A look inside the Wiimote

[ninzel]

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/storysupplement/wiiremote/index.htm

With pics and costs.Apparently the Wii has an audio translator built in to the Wiimote. Just a mic or something more??

 

[cloudscapes]

The audio translator is probably just an a/d/a converter (analog to digital). I'd also think they use the same chip to convert digital data from bluetooth into the sounds we hear emiting from the wiimote!

This of course is just speculation. I do some basic electronics but just as a hobby.

 

[inefficient]

That thing is so cheap to make it really makes you think of the opportunities both Sony and MS have to make their own waggle devices.

Either of them could quite cheaply release the equivalent of a Wiiplay or WiiSports and release a game bundled with the controller for $59.95 easily.

I mean people seem willing to play $60-$70 dollars for just a normal sports game. Imagine if the game came with a waggle controller. It seems like a no brainer.

And even if the peripheral isn't a smash hit, at the very least you can steal a bit of Nintendo's thunder and take away their single biggest advantage.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

And even if the peripheral isn't a smash hit, at the very least you can steal a bit of Nintendo's thunder and take away their single biggest advantage.

I don't think that would happen. To steal Nintendo's thuinder, you don't need a comparable product, but a comparable market perception. One peripheral and game won't be enough to get people thinking XB360 or PS3 when they want active gaming. The device is cheap and easy to produce (and that does have me wondering why Wii's and Wiimotes are so hard to come buy) that anyone could add them, but you'd need a focussed push to promote your whole system as waggler-friendly. Just releasing one game and controller would be a bucket of water to Nintendo's sea.

As I've said elsewhere, I reckon a comany could pull it off if they chose to. I don't know if any has the determination to supply quality software. PS3ye seems to have quite a bit of backing in software, though will be severly hampered by the price of the console.

 

[wsippel]

That thing is so cheap to make it really makes you think of the opportunities both Sony and MS have to make their own waggle devices.

Either of them could quite cheaply release the equivalent of a Wiiplay or WiiSports and release a game bundled with the controller for $59.95 easily.

I mean people seem willing to play $60-$70 dollars for just a normal sports game. Imagine if the game came with a waggle controller. It seems like a no brainer.

And even if the peripheral isn't a smash hit, at the very least you can steal a bit of Nintendo's thunder and take away their single biggest advantage.

The Wiimote is actually not Nintendos biggest advantage I think. That doesn't mean it isn't important, though. And we all know that non-standard controllers and addons never work. Plus, knowing Nintendo, they probably patented pretty much anything Wiimote-related.

It's also worth noting that a very important, and probably the most expensive part is missing in the article: the PixArt MOT sensor.

 

[Rangers]

Well, the total costs by this teardown not including casing is $10.25.

I dont know, that seems fairly expensive by raw material standards.

 

[Skrying]

The Wiimote is actually not Nintendos biggest advantage I think. That doesn't mean it isn't important, though. And we all know that non-standard controllers and addons never work. Plus, knowing Nintendo, they probably patented pretty much anything Wiimote-related.

It's also worth noting that a very important, and probably the most expensive part is missing in the article: the PixArt MOT sensor.

With a game that's very good and makes great use of it, it could be a success. Guitar Hero comes to mind. People are willing to pay more than standard fee for the game + guitar and do so in mass. So what would happen with a standard price game (or maybe just $10 more) with a neat controller?

 

[wsippel]

With a game that's very good and makes great use of it, it could be a success. Guitar Hero comes to mind. People are willing to pay more than standard fee for the game + guitar and do so in mass. So what would happen with a standard price game (or maybe just $10 more) with a neat controller?

It would sell, of course. But that's not the point. How many games use the Guitar Hero guitar? How many games used the NegCon or the PS1 Dual Analog pad? See what I mean? A controller only supported by one or two games would be a gimmick - it would be seen as part of that one game, not as part of the system.

 

[function]

And we all know that non-standard controllers and addons never work.

This is quite simply not true, and statements like this get thrown around way too much. They are never as successful as the standard controller and hardware, but they can be very successful. The Dual Shock actually replaced the standard PS1 controller before the end of the machines life.

There are many none standard controllers that have sold in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, paid for themselves, and allowed for profitatble, sometimes hardware shifting games.

If none standard controllers never worked, Nintendo wouldn't have released the none standard classic pad for the Wii, and also built support in Wii support for the none standard GC pad.

This idea that add ons and peripherals can never work is a horribly lazy generalisation that doesn't reflect the way things can be seen to have worked - repeatedly - generation after generation. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but this idea needs kicking into touch. It's like people can't see past the 32X or something.

 

[wsippel]

This is quite simply not true, and statements like this get thrown around way too much. They are never as successful as the standard controller and hardware, but they can be very successful. The Dual Shock actually replaced the standard PS1 controller before the end of the machines life.

Dual Shock? Almost no game really used the analog sticks, except to emulate the d-pad. And it was fully backwards compatible. A Wiimote-clone for PS3 or Xbox360 would be more similar to the NegCon, or maybe even the GunCon or EyeToy. Only a few games would use it, and it would never be recognized as part of the system.

And the Classic Controller argument is moot. No original Wii game relies on that controller. Only very few games even support it at all. It's simply an option, not a standard input device. And I'm sure only a single digit percentage of Wii owners even bought the Classic Controller. There's also another difference: The Classic Controller is the default controller for hundreds of classic games. An optional controller for an optional service. It's not really part of the system, but it's not a part of a certain game or a certain line of games as well.

 

[NERO]

Wii owners or friends of Wii owners please advise. Has anyone seen a trend of non-owners buying their own Wiimote? I can see this happening. You go to a friends house and bring your 40USD Wiimote and have a ball. Whether this happens or not Nintendo will make a killing with this controller, but if this trend occurs they the will make a, uh...super killing.

 

[Skrying]

Wii owners or friends of Wii owners please advise. Has anyone seen a trend of non-owners buying their own Wiimote? I can see this happening. You go to a friends house and bring your 40USD Wiimote and have a ball. Whether this happens or not Nintendo will make a killing with this controller, but if this trend occurs they the will make a, uh...super killing.

I pitched in half for a extra Wiimote with a friend, neither of us own a Wii. Instead it stays at yet another friend who does own one. Play his occasionally.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't see that as any different with normal controllers. We bought and shared controllers for multiplayer on any machine. If you don't own the console and can bring your own controller, you need a spare. The only way Wii would have an advantage in sales is if more people want to play coop than on traditional consoles, so more people relative per console buy a separate controller. And in away, that might be bad news for Nintendo, because they want these people to by actual consoles and not just controllers!

 

[function]

Dual Shock? Almost no game really used the analog sticks, except to emulate the d-pad.

Pointing out that Gran Tourismo 2 used the controller, and was needed tro gain maximal control over the game, shows how misguided this line of arguing is.

And the Classic Controller argument is moot. No original Wii game relies on that controller. Only very few games even support it at all.

No, it isn't moot. It's only moot if your trying to construct a wholly artificial way to view a pretend world where "none standard" controllers never work.

Many Wii virtual console games need the Wii classic pad to work, and they are good games, and they have sold well. That alone is enough to answer this point. Stop trying to put entirely artifical excuses in place to try and explain this nonesense point that "none standard" controllers never work.

They have worked. They do work. They are currently working. It is entriely ridiculous to suggest they haven't, they can't, and they dont currently.

 

[wsippel]

Pointing out that Gran Tourismo 2 used the controller, and was needed tro gain maximal control over the game, shows how misguided this line of arguing is.

I said "almost no game", which means some games actually supported Dual Shock. And GT2 was one such exception.

No, it isn't moot. It's only moot if your trying to construct a wholly artificial way to view a pretend world where "none standard" controllers never work.

Many Wii virtual console games need the Wii classic pad to work, and they are good games, and they have sold well. That alone is enough to answer this point. Stop trying to put entirely artifical excuses in place to try and explain this nonesense point that "none standard" controllers never work.

They have worked. They do work. They are currently working. It is entriely ridiculous to suggest they haven't, they can't, and they dont currently.

See, I'm tired. Keep believing in non-standard controllers, I don't care. It's off-topic and leads absolutely nowhere.