subject: Nintendo Wii Remote - Wiimote [print this page] The Nintendo Wii remote's motion sensing capabilities are dependant on accelerators and gyroscopes fitted in the device. But the major change in the WiiMote is not in the technology within, but in its design itself.
Ever since gamepads first made an appearance replacing the previously popular joysticks, the underlying design has been the same: you hold a controller in two hands, with your thumbs operating the buttons and navigational sticks. Even the modern SixAxis, DualShock 3 and Xbox 360 controllers employ the same basic design.
Nintendo has always been about innovation and Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to change the way we think about controllers. The final WiiMote looks more like a remote control for a television than that for a next-gen video game console.
Shaped thin and long like a bar, the 5.83-inch controller has a four-way navigational pad av the top, along two standard buttons, simply numbered '1' and '2'. The usual operational buttons of 'Start' and 'Select' have been replaced with a '+' and '-', while a new 'home' button has been added for the default Wii Menu. And yes, a power button lets you remotely switch the console on and off.
At the bottom of the console, where your index finger would rest, lies another button shaped like a trigger.
As stated earlier, the WiiMote also has a speaker built into it. The Nin dodo Wii switches between its main audio output and that of the remote speaker quite smartly to create some cool effects.
