SensorBar
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"Back in our day, we played the Wii by candlelight."
Well that was fun. Hardly a week ago we still believed in Santa Clause and that magickal properties lay within the Wii sensor bar. Now it turns out that not only was NORAD lying to us all this time, but the Wii sensor bar can be replaced by a couple of candles without throwing off our Zelda spin attack one bit. Those brave souls over at Joystiq dusted off their candelabra to give it a shot, after rumors of such doings emerged on the internets, and it appears that those rumors were not exaggerated. Of course, having a couple of candles obstructing the screen isn't quite an optimal Wii-ing situation, but it's always good to know that instead of reading a book by candlelight when the power goes out, we can just fire up our Wii and... wait. Damn. Well, it's kind of cool anyways. Peep the video after the break.
Joystiq video: Candles can replace Wii sensor bar
After seeing the popular, though dubious, candle video on YouTube over the weekend, we had to verify the veracity of the video's claims; luckily, a candelabra was conveniently on hand. Thrill! As we control the fairy cursor and boomerang in Zelda: Twilight Princess without the aid of the Wii's sensor bar! Marvel! As we blow out the candles and have the Wii request that we "point the Wii Remote at the screen." If you've got a projection screen, but lack the skillz (and/or motivation) to construct the DIY-erless sensor bar, grab a couple tealights to get your game on. It really works!
The DIY wireless Wii sensor bar
Reader DoctaBu is fed up with the limitations of cords in what should be a wireless age, and he's taken matters into his own hands with this homemade improvement on the tied-down Wii sensor bar. He has no illusions about form over function for this project, either, because it's all about getting the job done. "Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's ghetto. But, it is a wireless, battery-powered Wii Sensor Bar. And it works." Preach it, brother. He even made a video of the process for the curious, which we've included after the jump.We expect that by next week, someone will have springboarded off this idea and we'll be bringing you the Porsche edition of wireless sensor bars, complete with shimmering white finish, Jacuzzi and half-naked girls. Go to, DIYers!
DIY-erless Wii sensor bar
We had some trouble with the Wii's wired sensor bar when playing on a projection television; even if the wire is long enough, you're left with the problem of having another wire to route around your furniture. Those without high-def projectors may scoff while explaining that this really isn't the sort of problem they would mind having but, nevertheless, we mind. In the latest installment of DIY-erless -- our ongoing look at do-it-yourself wireless hacks -- we check out DoctaBu's guide for making your own wireless Wii sensor bar. Of course, we know that it's not really a "sensor" bar but a pair of infrared sources that the Wii-mote uses to triangulate the cursor's position. Using a perfboard, some IR LEDs, some wire, and four AA batteries, one can easily create their own projector-friendly Wii sensor bar.Sure, you could always wait for that rumored retail solution, but wouldn't you rather make your own to match those homemade Wii component cables you've got rigged up. Check out a video of the process after the break.[Thanks, Jonathan]
DIY wireless Wii sensor bar
As some early Wii adopters have discovered, the Wii's sensor bar turns out to be far less complicated than it seems at first glance, consisting of nothing more than a couple of standard IR emitters, with that lengthy cord cluttering up your living room supplying nothing but a trickle of power to the device. While even a couple of standard TV remotes can serve as a substitute in a pinch, for a more workable wireless solution you'll have to bring your DIY skills to bear. Thankfully, as Brian "DoctaBu" Moore explains on his LiveJournal, the process is about as simple as homebrew projects get, requiring only an inexpensive trip to Radio Shack and some minimal soldiering abilities. While it ain't pretty, the contraption pictured above will let you enjoy a game of Wii Sports bowling (at your own risk) and rid one more wire from your life at the same time. Of course, if you're still hesitant to get your hands dirty, you can bet that there'll be more than a few third-party (if not first-party) options finding their way to store shelves before too long.
Wii sensor bar hax0red
We're sure most of you Wii users are too busy Googling Zelda walkthroughs or chucking your Wiimote at the TV right now to give this hack much notice, but if you're the type that just has to know how something works and then destroy it utterly (you know who you are), then you might want to have a looksee at this one. Apparently some enterprising hax0rs tore apart their Wii sensor bar, only to find a couple of standard IR emitters. It turns out the "sensor" bar doesn't actually sense at all, it just sends out a pair of IR beams which can then be triangulated by the Wiimote. This of course opens up the possibility of DIY sensor bars and other related (performance enhancing?) hacks, but it still won't do much to help you through that extended "intro" phase in Twilight Princess, so sorry. Click on to view the vid of a custom-rigged sensor bar in action.[Via Joystiq]
Rumor: wireless Wii sensor bar from Nyko
Maxconsole has picked up on a rumor that Nyko is developing a cable-free Wii sensor bar using 2.4GHz wireless technology, with a 30-foot range. The device is expected to retail for $30 and, if it does hit the market, could be the solution to our dilemma (see Update 3). Our bet's on Nintendo snipping the cord for a future sensor bar model too.
Nintendo: sunlight is no big deal
Do you remember our earlier story where a NYC Event attendee claimed that sunlight interfered with the console? Turns out, sunlight isn't that big of a deal. 1UP recently asked Nintendo about the issue and received the following statement from a company representative, who was not named:"Our testing thus far shows no great risk of light interference when playing a game that relies on the pointer and sensor bar."Still worried? Reassured by the comfortable embrace of mother Nintendo? [Thanks Erich!]
Sunlight: Wii's biggest foe [update 1]
Nintendo Wii's sensor bar goes awry when confronted with natural light, according to a report by a "Warpstar Knight" on the Nintendo NSIDER Forums. The impressions, from OMBRENOIR17's September 14 visit to the Nintendo World Store (soon to be posted on Nintendo Gal), reveal that Mother Nature's carcinogen forced Metroid Prime 3 kiosks under curtains and completely shut down Wii Sports Tennis and Shooting Game. The kiosks returned to normal as soon as the bright star took a few steps back.It is as of yet unclear how garlic affects Wiimote functionality or load times.[Via Engadget][Update 1: A representative for Nintendo told 1UP, "our testing thus far shows no great risk of light interference when playing a game that relies on the pointer and sensor bar."]
Sunlight messing with gameplay?
Over at the Nintendo NSider forums, a poster documented their time with the Wii during the NYC event. Yes, late coverage, but it poses an interesting scenario all the same. Turns out, the sunlight affected gameplay for this poster during the event, affected gameplay for the worse. To quote:"We know that the sensor bar goes all wonky when halogen lights are in the room. But did you know that natural sunlight messes it up too? That's right, if you have the sun beaming right onto the sensor bar, it doesn't work. For about an hour or so, the sun shone right into the store, the two MP3:C kiosks had to have curtains above them, and the Wii Sports Tennis and Shooting Game kiosks were unplayable since they were "shrouded" in sunlight. Later the sun went behind a building, and everything was in working order again."Interesting, however does it actually affect most of us? With the advent of curtains (or mini-blinds, if you're that kind of person), we're hard-pressed to believe this will really hurt the experience had on the console. That is, only if you're playing on the front porch or out by the pool.
Sunlight disables Wii sensor bar?
It's hard to think of that cute little Wii box harboring vampiric tendencies, but beyond its Nintendo-confirmed aversion to halogen lights, the Wii sensor bar apparently can't handle your garden variety sunlight either. This little "quirk" was discovered by OMBRENOIR17, an official Warpstar Knight over at the Nintendo NSider Forums, who experienced an hour of downtime at a recent Wii demonstration at Nintendo World when the Sun hit the showroom and shrouded the display units in light. According to trusty ol' Wikipedia, "sunlight" is apparently quite commonly encountered by the Earth's surface dwellers, and might even pose a problem to the console's casual target market, but we don't foresee it posing much of a threat to Engadget HQ bunkers. Threat averted.[Via digg]
Wii-cessory photos
As plays on the name go, "Wii-cessory" is probably not going to catch on, but y'know ... we're okay with that. It's so hard to come up with new witticisms when we're gazing upon the smooth, silky cables, so dark and lustrous. We can imagine how they'll slide through our fingers as we lovingly unwind them from their cruel and twisty knot of torture. The flat expanse of the sensor bar, just waiting, waiting for its place of honor atop our televisions. Ah, the pristine white shimmer of the nunchuk, so fresh and unspoiled by our grubby jam-hands. Oh, Wii. Why must we wait so long to be with you?[Thanks to creamsugar for the tip. The original site seems to be experiencing intermittent downtime, so we're linking to Go Nintendo's pictures. Look out for some severe watermarking, however.]
