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Image by Rich_Lem via Flickr

Considering the Nintendo Wii shortage, chances are that you have worked hard to get your own. So, now that you finally have one, do you want to get the most out of it? Here are a few ways to do just that.

First, and perhaps most importantly, get some rechargable batteries and a bettery charger. Any even better solution is a charging station for directly restoring power to the batteries through the Wii Remotes.

Here’s why this is important: the WiiMote’s battery power runs dry at about 60 hours of use; less than half that time if you’re using a Nunchuk. Recharging your own batteries will save a lot of time and effort, versus running to the store to buy fresh batteries every several days, and running out at inconvenient intervals. Of course, a good recharger and batteries will also save you some money too.

Second, buy yourself some component connector cables for the Wii. It may be hard to believe, but by merely replacing the original cords, your image quality will improve dramatically. This improvement is definitely worth the twenty bucks, wouldn’t you say?

Third, for $15 you can pick up a wireless sensor bar. The cord for the initial sensor bar is weak, flimsy, and gets in the way and can get tangled in other cords. All of these drawbacks of the original sensor bar interfere with your playing experience.

Fourth, plan to get a Wii SD memory card. The Wii’s internal memory is quite roomy, but eventually you’ll need to start storing files on an external drive; especially if you want to download classic games on the Wii’s Virtual Console.

Fifth, you may want to consider buying one or more organizing cases for your Wii. These can be very helpful for keeping all of your Wii gear together, especially if you pack it from one place to another.

Sixth, the Wii controllers come in different colors that might be interesting to you. For example, you can buy a pink controller and Nunchuck combination.

Seventh, there are numerous specialty controllers designed to enhance your enjoyment and playing experience of many games. For example, you can buy a pair of boxing gloves. Also available are ping pong paddles, racing car steering wheels, the sport pack (which includes a tennis racquet, golf club, and baseball bat), laser swords, numerous guns and rifles, guitars, fishing rod, dance pad, drum pads, as well as upgrade or specialty versions of the WiiMotes or classic controllers.

Investing a little time and money into getting the best Wii hardware suited to what you like to play and how you like to play it will reap huge dividends in your enjoyment of your Nintendo Wii.

Image by Rich_Lem via Flickr

The Wii Remote (aka WiiMote) is not only a revolutionary new way to play video games, it also opens up new possibilities outside of video gaming.

One quick example is an the “WiigoBot”; which is a Lego Robot specially designed to hold the WiiMote in the upright position and flick it at the right moment in Wii Bowling. One can thus bowl a perfect game without physically playing! One may wonder why someone would want to do this; perhaps the answer is “just because they can”.

Another, perhaps more practical example, is reconfiguring your WiiMote to work as a computer mouse. There are many tutorial videos online that explain exactly how this is done.

Some of the most ingenious uses of the Wii thus far have been devised by Johnny Lee, formerly of Carnegie Mellon University and now employed by Microsoft. His contributions include an interactive whiteboard and “head-tracking technology”.

The interactive whiteboard requires only a WiiMote, a Bluetooth connection for your computer, and an LED pen. The reason this works is the WiiMote contains a fairly high quality infared camera. The end result is a whiteboard that is truly interactive. One can “draw” on it, or even move or shrink portions of it as in the film Minority Report. Lee makes the required software freely available via his website.

Lee’s head-tracking technology is another example of an outside party finding uses for technology that even the original developers did not foresee. Lee has discovered a method for making a television display interactive with the movement of an individual person. He likens his discovery to the sensation of looking out a window. When one moves to the left or right while peering out of a window, one’s field of vision changes. The closer one gets to the window, the wider scope one sees. Lee’s adaptation of the WiiMote technology provides interesting possibilities for Nintendo Wii game developers and perhaps other applications as well.

The head-tracking technology works for reasons similar to the factors that make the interactive whiteboard possible. Since the WiiMote contains an infared camera, one merely must place the WiiMote in front of the television and pointed toward the room, and the gamer must wear a device that mimics the sensor bar. One method for doing this is retrofitting safety glasses with LED sensors on each site. The result is an interactive experience that takes gaming to a new level.

The WiiMote contains many other possibilities for new applications in business, scientific research, and we should eagerly await what new uses that developers and researchers will invent next. These WiiMote hacks show how relatively inexpensive technology can replace applications costing hundreds or thousands more and do 90% of what the more expensive technology is capable of performing.