)?
I get the feeling that you have to do 2 much, much, more frequently than 1. (a few orders of magnitude more often)
I'd rather pay for the convenience of never touching those damn batteries.
Re:6kb (Score:2, Interesting)
You could just choose to leave your wii on only if you plan to use this feature too, so no bitching about power usage (the net-connected standby has highly reduced power usage also)
Re:Bounds of the TV (Score:1, Interesting)