Wii-mote News Update

Posted on Monday 17th July 2006 at 21:55 by karasuman

Thanks to Elessar for sending me the link!

Earlier this week, more details were divulged regarding the most revolutionary aspect of it's no-longer-Revolution-ary console. Even though Nintendo has been keeping things quiet, it seems that IGN has managed to obtain some developement documentation that sheds light on some of the mysteries.

In the age of recharging units for everything from cell phones to iPods, a lot of the speculation regarding the controller revolved around whether or not it would be a hassle to keep in good working repair. No one wants to have to buy expensive batteries when the original ones lose their charge capacity, and keeping track of a charging unit isn't much fun, either. Fortunately, it appears that the Wiimote will be powered by cheap AA batteries with an expected life of 30-60 gameplay hours, depending on whether the full functionality of the remote is used.

Most of the rest of the technical information creates more questions than it answers, but you can join the speculation below:

Source: IGN via Elessar

Posted in: Gaming Industry News

Written by	karasuman
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	Member Since: 2003-07-31
	News articles posted: 51
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Comments

Silverlance	Comment 1: 2006-07-17 22:09
	Back in my days, I didn't have to shell out money for batteries once a week to play games... Except with a gameboy, that is. It's a shame Nintendo didn't try to make little charging units built into the console itself. You could just hook them in when you're done and never really have to worry about your batteries dying out on you mid-game or something like that. And if they just require cheap little AA batteries, they'd definately be charged overnight, so it wouldn't be much of a hassle.
Del S	Comment 2: 2006-07-17 22:27
	"Cheap AA batteries". Aye, that'll be right. The £1 packs of eight or more lasts about three seconds in anything, including the box, and the decent ones that actually work like Duracells are about £1.65 for four. Rechargable AA batteries on the other hand are more economical. So the question remains, them running it off ordinary batteries is a good thing how? It's going to cost you anyway. It would just be simpler for them to give you the charger and four rechargable AA's, becuase if you're such a dumbass you can misplace a battery charger you'll forget to buy batteries. I fail to see how they can avoid hassle either way.
karasuman	Comment 3: 2006-07-17 23:38
	Quote (Del S @ 17th July 2006 17:27) The £1 packs of eight or more lasts about three seconds in anything, including the box, and the decent ones that actually work like Duracells are about £1.65 for four. Rechargable AA batteries on the other hand are more economical. So the question remains, them running it off ordinary batteries is a good thing how? It's going to cost you anyway. It would just be simpler for them to give you the charger and four rechargable AA's, becuase if you're such a dumbass you can misplace a battery charger you'll forget to buy batteries. I fail to see how they can avoid hassle either way. You need two of these batteries at a time, and that's 30-60 hours of playing life. That's better than I get with my GBA, for one thing. For another... Correct me if I'm wrong, but if something runs on AA batteries, won't it run on rechargable AA batteries, too? If you're really that big on recharging them, there's nothing stopping you. What this does stop is the iPod problem, where your "rechargable" battery actually has a limited lifetime. Do you want to buy a new controller for your Wii? Or a new, probably very expensive Nintendo brand battery for when the current one goes? The other problem this avoids is the problem I have with my cordless phone. The longer you own something like that, the less charge the battery can hold before it needs to be recharged. With my phone, I'm down to half-hour conversations no matter how long I let it charge for. Does stopping your game to let your controller charge appeal to you? It sure doesn't appeal to me. What's with you two, anyway? Go stalk someone else's newsposts.
Rangers51	Comment 4: 2006-07-17 23:49
	Quote (Del S @ 17th July 2006 18:27) I fail to see how they can avoid hassle either way. Well, I agree with that. But there's really not any other option for a wireless remote. They've been that way forever, back to the NES, which IIRC had the first ever wireless remote options. The alternative is a corded remote. And don't be surprised when an identical Wii-mote with a cord comes out too. I don't think it's as good an idea, but it'll happen.
yelanates	Comment 5: 2006-07-18 06:11
	As karasuman stated, rechargable batteries hold less charge the longer they are used. I've seen this problem start on my GBASP, shortly before it broke. Add in that for many people, consoles are used for many hours at a time as opposed to thirty minutes here and there like handhelds and those chargables wouldn't be. Although I must admit that I thoguht when reading the article that having a dock or cord in the Wii to plug the controller into would be a solid idea. Whatever. I don't really care, as $200 for Wii + $10 in batteries>$600 for PS3.
Del S	Comment 6: 2006-07-18 09:21
	The main flaw with using third party rechargable batteires is, well, the main company I know of, Uniross, are... well, crap. Wait a tick. Why not combine the two? Design the controller in such a way that it effectively IS a battery charger when plugged into the console via a cable and can accept any brand of rechargable AA battery? Like a laptop can run off battery or AC power. I personally think that would save on hassle (If you can't keep track of that charging unit the problem solves itself becuase you've lost the controller, see?). After all, that means the cordless controller can be coverted to the corded controller if you want, you don't need to buy another controller just to have the cord, and it can be used to charge the batteries. And also maim stupid people who try to recharge ordinary AA's.
Zero_Hawk	Comment 7: 2006-07-18 11:01
	Doesn't bother me all that much, especially if you can turn the remote off when you're not using it. I mean, hell, my Wavebird is powered by two AA batteries, and it works really efficiently. Even when i'm putting in some intensive gaming, i've never changed batteries for it more than once every few weeks. If this thing handles in a similar vein to Wavebird, I have absolutely no qualms, as Wavebird is probably one of the only wireless controllers that I have ever had zero problems with (Other than my dog chewing on the analog stick. )
Elessar	Comment 8: 2006-07-18 14:46
	Quote (Del S @ 18th July 2006 05:21) Why not combine the two? Design the controller in such a way that it effectively IS a battery charger when plugged into the console via a cable and can accept any brand of rechargable AA battery? Like a laptop can run off battery or AC power. Because this is a gaming device and its weight will be an important factor to your ability to use the controller? Remember, this isn't something you merely hold, but supposedly swing around and manipulate. The additional weight of the charging implement (even if it is just a couple metal plates and wires) might be impossible to place into an already optimized piece of hardware. The heavier it is, the shorter the playtime before exhaustion settles in. Quote (Del S @ 18th July 2006 05:21) I personally think that would save on hassle (If you can't keep track of that charging unit the problem solves itself becuase you've lost the controller, see?). After all, that means the cordless controller can be coverted to the corded controller if you want, you don't need to buy another controller just to have the cord, and it can be used to charge the batteries. And also maim stupid people who try to recharge ordinary AA's. This is assuming that a corded controller is anyway acceptable to the 'vision' of the company. Your proposal is fine from a technical perspective (though perhaps impossible from an engineering one), but this is again additional components in an implement that must be lightweight by definition. As well, who's to say that the controller is usable when corded? Corded movement would severely restrict the degree of freedom the controller has, and make companies less willing to cater to one division over the other (wireless vs corded players). All this trouble over what...? The fact that it uses standard AA batteries and chargers that pretty much everyone already has? It's not much of a trade-off analysis.
infernomatic	Comment 9: 2006-07-18 18:30
	Batteries... what a load of crap. Batteries are the whole reason I refuse(d) to buy a Wavebird. 30-60 hours is nothing if you're someone like me who can play 24+ hours in a weekend and however many at night during the week, most weeks. I like the system they used for the DS. No complaints there. This on the other hand is just retarded.
Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 10: 2006-07-18 19:09
	Quote (Elessar @ 18th July 2006 09:46) Quote (Del S @ 18th July 2006 05:21) Why not combine the two? Design the controller in such a way that it effectively IS a battery charger when plugged into the console via a cable and can accept any brand of rechargable AA battery? Like a laptop can run off battery or AC power. Because this is a gaming device and its weight will be an important factor to your ability to use the controller? Remember, this isn't something you merely hold, but supposedly swing around and manipulate. The additional weight of the charging implement (even if it is just a couple metal plates and wires) might be impossible to place into an already optimized piece of hardware. The heavier it is, the shorter the playtime before exhaustion settles in. Quote (Del S @ 18th July 2006 05:21) I personally think that would save on hassle (If you can't keep track of that charging unit the problem solves itself becuase you've lost the controller, see?). After all, that means the cordless controller can be coverted to the corded controller if you want, you don't need to buy another controller just to have the cord, and it can be used to charge the batteries. And also maim stupid people who try to recharge ordinary AA's. This is assuming that a corded controller is anyway acceptable to the 'vision' of the company. Your proposal is fine from a technical perspective (though perhaps impossible from an engineering one), but this is again additional components in an implement that must be lightweight by definition. As well, who's to say that the controller is usable when corded? Corded movement would severely restrict the degree of freedom the controller has, and make companies less willing to cater to one division over the other (wireless vs corded players). All this trouble over what...? The fact that it uses standard AA batteries and chargers that pretty much everyone already has? It's not much of a trade-off analysis. Well, you could have a controller that plugs into the Revolution to run on AC power but can unplug from it and run on DC (battery) power. Give it a long enough cord, and it can be swung with pretty much no concern as to the wire limiting its swining capability.
Rangers51	Comment 11: 2006-07-18 20:09
	Quote (infernomatic @ 18th July 2006 14:30) Batteries... what a load of crap. Batteries are the whole reason I refuse(d) to buy a Wavebird. 30-60 hours is nothing if you're someone like me who can play 24+ hours in a weekend and however many at night during the week, most weeks. I like the system they used for the DS. No complaints there. This on the other hand is just retarded. I don't think the Wii is even targeted at players like you (read: those who play way too much ). Given the price point and the inherent gimmick-ness of the console as evidenced by the data we've yet gotten about the Wii, and I think it's more for the casual gamer - for whom 60 hours battery life would be great.
Elessar	Comment 12: 2006-07-18 20:30
	Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 18th July 2006 15:09) Well, you could have a controller that plugs into the Revolution to run on AC power but can unplug from it and run on DC (battery) power. Give it a long enough cord, and it can be swung with pretty much no concern as to the wire limiting its swining capability. Innovation! You're thinking swing from side to side. I say twirl, toss, and spin 360*n (where n is a positive non-zero integer).
red_beard_neo	Comment 13: 2006-07-19 03:09
	Oh good, I'll have something to do with the extra rechargeable AAs I got for my digital camera. Got 8 of them (camera takes 4), but these things are so rock-solid that I run out of memory before I run out of juice. (And that's even with taking multiple pics and deleting the blurry ones 'cause my hands shake.) Assuming I get a Wii. My GC has sat in my sister's closet for well over a year now, and with a working NES and SNES it seems like I should be hitting garage sales for carts instead of buying a new system for nostalgia gaming.
sax_russell_the_green	Comment 14: 2006-07-20 17:22
	I thought the Wii-mote was going to have a recharger accesory. Something that you would slot it into and let it recharge? Is that going to still be available? Was I eating too many Kupo nuts the day I saw that?
No-Name	Comment 15: 2006-07-21 15:42
	I not troubled with the battery life have seen wiiiiiiiiiimote? it look like it whoud be hard to use for classic gamers. But wii can adapt, and as skipper said for casual gamers 60 hours of battery life is just fine.
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