Wiimote Dissected

[Dabombpizza]

An interesting article (http://www.xgaming.com/newsletter/Wii%20Dupe.shtml) on X-Arcade (http://www.x-arcade.com/index.shtml) discusses the mechanics of the Wiimote, how it may not have been final hardware at E3, how the Wiimot is not and air mouse, and why Red Steel is such a disapointment.

The second technology that brings it all together is the use of motion sensors, iMEMS® solid state accelerometers (not gyros) that detect motion by way of acceleration which were provided by Analog Devices, Inc.. After much prying around at E3, I was told that there are three accelerometers at work in the Wiimote. There are also at least two accelerometers used in the nunchuck add-on to detect motion in it as well. This technology is by no means new either, it was used in a product in 2001 that XGaming used to sell called the Cyberstik (or VRJoy), and back in 2000 Microsoft had a big failure of a product with the same tech called the Sidewinder Freestyle Pro. Accelerometers are quite inexpensive at around only around fifty cents each, so there is no reason that Wiimotes should cost any more than any other gamepad on the console front.There's even a hint towards secrets still unveiled:

I personally drilled a Nintendo® rep (while waiting for him to fix a Wiimote for the Tennis demo) about what was under the flap on the front of the console (any 3D projection in there?), after dodging like a Jedi knight and acting like he didn't hear me several times he got very nervous and finally said "I can't talk about it or I will get fired".

[MajSheppard]

Doesn't everyone love how all the people try to spin all the e3 stuff. This is starting to get worse then politics with all the conspiricy theories and partisan fanboy junk.

[Citizen Philip]

I'm sorry, but I cannot see the Gunman on the knoll. Please get CSI to do their plot related tricks to make it plainly obvious to me. Or someone explain it.

[DigitalFirefly]

I hope they ad a microphone to the Wii controller.

[Wolfgang]

I hope they ad a microphone to the Wii controller.

Why? Are you going to talk into the remote while swinging in around trying to hit a tennis ball online?

Plus do you want feedback from the hand moving all over the remote, feedback from it being moved through the air, etc...?

[eth3rton]

I hope they ad a microphone to the Wii controller.

If there are any Sony reps reading this its now in the PS3's controller.... :D

[gzsfrk]

I don't see how this would in any way detract from their presentation and technology, other than to possibly suggest that they haven't finalized their manufacturing process yet, and simply shoe-horned some Wii hardware into a Gcube profile. Worst case, they were running the Wiimote off a specially-modifed Gamecube (the graphics certainly seemed doable) for any number of reasons (such as perhaps better reliability in an important presentation).

Not trying to be a Nintendo apologist or anything--I just don't think it would have been a big deal if they weren't running the presentation off of finalized Wii hardware.

[gzsfrk]

The hell? What happened to the image of Miyamoto that was on the front page along with this article?

[Heretic Machine]

I hope they ad a microphone to the Wii controller.

They already did. Am I the only one who watched the conference?

EDIT: And BTW, there is no reason we shouldn't take this article seriously. If we are going to scrutanize the PS3, we need to peel away any layers of conspiracy that might be hiding in the camp of Nintendo as well.

[Dabombpizza]

The hell? What happened to the image of Miyamoto that was on the front page along with this article?
Here's the link (http://wiinintendo.net/?p=176) for it. Shows a "hidden" gamecube and the GCs in the background.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/realitysfringe/bscap00007dl.jpg

[Wolfgang]

They already did. Am I the only one who watched the conference?

EDIT: And BTW, there is no reason we shouldn't take this article seriously. If we are going to scrutanize the PS3, we need to peel away any layers of conspiracy that might be hiding in the camp of Nintendo as well.

I thought I heard that too, but could not find a quote exactly stating the features of the remote.

My friend and I compared Wii online to Live here: http://slashcry.com/forums/thread/393.aspx

I brought up my concern about the Remote having the microphone and I assume the voice of other people will come out from the remote too and I guess probably the TV.

[Heretic Machine]

I didn't hear anything about a microphone, I'm pretty sure they only announced a speaker.

The speaker IS a microphone. It functions as both.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I know I've heard things about "absolute position". Does this guy know what he's talking about? I can't recall where I've heard them - did Nintendo say it or did that get extrapolated by everyone? If it's true, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

It seems a lot of people are making judgement calls about what the system can do based on the Red Steel Demo - I thought the Metroid one controlled quite well?

[Heretic Machine]

I know I've heard things about "absolute position". Does this guy know what he's talking about? I can't recall where I've heard them - did Nintendo say it or did that get extrapolated by everyone? If it's true, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

It seems a lot of people are making judgement calls about what the system can do based on the Red Steel Demo - I thought the Metroid one controlled quite well?

Some say it did, some say it didn't... I'm really worried that this is going to turn out to be all smoke and mirrors. It would of helped if the PA guys got their hands on it, I usually trust them to at least tell the truth about their impressions.

[Wolfgang]

http://revolution.ign.com/articles/706/706147p1.html

The "clicky" buttons from the dev unit have also been fixed and feel more natural and finished this time around. As unveiled last week, the left-hand nunchuck controller features tilt functionality while the right-hand pointer interacts with a special sensor bar to allow movement ntrol interaction in 3D space. At press time it was unclear whether the Wii-mote would also feature a built-in microphone to enable two-way communication in online games -- but the use of the controller speaker for voice playback is a given.

I am still searching for an exact quote. The nintendo website mentions the speaker feature, but not the microphone feature of the wiimote.

[CapnBob]

The speaker IS a microphone. It functions as both.

technically possible, I suppose, but has it been confirmed anywhere that this is how it's intended to function on the system?

[DigitalFirefly]

They already did. Am I the only one who watched the conference?


I watched it, maybe I missed it when everyone was cheering.

[Rafer]

Interesting, I noticed the remote had what looked like an IR part at the front, which would be covered up by your left hand if you held it sideways (like Sonic and Excite Truck) so it makes sense they would have to rely soley on the acceleration detection for those games.

[gzsfrk]

The guy who wrote this article lost all credibility with me when I read the following paragraph:

The Duck Hunt clone used only this technology, and would in fact work without the second technology at all. It is a point and shoot light gun game just like the original Duck Hunt for the NES. The only difference is that the original NES light gun took a photo of the screen when you pulled the trigger to see what you had hit, whereas this new LED light gun technology uses the LED's to see where you are aiming. This allows it to work on projectors, LCD's, Plasma displays, and even VGA.

That is most certainly NOT how the Nintendo Zapper worked. The gun didn't take a photo of anything; it was simply a light sensor (photodiode) in the gun detecting the electron beam shooting from the TV at very high white levels. I forget which way it worked, but either the area right around the duck would light up bright white momentarily, or the rest of the screen did. (Seems like I knew this at one time, but it's been a while.) Of course, other light gun games used the time of the gun detecting the electron beam from the beginning of the screen re-draw, and then did some math to determine where it was pointed at the screen.

See the following:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question273.htm

[DJuniah]

so.....what does everyone think/hope is under that hidden flap?
(i know all the rumors that have been spreading for a while, 3D, etc. but i want to know what everyone REALLY wants it to be)

[F9Phoenix]

I'm hoping that wasn't the final Wii-mote anyway. I felt like it was missing the precision necessary to be truly effective. I had suspected they'd not been done with it — well, more like hoped.

[Nadreck]

The main reason I don't want the current config to be the final Wiimote: I'd like to see the nunchuk and other attachments not be tethered to the Wiimote. That would open up considerably more options (though feasibly, some of them you could do by holding two wiimotes separately... in particular I'm thinking it's use in a semi-serious games segment, like a game that teaches you Tai Chi, or an exercise routine).

[Heretic Machine]

The guy who wrote this article lost all credibility with me when I read the following paragraph:



That is most certainly NOT how the Nintendo Zapper worked. The gun didn't take a photo of anything; it was simply a light sensor (photodiode) in the gun detecting the electron beam shooting from the TV at very high white levels. I forget which way it worked, but either the area right around the duck would light up bright white momentarily, or the rest of the screen did. (Seems like I knew this at one time, but it's been a while.) Of course, other light gun games used the time of the gun detecting the electron beam from the beginning of the screen re-draw, and then did some math to determine where it was pointed at the screen.

See the following:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question273.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES_Zapper

He was close enough in his description, IMO...

[Cha-Ka]

I hope they ad a microphone to the Wii controller.

Oh I get it. A microphone would allow Wii to make those cool "whoosh" noises with every gesture. Y'know...for the multiplayer online Fist of the Dragon game!

[xcalibur]

Some say it did, some say it didn't... I'm really worried that this is going to turn out to be all smoke and mirrors. It would of helped if the PA guys got their hands on it, I usually trust them to at least tell the truth about their impressions.

Considering thousands of people were able to play 27 Wii games using the controller, I'm not real sure how it could have been all smoke and mirrors.


-X

[handsalad]

From reading the whole article by that dude it sounds like he was disapointed that the technology behind the wiimote was not new. The technology does work though it just uses exsisting technology. That means we can all afford it and not have to pay for some alien technology that would cause additional wiimotes to cost 3 times what a normal controller costs. So he likes the Wii. The stuff Nintendo was hiding was good stuff not anything bad. Like possibly the projected 3d interactive environment stuff from last years e3.

[score]

so.....what does everyone think/hope is under that hidden flap?
(i know all the rumors that have been spreading for a while, 3D, etc. but i want to know what everyone REALLY wants it to be)

It has to be a flux capacitor. Oh, and Wii isn't the real name of the system. Its the Nintendo DeLorean. You pick a game from the virtual console and actually travel back in time to play it :D

[trip1eX]

You don't get a lot of faith from an article about the technical aspects of a controller when the author says underneath, 'If there's any engineers out there that see any wrong information please contact me and I will fix it.'

Also the subtle 'hint' that a Nintendo rep knows that 3d projection is in the console but can't talk about it is absurd. Yeah all these reps at the booth know about 3d projection and somehow the secret isn't out yet. What a way to keep a secret. Tell all your employees and tell them they'll be fired if they tell anyone else. 3d ain't in there!!!

Again it seems his technical insight into the wiimote is based on talking to a garden variety booth sitter who's only job is to go to a meeting, be introduced to a game and how the wiimote works the game and how to fix any simple problems at the demonstration. He or she might also be trained to answer a question or two.

[Entropy Effect]

so.....what does everyone think/hope is under that hidden flap?
(i know all the rumors that have been spreading for a while, 3D, etc. but i want to know what everyone REALLY wants it to be)

I was thinking it could be a camera but that wouldn't really be as useful if it was built into the console. It would be too hard to aim at anything.

Soooo, here's hoping it's a DS card reader allowing you to play DS games on the Wii and possibly a writer so you can play Virtual Console games on the DS. Even better if it includes both a GB/GBA slot and a DS slot, now THAT is backwards compatibility.

I am imagining a scenario where you put the DS game into the Wii, one of the screens is displayed on the TV, and the other screen is displayed on the DS touchscreen which you can still use as a controller.

Oh man, there are so many awesome things they could still announce.

[UnderHero5]

I think you guys are just building yourselves up for dissapointment if you think the Wii is hiding some magical functionality under a little tab of plastic.
I doubt it's a camera. I doubt it's a 3D imaging anything. I doubt it's a DS/GBA game slot (why would they let it play those when that would lose them sales of those handhelds... duh).
It's probably a couple of USB ports and a flash card slot.

[jonat3]

I think you guys are just building yourselves up for dissapointment if you think the Wii is hiding some magical functionality under a little tab of plastic.
I doubt it's a camera. I doubt it's a 3D imaging anything. I doubt it's a DS/GBA game slot (why would they let it play those when that would lose them sales of those handhelds... duh).
It's probably a couple of USB ports and a flash card slot.

I pretty much doubt it's 3D projection, but i'm also doubting that it's a small secret. I've been following Nintendo closely, and it has been heavily implied that there are still some major secrets attached to the wii. I'm not certain if it's a more important secret than the wiimote was, but i doubt it's just an extra port.

[Entropy Effect]

I doubt it's a camera. I doubt it's a 3D imaging anything. I doubt it's a DS/GBA game slot (why would they let it play those when that would lose them sales of those handhelds... duh).


Umm, because those handhelds are portable and many people would enjoy being able to play a game at home on their nice TV, then take it with them to continue. It would create an additional audience for GBA and DS games, plus it would possibly sell some additional GBA/DS hardware to people who were never interested in handheld consoles once they start playing the games on their Wii. The GBA/DS slot is just a wish, but I think your "it would hurt sales" logic is flawed.

Plus, with the DS and Wii both sporting wireless connectivity and minimal discussion about their interactivity from Nintendo so far, it seems likely there will be some announcements in that area.

[UnderHero5]

I pretty much doubt it's 3D projection, but i'm also doubting that it's a small secret. I've been following Nintendo closely, and it has been heavily implied that there are still some major secrets attached to the wii. I'm not certain if it's a more important secret than the wiimote was, but i doubt it's just an extra port.
I just don't think people should get their hopes up.
To be honest, I've always assumed that little door hit the slot that accepts GameCube discs. The way you load discs into the Wii doesn't seem like it would allow them to be loaded the same way as a normal DVD, if you were to slide the small GCN disk in at the wrong spot it could ruin the drive.

I assumed you'd flip that door open and there would be a deperate slot for loading the smaller GCN discs.

[southwick]

Umm, because those handhelds are portable and many people would enjoy being able to play a game at home on their nice TV, then take it with them to continue. It would create an additional audience for GBA and DS games, plus it would possibly sell some additional GBA/DS hardware to people who were never interested in handheld consoles once they start playing the games on their Wii. The GBA/DS slot is just a wish, but I think your "it would hurt sales" logic is flawed.

Plus, with the DS and Wii both sporting wireless connectivity and minimal discussion about their interactivity from Nintendo so far, it seems likely there will be some announcements in that area.


How True!
I am going to buy the Wii, my interest has been piqued far too much.
I have no interest in buying a DS, simply because I would never use it.
If there was an integrated functionality between the two I would be very tempted to buy a DS, and get to play it at home on a Nice Big Tv.

[UnderHero5]

Umm, because those handhelds are portable and many people would enjoy being able to play a game at home on their nice TV, then take it with them to continue. It would create an additional audience for GBA and DS games, plus it would possibly sell some additional GBA/DS hardware to people who were never interested in handheld consoles once they start playing the games on their Wii. The GBA/DS slot is just a wish, but I think your "it would hurt sales" logic is flawed.
Okay, then I'll use some different logic.
The DS costs $130. The Wii is rumored at $250. Now do you honestly think they would eat that lost revenue for no reason?
When you buy a Gameboy player for you GCN you're still buying seperate hardware to play the GBA games. It's not included in the GCN's cost. They still make their money on the GBA Player.
If they included is in the Wii they wouldn't be making that money. The DS is selling like hotcakes and is still a new handheld and a main focus for Nintendo.

There won't be a DS player in it. Not to mention the games are designed with a touch screen in mind, and a Mic. Not going to happen.

I could consider there being a GBA slot, but definitely not a DS slot. They seem to be trying to slowly phase out the GBA (even though it still sells like mad)... so perhaps they could plan ahead and include a slot for that. Though I still find that unlikely.

Wishful thinking is one thing, but lets not be unreasonable here.

[Entropy Effect]

Okay, then I'll use some different logic.
The DS costs $130. The Wii is rumored at $250. Now do you honestly think they would eat that lost revenue for no reason?


I'm still not buying this argument. Who cares about the revenue compared to the profit? The margin on the DS cannot be that high. Besides, in my wild fantasy scenario you would still need a DS to use as a controller for many of the games anyway, you could just display it on your TV via the Wii.

So maybe try this on for size: there is no DS slot but your DS can wirelessly send the top screen image to your Wii to be displayed on the TV.

In conclusion, let me have my dream, dammit :)

[dena miscreant]

I just don't think people should get their hopes up.
To be honest, I've always assumed that little door hit the slot that accepts GameCube discs. The way you load discs into the Wii doesn't seem like it would allow them to be loaded the same way as a normal DVD, if you were to slide the small GCN disk in at the wrong spot it could ruin the drive.

I assumed you'd flip that door open and there would be a deperate slot for loading the smaller GCN discs.

The Wii uses a never-before-seen special loading slot that can accept both the 8 cm GameCube discs and the 12cm Wii discs.

[Opty]

So this guy plays the shittily programmed Red Steel and writes an article about it assuming things about the remote because of it? When Metroid Prime 3's controls were often contrasted to Red Steel's as "the way it should be done"? Good journalistic integrity there, bub.

[Pantsmonkey]

This article is wrong, wrong WRONG! it should be noted as such so as to stop perpetuating the stupid technologically implausible myths about Wii control! I shall email the guy ask him to change pretty much everything, but removing it would be far better IMO. He makes some reasonableish assumptions and then rants worse than me (with much less grounding or technical knowledge on how input devices and UI work on the Wii or everything (very standard premises people Gyro or NO at all!)

UNTIL YOU HAVE PERSONALLY USED A Wii CONTROLLER you won't understand how it works, this guy has used one and he still has no clue,

Guys I don't want to sound like the guy who wasn't at E3 but knows more than this guy, but this entire article is confusing (even to me) and unhelpful to the cause :( The guy has everything wrong here and is guessing Poorly he is only helping to further confuse the entire gaming population about Wii control.

I know a lot of you around here think I am a crackpot but if you take a look over some of my other posts you will clearly see that the Wii mote has a Gyro (With Trails) Check them out in mouse settings in your Control Panel. (They leave a big "tail" of shadowed cursors on the end of the mouse cursor the exact same Mouse Cursor and "trails" we see in Mario Galaxies! (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qYGeIci48zA&search=mario%20galaxies)) Wii Stole Trails :p

Air mousing / Gyro / How Duck Hunt and the wiimote works is JUST AS QUICK as those cursors in the Duck Hunt Vision (Not an Accelero in sight) I use the very same controler for testing Duckhunt on the Nes and Point Blank the reticle moves fast as hell without the friction of the desk slide folks!

Remember playing a gun game with a Control pad and getting the reitcle?

Actual Posts by someone who actually knows WTF they are talking about (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/search.php?searchid=338340)

Here is a look at some actual duck hunt footage (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/first-look-duck-hunt-wii) Note the extremely MOUSEY nature of the movement NO OBVIOUS point and click it is very obviously being "dragged" from point to point ala the good old gyro mouse I have been testing since seemingly forever ago.

This here is the 10 MB how a gyro mouse works video from Gyration.com (http://www.gyration.com/gyration/Videos/GyrationVideoLow.wmv)

There is NO light gun tech in the Wiimote (I wish as you know) and the multiple Accelerometers this guy is Guessing about were not featured used this way in ANY of the videos shown. The only way the Accelero was used in any wii game was a forward back thrust ala Grapple in + Grapple Return and Zelda TP Shield Melee + Shield Bunt. The reason he is having an issue with relation to the screen is purely because of the Blue Tooth Sensor Piggy back feature more so the Accelero's Need to be directionally forward of the sensor bar UNLIKE THE GYRO / AIR MOUSE WHICH TWISTS LEFT AND RIGHT CLEARY AT AN ANGLE NOT POINTING ANYWHERE NEAR THE SCREEN! Cheers Steven =)

http://www.joystiq.com/media/2006/05/spielberg_shiggy_wiitennis.jpg

The Nanchuck has 2 Z buttons on the front of it, you couldn't very well put the sensor on the front of the Chuck. However with the cable plunging into the bottom of the Wii automatically makes this 2 piece controller a 1 piece allowing the chuck and future expansion controllers to have a direct sensor link to the machine. If you don't plan for upgrades how will the happen when tech permits down the road?

Some of Pants Predictions (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=269260&highlight=predictions#post269260)

Wii control at this point in time is not perfect but its amazing in many ways, with very real possibility for relative 2D position based pixel accurate - 3D mapping some time in the future. I am working on a complete breakdown of all involved technologies inside the Wiimote and accelerometer with lots of pictures and internal 3D models I should have them soon on http://3WiiD.com the definitive sight on Wii control!

[Dabombpizza]

Ha ha! Love your posts Pantsmonkey!

[anakin876]

when I first heard this, I thought you all were talking about a covered area at the top of the wiimote - and I thought "maybe there's a lightsaber blade in there"

[Steele Johnson]

Why? Are you going to talk into the remote while swinging in around trying to hit a tennis ball online?

Plus do you want feedback from the hand moving all over the remote, feedback from it being moved through the air, etc...?

Who said that you always have to swing the controller around? That's determined by the game. C'mon, use your imagination. I can think of several types of games that could make use of a mic. For one, party games could become a lot more fun using speech recognition.

More hardware options enables more gameplay possibilities.

[Pantsmonkey]

Who said that you always have to swing the controller around? That's determined by the game. C'mon, use your imagination. I can think of several types of games that could make use of a mic. For one, party games could become a lot more fun using speech recognition.

More hardware options enables more gameplay possibilities.

Further to this Nintendo is making some very nice advances in Voice Recognition, they have been tooling around with Mic inputs for a while now on the DS and at the VERY LEAST the ability to filter sort using voice recognition in the Wii Dashboard is a MUST HAVE!

In the Wiis lifetime we will be dealing with a potential romset in the vicinity of 10,000 - 25,000 ish :) If I cannot say "Mario" or "Zelda" at the Wii Virtual Dashboard WiiVD And have all games containing Mario as a playable or non playable character or the word "Mario" or "Zelda" in the title is will be displayed in 2 separate filtered areas on screen in the Classic Games Menu. Anyone who has a vast collection of old console carts or games knows how annoying it is to find specific games of a type you like.

+1 to online collaborative tagging ala deli.cio.us ish so that we can actually make use of the games instead of just having all of them. A game that isn't played is like a bullet that isn't fired fecking useless!

Also to anyone doubting the similarities between Speakers and Mics. Go and plug your headphones speaker jack into the Microphone port and set sound recorder to on, removing the mute option from soundman or volume control [default setting] It works fine and dandy as I predicted (somewhat in reverse)

/end rant :p

*Edit* Another sweet potential maybe feature of the Mic/Speaker is its ability to be used as a button. Pressing down on it with your thumb would promote a recorded sound frequency at the very least its a very simple way to add another "Press to promote response" button if the Developer is one short for there required play scheme.

[anakin876]

If I cannot say "Mario" or "Zelda" at the Wii Virtual Dashboard WiiVD
If you thought Wii was a bad name - WiiVD would be a lot worse!. Naming it the
Wii Venereal Disease
would be a BAD idea.

[Pantsmonkey]

If you thought Wii was a bad name - WiiVD would be a lot worse!. Naming it the
Wii Venereal Disease
would be a BAD idea.

Now that you mention it ending in VD almost signalled the collapse of the

Digital
Venereal
Disease

:p


The amount of free advertising and "buzz" created by this new brand is staggering. IMO reason enough to thinks its great, given time everyone will understand the technology, the name will promote head scratching for some for the rest of time.

[Nessus]

I agree with Pantsmonkey, the main reason I'd want a mic is for voice recognition.

Also, there is no hidden flap.

The flap on the front is for SD cards, the flaps on the top are for GameCube controllers and memory cards.

And there are two USB 2.0 ports on the back of the system.

[ElectricMonk]

well I for one hope that this changes things:

http://planetgamecube.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=11557

if the wiimote dosen't do what people expect it to do then it will fail among the general public.

[Chameleo]

pants you know your shit, but you need an editor to make your shit legible and concise.

i'll help you out if you think you might need some editing..

[Pantsmonkey]

*EDIT* DK Sorry the combination of Pantsmonkey + Gyro makes for a very difficult read Sorry about that



well I for one hope that this changes things:

http://planetgamecube.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=11557

if the wiimote doesn't do what people expect it to do then it will fail among the general public.

Based off the last piece positional data in a 2D plain relative to the X,Y position and the sequentially 2nd most recent position in conjunction with possibly other cabled objects / the sensor(s) / Other Nunchucks / Other Wii Remotes. It has always been very very possible. It should have been included out of the box still might... I have been working on 3 different methods for 3D mapping on the Wii controller over the last month (I was trying to figure out the method I assumed Nintendo already had sorted)

The first idea I had was effectively layering 2D environment maps one over another gauging depth of that space with a Analogues state [ NOT DIGITAL CLICKS (ON/OFF)] - Instead of a GRAPPLE OUT it (the Accelerometer) would be a Non game affecting Slider [Z AXIS], that effectively moved the reticle along the Z access of the layered 2D environments. The others are much less clunky but you don't need to here about those any time soon.

Do you need anything other than a valid working concept design to make a Patent application?

3WiiD > Pixart!

[TheFlyingOrc]

PantsMonkey, you write like the guy from TimeCube. :)

[midrael]

Heck I couldn't really care what technology is actually inside the Wiimote as long as it works and works well!

And by the way, I'm really starting to think that naming the Revolution the Wii was a friggin stroke of genious. Think about how many terms such as the Wiimote have sprung up overnight, not to mention the liberal use of Wii as a verbal pun.

[Stormwatcher]

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It's like I can't read anymore... The words are there, but they don't make any sense...

And seriously, people. The only thing "hidden" by the front flap is the SD card slot. And on the top slot you have the gamecube controller and memory card slots. That's all.

[jonat3]

It's like I can't read anymore... The words are there, but they don't make any sense...

And seriously, people. The only thing "hidden" by the front flap is the SD card slot. And on the top slot you have the gamecube controller and memory card slots. That's all.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. There are still some hardware secrets left and i doubt Nintendo would bother to hide a freaking SD slot. It's been said by a Nintendo rep that the front flap is the "core" of the wii (or something like that).