Over at the Nintendo NSider forums, a poster documented their time with the Wii during the NYC event. Yes, late coverage, but it poses an interesting scenario all the same. Turns out, the sunlight affected gameplay for this poster during the event, affected gameplay for the worse. To quote:
"We know that the sensor bar goes all wonky when halogen lights are in the room. But did you know that natural sunlight messes it up too? That's right, if you have the sun beaming right onto the sensor bar, it doesn't work. For about an hour or so, the sun shone right into the store, the two MP3:C kiosks had to have curtains above them, and the Wii Sports Tennis and Shooting Game kiosks were unplayable since they were "shrouded" in sunlight. Later the sun went behind a building, and everything was in working order again."
Interesting, however does it actually affect most of us? With the advent of curtains (or mini-blinds, if you're that kind of person), we're hard-pressed to believe this will really hurt the experience had on the console. That is, only if you're playing on the front porch or out by the pool.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2006 @ 4:42PM
RD said...
This won't affect me. If it did, I would make it work.
If you want a Wii, silly snags like this won't make a difference.
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10-09-2006 @ 4:47PM
SuperDave said...
Not only that but who would leave their curtains open while they are swinging wildly while staring intently at the TV?
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10-09-2006 @ 4:49PM
Ozyman666 said...
Since most video game geeks live in the basement, shouldn't be a problem at all.
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10-09-2006 @ 4:54PM
Ripperrim said...
Damn! And I was so looking forward to setting up my Wii in the back garden...
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10-09-2006 @ 4:56PM
CJC said...
It could be an issue for me, I have some massive windows. I hope this is untrue, or at least an exaggeration. If not, it could be VERY bad for some people.
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10-09-2006 @ 5:01PM
DigTheDoug said...
I also have lots of windows in my living room, however I suspect that a simple 'awning' type shield over the top of the sensor that blocks the sunlight could easily solve it if its a problem.
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10-09-2006 @ 5:04PM
Spaz said...
Laughing out loud at SuperDave's comment... too true.
I generally like to keep my "gaming room" fairly dark anyway, and despite having large bay windows here in San Francisco (and direct afternoon sun) I can't imagine this being something that's hard to deal with (read: curtains!)
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10-09-2006 @ 5:06PM
Nushio said...
I was really looking forward to setting up a Wii on the back of my car...
I guess I could still do it and use it at night instead of during the break ;)
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10-09-2006 @ 5:29PM
Fred said...
its certainly a pain, and a drawback, but i cant imagine it being anything more than a niggle - for someone to fault the console or not get one for that reason is silly.
-Red
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10-09-2006 @ 5:44PM
RD said...
Probably won't be able to custom-install these on "Pimp My Ride"...
Too bad, too. They use the PS2 way too much. ;)
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10-09-2006 @ 5:49PM
courtney said...
It wouldn't matter to me and I don't think it woudl matter to a lot of people. I mean especially if you have a LCD TV as you can't watch those with the sun on them either, or a cell phone or a laptop.
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10-09-2006 @ 5:52PM
Lectoid said...
If the sunlight is hitting your Wii's sensor bar, then it's most likely hitting your TV. I can't think of a reason someone would have their TV placed in such a manner that would allow it to be washed out by the sun every day. I think it's funny if somone sees this as a problem, because it would seem they prefer the sunlight hitting their TV.
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10-09-2006 @ 6:00PM
Ian Murray said...
Am I missing some widely-known fact, or does it strike anyone else as odd that the sensor bar goes wonky when halogen lights are in the room? If the sensor bar doesn't play well with the sun because of the sun emitting IR radiation...then...what the hell do halogen bulbs emit?
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10-09-2006 @ 8:12PM
Cdaghostie said...
Lectoid (#12) is exactly right.
Generally a glare kills any use of electronics. (You can't see what your doing)
Problem solved. AND THERE IS something called blinds. It isn't like you want the neighbors to see what your doing anywayz
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10-09-2006 @ 9:26PM
metayoshi said...
Actually, the sun is a big threat in my room back home home, but here in my college apartment... the sun barely gets in the living room. Eh, with the sensor bar using infrared rays, it was obvious that the sun would mess around with it, so this is hardly anything new.
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10-10-2006 @ 12:34AM
vidGuy said...
This is not an issue with the Wii but infrared in general. Hopefully Nintendo can take the necessary steps to reduce the problems. If you can't find a way to hide the sensor bar from the sun, that sucks. But I had to find a way to ventilate my 360 and it didn't ruin my fun.
For those that are interested:
"Also, infrared light is so ubiquitous that interference can be a problem with IR remotes. Just a few everyday infrared-light sources include sunlight, fluorescent bulbs and the human body. To avoid interference caused by other sources of infrared light, the infrared receiver on a TV only responds to a particular wavelength of infrared light, usually 980 nanometers. There are filters on the receiver that block out light at other wavelengths. Still, sunlight can confuse the receiver because it contains infrared light at the 980-nm wavelength. To address this issue, the light from an IR remote control is typically modulated to a frequency not present in sunlight, and the receiver only responds to 980-nm light modulated to that frequency. The system doesn't work perfectly, but it does cut down a great deal on interference."
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/remote-control2.htm
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10-10-2006 @ 2:08AM
Zan said...
I don't think the sun will shine in like that in my new room, plus I have curtains and I have blinds! =D
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10-10-2006 @ 2:16AM
Spekkio said...
The sensor is bothered by halogen bulbs? How badly? This is actually a big concern for me because my g/f and I switched almost all of our lightbulbs to halogen bulbs - savings on replacement lightbulbs, electricity, etc.
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10-10-2006 @ 3:46AM
Justin said...
It doesn't sound like a problem that would be hard to fix with some curtains or flipping a light switch - but seriously, how bright do you keep your house?
I doubt this will be a noticeable problem.
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10-10-2006 @ 8:57AM
nintendoidloyd said...
the hardcore may play in the dark but its niggles like this that will put non gamers off.
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10-10-2006 @ 11:30AM
Baszie said...
Like nintendoidlloyd said, if a non-gamer buys the wii and it doesnt seem to work (due to the sun), that person would have no clue why the wii doesn't work. They might just return their Wii to the shop...
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10-10-2006 @ 12:11PM
Mabui said...
"There is concern about stores using halogen lighting. Tons of halogen spotlights scattered about may give everything a much warmer and more ambient feel. However, this particular type of lighting can throw off the aiming of the Wii controller when the lights are angled down through the path of the signal. So for people with halogen track-lighting in front of the TV, this could be a problem."
In reality, you're supposed to put light behind your screen, not in front of it. As eye strain occurs when you're staring at something extremely bright, and have to switch quickly to dark if you look off.
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10-10-2006 @ 12:51PM
Erich said...
I personally don't think sunlight is going to be a huge issue for this system... on the otherhand, if halogen lights are gamebreaker, that could be a big problem. My house is currently suited up with halogen lights to save electricity. Now the room is well lit by natural light too, but direct sunlight will rarely only hit the tv at certain times during certain months of the year in which case we use the blinds to fix that. But if it's dark, the lights get flicked on, and then the room is nice and bright with halogen lights. If I want to kill some noobs at 2am before I get some sleep but I'm not going to be able to see where I'm swining my arms because I have to keep the room dark, that's going to be a problem.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:13AM
Gunner Gunnar said...
one wonders if a really bright backlit TFT makes for the same problems, since the image shows the windows being at the backend/side of the showroom.. =/
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