Topic: Does anyone else wish the Wii had the portability of the Gamecube?

[greybrick]

The sensor bar doesn't broadcast anything, and infrared, while an indicator of heat, doesn't require much of a "heat source" when your LEDs are tuned to that wavelength.

Excuse me, that was dumb of me to say. Especially when I acknowledged in the very post that it needed to emit light- I need sleep!

I still do think that a solar sensor bar wouldn't make much sense. 

[NWR_insanolord]

Maybe they could make a sensor bar with a crank you could wind up before you play to generate power.

[MegaByte]

I'm not sure how powerful the LEDs are.  It's conceivable that just ambient light and light from the TV would be sufficient to keep them charged, but probably risky.  I also wonder how much energy could be collected from swinging the Remote around compared to the energy burned in its electronics.

[Chozo Ghost]

I have tiny LED battery operated tea candles. Could those fill in for the role of the sensor bar? Then again, these candles are programmed to flicker so they wouldn't be providing a reference point very consistently and would probably cause problems.

[Mop it up]

So that's the downside (or one downside anyway) of technology getting smaller and smaller.

That's why I don't understand the drive to make certain things as small as they can be, even going so far as to sacrificing integrity or features. With portables devices, it makes sense: the smaller something is, the easier it is to carry. But with home systems, what's the point? Did anyone honestly have trouble finding a place to set their NES, Super NES, or Nintendo 64?

[MegaByte]

Here's another solution to the sensor bar: http://spritesmods.com/?art=virtwiibar&page=1

[Chozo Ghost]

I was looking at Wii accessories on Amazon, and I came across an 18ft extension cable for the Sensor Bar and I was like "WTF?!" because the wire on the sensor bar is already like 20 ft long, and who would ever need to place their sensor bar 40ft from their Wii console?

I did however see a wireless sensor bar which got good reviews and I am interested because messing with wires is a hassle when you move the Wii around. One of the negative things reviewers said is that it drains batteries fast though, but I guess that's okay because I use rechargeable batteries in everything anyway. I'm actually kinda okay with the wire anyway, but I wish it was shorter and a bit thicker so that it wouldn't get tangled up so much. I keep the Wii right next to my TV so having 50ft wires is pointless for me anyway. 5ft would probably be more than sufficient.

[MegaByte]

I was looking at Wii accessories on Amazon, and I came across an 18ft extension cable for the Sensor Bar and I was like "WTF?!" because the wire on the sensor bar is already like 20 ft long, and who would ever need to place their sensor bar 40ft from their Wii console?

If you Wii is hooked to a projector on the other side of the room, this might be necessary.

[TJ Spyke]

How big is the room though? Unless you live in a mansion or something, I can't see why you would need a that much more chord that your project is that far away. I am sure some people could use that, but I have to imagine that it is a very small amount.

[NWR_insanolord]

Well, in a situation like that I think you'd be likely to want to take an indirect route from the bar to the Wii, like around the edge of the room, as opposed to a straight line, and he said he saw this on Amazon, where you'd be more likely to see something only a few people would need than you'd be in a brick and mortar store.

[Chozo Ghost]

You might need that long of a chord if you owned a movie theatre and decided to hook your Wii up to the projector... that would be cool to be able to play video games on a screen the size of a movie theatre. But then again, you'd have to sit well away from the screen to be able to take it all in, and would the relatively tiny sensor bar work with such a huge ass screen?

[Mop it up]

The Sensor Bar cord is ten feet.

[Kytim89]

A friend of mine bought the new 360 slim and I know that I am notorious for hating on the xbox brand, but that system looks really nice. I prefer to stay with Nintendo and Sony, but if I could afford it, I would buy it just play Gears of War, Fable and Reach.
 
I really like the aesthics of the 360 slim and hope Nintendo incorparates something similar with the wii 2. I mean I like the button layout and functionality and pretty much everything about the system.
 
Yhe biggest question that I have is will Nintendo allow an internal hard drive to be used with the wii 2? I like the little compartment for the 360 slim and wish to see it for the wii2. Of course, Nintendo might allow the option, but require that the consumer buy the hard drive from other sources and plug it into the wii 2 console.

[Stratos]

I bought a wireless sensor bar I use exclusively when bringing the system to other people places. I just leave the real one on my personal TV. I plan on buying extra copies of all the other cables so I can keep the spare set in my gamer backpack and just toss the Wii and my CD book of games in the bag and go. When I get home I just place the Wii back on it's normal shelf and the cords are all there ready to be plugged back in. No tangled cords, no arranging the TV or moving stuff around to replace cords.

[Louieturkey]

So that's the downside (or one downside anyway) of technology getting smaller and smaller.

That's why I don't understand the drive to make certain things as small as they can be, even going so far as to sacrificing integrity or features. With portables devices, it makes sense: the smaller something is, the easier it is to carry. But with home systems, what's the point? Did anyone honestly have trouble finding a place to set their NES, Super NES, or Nintendo 64?

It has more to do the Japanese.  In Japan, homes and apartments are a lot smaller than in the US and European countries.  They tend to have very little room for a tv and even less room for components.  So Nintendo strives to make it smaller so they can sit the system right next to the dvd player or in tandem with the cable box.  That way, they don't have to clear an entire shelf just to make room for the new system.

[Louieturkey]

I bought a wireless sensor bar I use exclusively when bringing the system to other people places. I just leave the real one on my personal TV. I plan on buying extra copies of all the other cables so I can keep the spare set in my gamer backpack and just toss the Wii and my CD book of games in the bag and go. When I get home I just place the Wii back on it's normal shelf and the cords are all there ready to be plugged back in. No tangled cords, no arranging the TV or moving stuff around to replace cords.

That's not a bad idea if you tend to move your Wii to other people's houses like. 

[Toruresu]

Sensor bar cable sucks when I bring the Wii to my church. We have a huge screen and a projector, but the connections are made around 70' from the projector and said screen. Impossible to play! Yet the Xbox360 and PS3 offer no challenge. Of course, this market is super small, but a wireless bar would be awesome.

[Stratos]

I was looking at Wii accessories on Amazon, and I came across an 18ft extension cable for the Sensor Bar and I was like "WTF?!" because the wire on the sensor bar is already like 20 ft long, and who would ever need to place their sensor bar 40ft from their Wii console?

If you are putting on an event at a place like a gym or church or other large community center then the long cords would be essential.