Supposedly, this N Gamer magazine had much more info than we previously reported on. A large supply of information from the magazine apart from what we've reported has apparently been confirmed to be true over at Go Nintendo. This information deals with the Wiimote, sensor bar, and Will Wright's Spore respectively.The Wiimote is to take 2 AA batteries and turn them into 60 hours of gameplay. Should the player be using the sensor bar, however, then the time is cut in half to 30 hours. Either way, that's incredible. Also, the 6kb of internal memory confirmed to be included in the Wiimote is going to be used to "personalize your remote," which we assume is code for "store profile settings."
As for the sensor bar, the magazine states that the previous version that was seen at E3 has been made smaller. The magazine compares the size to that of a "couple of pencils glued together."
The magazine also confirms that Will Wright's foray into playing God through his game Spore is going to be possible on the Wii. Apparently, the Wii version will interact with the DS version by allowing the player to transmit data from one to the other seamlessly. This will allow players to "deform species on the fly."
They also speak some on the use of SD cards, reiterating that they will be used to house Virtual Console titles. The problem is that you may not play them on another Wii. They refer to this as "Digital Rights Management."













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-07-2006 @ 1:45PM
.ed said...
on the 6kb....
i called it here: http://my.opera.com/N/blog/show.dml/370738
and you guys listened: http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/07/26/wiimote-used-to-store-profile/
tho i wasnt the first to think it (i later found), i did think it myself without reading it first, so that counts. and thanks goes to Wii fanboy for spreading the love, and the comments people left here that thought it was a good idea.
We all rule.
I'm gettin a soda.
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9-07-2006 @ 2:36PM
crono999 said...
damn DRM... when will they learn?
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9-07-2006 @ 3:25PM
Nik said...
"Should the player be using the sensor bar, however, then the time is cut in half to 30 hours."
What the hell does that mean? If I'm using the sensor bar? Doesn't the sensor bar have to be on for the controller to work? Or if motion sensing funtionality is turned off then the controller will still communicate with the Wii console?
A little clarification please...
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9-07-2006 @ 3:26PM
mykie said...
I'm glad they're using AA batteries for the Wiimote. I always (proof! http://forums.nintendo.com/nintendo/board/message?board.id=revolution&message.id=1162156#M1162156) thought they would, though 30-60 hours sounds fairly optimistic.
But hey, it's Nintendo, if I can play my DS Lite for half a day without a break on a single charge, the Wiimote should have no problem with battery life.
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9-07-2006 @ 3:29PM
mykie said...
Games like Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam and Excite Truck do not use the motion tracking features of the Wiimote, so therefore won't have a need to read the position of the sensor bar.
Remember, the sensor bar doesn't actually SENSE anything at all, it's merely a calibration point for the Wiimote to read where it is in 3D space.
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9-07-2006 @ 3:35PM
Moogle said...
Clarification: The wiimote will last 60 hours just using tilt sensors (Excite Truck, sonic, most warioware minigames). If you use it as a pointer (gun aiming, mouse-ish menu system, or navi in Zelda / star pointer in Mario Galaxy), it has to turn on the camera behind the black spot on the front of the wiimote, which observes IR LEDs on the 'sensor' bar, chopping the battery life down to 30 hours.
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9-07-2006 @ 3:44PM
Strike Man said...
"They also speak some on the use of SD cards, reiterating that they will be used to house Virtual Console titles. The problem is that you may not play them on another Wii. They refer to this as "Digital Rights Management.""
Great, so if I decide to get another Wii (or heaven forbid have one replaced due to a defect) or want to bring my digital copy of Rygar over to a friend's house, I won't be able to play my VC titles?
Hell, at least Microsoft's silly DRM allows me to play XBLA titles from any 360 machine, as long as I'm logged into my XBL account.
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9-07-2006 @ 4:32PM
Draracle said...
Spore that transmits to your DS? Sweet! I was hoping for this feature! Now spore can own my life at home and at work! Woot!
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9-07-2006 @ 5:14PM
Marc said...
"They also speak some on the use of SD cards, reiterating that they will be used to house Virtual Console titles. The problem is that you may not play them on another Wii. They refer to this as 'Digital Rights Management.'"
O.K. so I won't use SD cards.......I'll use USB Flash Drives. :)
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9-07-2006 @ 5:14PM
Rabish12 said...
Nice to hear about the battery life, but I still would've preferred rechargeable batteries. 30 hours of gaming is maybe six days of gaming for me at the most, which means that I'll have to get some new batteries just about every week. That could end up getting expensive, much more so than simply replacing old and worn-out lith-ion batteries every year or two (and a good lith-ion battery will probably last longer than that).
#2: There's nothing wrong with DRM on a console. There's no way that the system they're using could be invasive, pose a security risk, or hog system resources, because there's nothing to invade, nothing to take advantage of any security risks, and no forseeable way that it could use enough system resources while games are being played to noticeably slow the system. On a PC that would be a problem, but preventing people from copying purchased games from one console to another with a system that couldn't possibly pose the sorts of threats and issues that those used on PCs do isn't really an issue.
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9-07-2006 @ 5:21PM
All Your Lost Socks said...
Nothing surprising about the DRM. It makes obvious sense. It just would have been nice if there was a system whereby you could enter some kind of identification code you used when you downloaded the games to identify yourself. However then you would need a system to check that no one code was being used in different places at the same time, yadda yadda... it would get tangled. If we're downloading them for cheap anyway, what's the problem?
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9-07-2006 @ 8:24PM
Spex said...
Sorry guys, but I don't see profiles that you speak of being stored in there:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/731/731369p1.html
Devs say here it's used to store configurations for one game at a time. Sounds kinda bad at first glance, but think for a sec. This actually makes some sense, since often times when a person buys a game, they play only that particular game for a good amount of time.
Also, reguarding rumble:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/731/731354p2.html
This interview with the Trauma Center: Second Opition developer confirms that the game is using rumble in the controler. As a matter of fact, he somewhat brags about how it makes the controls feel much better than the DS version.
Glad to get that out and very glad to know it's true. RUMBLE IS IN!
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9-07-2006 @ 9:04PM
Grant said...
Wait, so does this mean Spore is officially confirmed for Wii and DS now? What does "possible" mean?
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9-07-2006 @ 9:04PM
Grant said...
Rabish, you realize they sell rechargeable AA batteries, right? If you haven't gotten any by now it's time you did.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:29PM
Marc said...
"Wait, so does this mean Spore is officially confirmed for Wii and DS now? What does "possible" mean?"
Listen, it has been confirmed for ALL consoles. As a matter of fact, it's been about 4 months since it was confirmed.
Don't worry, you're not the first to make that mistake.
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9-08-2006 @ 1:44AM
epobirs said...
Another applciation that won't have need of the sensor var is VC games. In that mode you'll simply have a wireless controller of a more traditional sort. It makes sense to mention these different levels of power draw since a certain portion of the user base may drawn to the Wii more for the VC than for the more elaborate of the new games.
#10
Don't count on it unless you're going to buy new USB drives that support a DRM scheme. Recall the SD stands for Secure Digital. It was created as an extension of the MMC spec to support DRM.
If you want old games you can move from machine to machine, get them on GameCube or Wii disc. Nintendo is doing more with online but they've made it apparent they don't want to become as heavily invested as Microsoft has chosen. If the price is right on the games, it shouldn't a problem. It isn't as though the Wii will be difficult to transport. If you take it frequently to friends' homes, I'd suggest getting a spare video cable so as to eliminate the need to reach around the back of the TV. Other than that, think of it as a big dongle for the remarkable number of games you'll be able to put on a single SD card.
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9-08-2006 @ 2:53AM
Tom said...
"There's nothing wrong with DRM on a console. There's no way that the system they're using could be invasive, pose a security risk, or hog system resources [...] On a PC that would be a problem." ~ Rabish12
Having DRM on a PC does not *necessarily* mean there are security risks or that the user's privacy is being invaded. You are probably under that assumption because of that whole Sony Root kit fiasco.
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/01/sony-drm-hacks-your-pc/
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9-08-2006 @ 8:35AM
Mr Tourette said...
'Should the player be using the sensor bar, however, then the time is cut in half to 30 hours'
Eh? So why use the sensor bar then?
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