The Power Glove used an ultrasonic three-point array to similar effect years ago. Some of those guys went on to make the P5 Glove, an IR-based reimplementation which relied on a large IR tower and quite a few IR LEDs on the glove itself. The P5 did have similar motion sensing capabilities, though.
Both of these things track like garbage, and the P5 is only a few years old. The pointer stutters, it loses sync all the time, and the hardware is painfully bulky, and it's not even wireless!
I bought a post-closeout P5 for $25. They originally sold for over $100, as I recall. For $60, I get a controller with 9 buttons, a D-Pad, an analog stick, and it's wireless. By comparison, the Wavebird went for what, $35? It had 8 buttons, a D-Pad, and two sticks. That extra $25 covers the speaker, the rumble, two separate sets of accelerometers for both the Nunchuk and the Remote, AND the IR triangulation hardware. It's sending a lot more data than any other console controller, so it's probably driving it at a higher bandwidth, bumping up the cost of your hardware even further.
You see a kiddie controller with no real innovation. I see the first consumer-grade 3D mouse that actually works.
Not sure what you mean by '3D mouse' but as far as the 'first' claim goes, it isn't. Gyration has been making mice that do what the Wiimote does for years. I've had one for years.
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Nope. Not innovative at all.
The Power Glove used an ultrasonic three-point array to similar effect years ago. Some of those guys went on to make the P5 Glove, an IR-based reimplementation which relied on a large IR tower and quite a few IR LEDs on the glove itself. The P5 did have similar motion sensing capabilities, though.
Both of these things track like garbage, and the P5 is only a few years old. The pointer stutters, it loses sync all the time, and the hardware is painfully bulky, and it's not even wireless!
I bought a post-closeout P5 for $25. They originally sold for over $100, as I recall. For $60, I get a controller with 9 buttons, a D-Pad, an analog stick, and it's wireless. By comparison, the Wavebird went for what, $35? It had 8 buttons, a D-Pad, and two sticks. That extra $25 covers the speaker, the rumble, two separate sets of accelerometers for both the Nunchuk and the Remote, AND the IR triangulation hardware. It's sending a lot more data than any other console controller, so it's probably driving it at a higher bandwidth, bumping up the cost of your hardware even further.
You see a kiddie controller with no real innovation. I see the first consumer-grade 3D mouse that actually works.
Not sure what you mean by '3D mouse' but as far as the 'first' claim goes, it isn't. Gyration has been making mice that do what the Wiimote does for years. I've had one for years.
Just saying though! I love the Wii :D