Nintendo wii how does it work

With Sony and Microsoft fighting for the control of the hardcore gamer, the motion control interface may be the deciding factor when attracting new gamers. With the intensity of controlling market share in the video game industry so feverish, you can expect there to be plenty of news coming down the pike. A high-definition version of the Wii has been rumored for release in or but Nintendo officials will not comment on the speculation.

The Wii has had no shortage of publicity since its release -- some good, some bad. First there was the competition with Sony's PlayStation 3, which was released at about the same time, to see which console would dominate the holiday season winner: the Wii [source: Reuters ].

Then, Nintendo issued a recall of the original Wii controller straps after several reported incidents in which gamers lost control of the remote and sent it flying across the room, sometimes causing damage to TVs or windows.

As a result, Wii consoles that were shipped starting in December have a sturdier version of the strap and the company offers users a silicone rubber sleeve intended to soften the impact of a flying remote.

Nintendo also lists safety recommendations for Wii users on its official site. Not content simply to make news headlines, the Wii also brings the news directly to you. On Jan. According to a Yahoo!

And Nintendo keeps adding more channels. The Wii made the news in a sad way in January A year-old woman named Jennifer Strange died of water intoxication after competing in a radio station contest where contestants drank massive amounts of water in an attempt to win a Wii. For more information, see How can someone die from drinking too much water?

According to a federal report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one-third of American children are either obese or at risk of becoming obese [source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]. Many people blame television and video games for the increase in childhood obesity , claiming that kids today just don't get enough exercise. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto found a way to get kids exercising while enjoying one of their favorite activities -- playing video games.

The activities focus on four different aspects of exercising: aerobics, muscle conditioning, yoga and balance. The Balance Board, which resembles a bathroom scale, has gyroscopic technology and multiple sensors built into it. The gyroscopic technology measures shifts in weight based on the conservation of angular momentum. Angular momentum measures the extent to which an object rotating around a reference point will continue to do so until acted upon by some outside force.

The onboard sensors measure a user's body mass index and center of gravity. The Wii Balance Board goes beyond simply calculating your body mass index; it also tracks your overall progress in terms of your fitness age.

A person's Wii fitness age is calculated by factoring his or her body mass index, performance during balance tests and overall center of gravity. Many players find that tracking their progress makes "Wii Fit" more fun to play.

Users want to be as fit as possible in the eyes of the game so that, like in any other video game, they can claim to be the best. The game is also designed to inspire players into setting personal goals, which help them stick to their "Wii Fit" exercise routines.

On Oct. The Balance Board has turned out to be a great peripheral for other games, too. Snowboarding games such as "Shaun White's Snowboarding," for instance, takes advantage of the board's unique sensing ability.

Players stand on the board and lean to control the rider in the game. Similar to the "Wii Fit" games, the Jillian Michaels games are fitness programs. The difference is the intensity. For instance, while doing push-ups in the game, you must touch your chest to the Balance Board. If you fail to do this, the game recognizes this and criticizes you for your lack of effort. Online gaming is a market that no video game company wants to miss, and Nintendo is no exception.

With that in mind, Nintendo not only designed the Wii to let players compete against each other online, but it also added an entirely different aspect of the Internet to its newest system -- browsing. Once the Wii has been hooked up to the Internet , either wirelessly or with an Ethernet cable, you can download the Wii Internet Channel for free. As of , all Wii consoles come with the channel already installed.

The full version of the Internet Channel, which is a version of the Opera Web browser. Launched in April of , this version of Opera allows Wii owners to surf the Web in a unique fashion.

The font is much larger than it is on a computer , so it's a lot easier to see from the comfort of your couch. You can also zoom in and out and scroll up, down and sideways using the Wii remote. The Wii Internet Channel takes only a few seconds to launch, mostly because the machine stays connected to the Internet even when its main power is switched off. The software is saved on the MB Wii internal flash memory.

The software can also be transferred to an SD card after you download it, although temporary Internet files will remain on the internal memory. The Opera-based browser can support a host of Web 2. According to Opera, the reason that the browser does not support the later versions of Flash is that a software development kit isn't yet available for either version.

Because Opera utilizes an older version of Flash, problems may arise while you're trying to view certain Flash videos. Aside from the problems on the user's side, Nintendo is also having a bit of trouble with the Wii Internet Channel. Apparently, hackers have found a loophole in the system that allows them to run their own code on the Wii console.

The loophole is in the Flash Player embedded within the browser and could allow hackers to create video game emulators. That sounds like a great loophole, right? Not if you're Nintendo.

The Wii can use an Internet connection in more ways than just browsing. There are also free applications such as Wii's News and Forecast Channels. The News Channel provides you with a view of the globe, which allows you to view news by region if you wish. The Forecast Channel also gives you a view of the globe, but this view also shows current weather systems around the world. If you zoom out far enough, you can see an accurate star map in the background.

Since you register your Wii's location, it also knows what you're looking for in the way of a local forecast. The Nintendo Wii, like every other video game console, has some controller variations and other accessories available for serious gamers. Some of the accessories are very useful, while others merely add to the controller's aesthetic value.

Some examples of Wii accessories that fall into the "looks good, but not very useful" category are the plastic attachments for the Wii remote that make it look like a tennis racket, golf club or baseball bat. Nothing about the Wii or the game you're playing changes -- the attachments just transform your Wii remote into a prop. There are also boxing gloves that can house the Wii remote and Nunchuk.

Just like the plastic attachments, these gloves don't change anything about the game, except for the fact that you don't actually have to hold onto the controllers. The Wii Zapper is a plastic device resembling a tommy gun that houses both the Wii remote and Nunchuk.

It's designed to be used with first-person shooter games, and its two-handed design allows for more stability and better aiming. The Nunchuk fits into the back handle of the gun, and you use the joystick on the Nunchuk to move your character. There's a spring-loaded trigger on the Zapper that is connected to the B button on the back of the Wii Remote. You simply point the gun where you want to aim and fire when ready. The only downside of the design is that it limits players to the use of three buttons: the trigger and the C and V buttons on the Nunchuk.

According to Nintendo, the Wii Wheel will even the playing field so that novice gamers can race bumper-to-bumper with seasoned "Mario Kart" veterans. Ubisoft, the video-game developer and publisher, also came out with its own steering wheel accessory to ship with "GT Pro Series" and "Monster 4x4 World Circuit.

Aside from the useful accessories that are designed to improve the quality of gaming, there are also some accessories that improve the overall performance of the Wii. You can buy a component video adapter, which will improve the graphic quality on your television from i interlaced to p progressive scan. The component video standard utilizes three connectors called Y, Pb and Pr. The Y-connector transmits the video information, which is the black-and-white image, and the Pb and Pr connectors transmit the color information.

In order for the component video adapter to work properly, you must go into the Wii System menu and set it to p. Once you've set your Wii to p, also known as progressive scan, it will recognize when games are progressive scan-compatible and automatically default to that setting. The most recent addition to the Wii's dynamic playability is the Wii Vitality Sensor. Similar to a machine that checks your pulse, gamers insert an index finger into a small sleeve and wear the sensor while playing Vitality Sensor-compatible games.

The Vitality Sensor aims to measure your pulse to reveal anxiety. A players' nervousness can then be recorded and connected with the game-playing experience, possibly adding an element of focus or lack thereof to the actions of the character in the game. Another accessory that improves the performance of the Wii is the Wii remote charging dock. The Wii remote burns through standard alkaline batteries very quickly, and once it begins to get low on power, the remote is less responsive.

For example, a Wii remote that's low on batteries is less likely to register a thunderous right hook that you throw at your boxing opponent -- so the game just isn't as much fun. These charging docks, which contain rechargeable lithium battery packs, are produced by several different companies.

Some docks can accommodate four Wii remotes, others just one. Some docks have places to set your Nunchuks, others don't.

It's difficult to guarantee the quality of any of the charging docks since they're not manufactured by Nintendo, but they will make your Wii life a lot simpler. For more information about the Nintendo Wii and related topics, take a look at the links on the next page. The Wii is the master of backwards capability. Don't worry about pining for your old favorites -- the Wii works with your old GameCube discs and memory cards.

And, for even older systems like the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64, the Wii features a Virtual Console that downloads older games to play on the Wii. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Video Game Systems. How the Wii Works. Photo courtesy Nintendo of America, Inc.

The Wii's Interface and Specs If you look at the controllers for the Xbox , the Playstation 3 and the GameCube , you'll notice that they're nearly identical. Tilting and rotation up and down Tilting and rotation left and right Rotation along the main axis as with a screwdriver Acceleration up and down Acceleration left and right Acceleration toward the screen and away. Official Wii Specs. The Wii is about 8.

The maximum read speed is the equivalent of six times that of a DVD drive. The Wii console can communicate with the Internet even when the main power is turned off. Users connect wirelessly using IEEE Users can also connect wirelessly using the Nintendo DS. The controller is battery powered and functions as a remote for the Wii.

It includes the Direct Pointing Device with a three-axis accelerometer, indicator LEDs, a small internal speaker with volume control and rumble which can be adjusted for intensity and turned off. The controller can be used by itself, with a Nunchuk extension and with a classic controller. With this new storage capacity, the total Wii memory capacity is now 64 times more than the size of the built in Wii memory on its own!

The Wii is compatible with all makes of standard SD cards. Nintendo makes an official Wii SD card, but it's generally more expensive than other brands, so don't feel like you have to buy the official one.

If you want to free up memory space on your Wii console, you can copy your Wii Channels and game save data onto your SD card and delete these files from your Wii memory. Turn on your console and go to the Wii Menu. In the bottom left corner of the screen is a circle with the word "Wii" in it. Click on the circle. In the next screen, click on "Wii Settings".

In the "Wii Settings" menu, click the right arrow twice until you reach the "Wii Settings 3" screen. Your Wii console needs to be connected to the internet to download Wii Menu 4. To put pictures, music, downloaded game saves and other files onto your SD card, you'll need to transfer these onto your card through your computer. Most new computers and laptops have a SD card reader built into them. The card reader looks like a long, thin slot on the side of your computer and has the words "SD.

MMC" next to it. If you plug your SD card into the slot, your computer will recognise it as an external hard drive. If your computer doesn't have a built in card slot, you can buy an external card reader. The card reader simply plugs into a USB port on your computer and acts exactly the same way as a built in card reader.

A card reader will also come in handy when you need to transfer pictures and videos from your digital camera or video camera onto your computer. To put files onto the SD card, plug the card into the card reader. From your computer's Desktop, click on "My Computer". When the new window pops up, look for the SD card under "Hard Drives". Simply copy and paste the pictures, videos and MP3 music files from the folders on your computer to the Wii SD card.

When downloading games and other Wii Channels from the Wii Shop, you will be given the option of saving these to the SD card if one is plugged into your Wii console. The SD card slot is on the front of the console. It's on the left of the disc opening if your console is standing upright. If your console is lying flat the SD slot will be below the disc opening. Open the cover flap and you'll see it says SD underneath the flap.

Insert the SD card into the slot with the label facing the disc opening. In the next screen, click on "Data Management" and then "Save Data". To copy any of these files to your Wii console, click on "Copy" and the Wii will copy the files onto your console. To the right of the circle is a small rectangular icon with the letters "SD" on it.

Click on the "SD" card icon and select the game or Wii Channel you want to launch by pressing the "A" button on your Wiimote. Then click "Start" to launch the game or Channel. It's important to note that game saves can't be loaded directly from the SD card.

You'll need to copy any game saves from the SD onto your Wii console first, using the steps in the question above, before you can load them. In the Wii Menu, click on the circle with the word "Wii" in it in the bottom left corner of the screen.