This section in the Wii FAQ is for people who did not get the Wii or are new to the console, and have general questions about the console.
Controller Q's
Q: Does the controller get tiring after a while? Do you have to stand up for the games?
A: No, and no. The controls can be downscaled and have sensitivity options. Very few games are better played standing up.
Q: Is it hard to use?
A: No, it's actually easier. Once you try it, you'll find that it works very well.
Q: Does it use AA batteries?
A: Yes.
Q: I heard that halogen bulbs and sunlight will affect the controller. Is this true?
A: Yes. The controller senses IR signals. The sensor bar (included with the Wii) produces IR signals, but so do other lights.
Q: Can I get rid of this problem?
A: The sensitivity option in the system settings allows you to adjust how sensitive the "light detecting" in the Wiimote is. For instance, if you have distance lights that affect the controller, adjusting the sensitivity is all you have to do. Sunlight is only a problem when you aim the controller at it, so simply closing your blinds would work.
Q: Does the rumble affect the motion sensing?
A: Nope. In fact, Sony started this rumor to cover up the fact that their rumble technolagy was an infringement and was forcefully removed.
Q: Is there a difference between the motion sensing on the Wiimote and the tilt sensing on the PS3's Sixaxis?
A: Definatelly! The Sixaxis detects tilt only, and only in 6 directions (pitch, yaw, and roll forward and backward) and uses a metal ball inside another larger one that senses where the metal ball is. The Wiimote detects all motion in 3-d space to the point where 1:1 can be initialized and has pixle-point aiming accuracies and uses an accellorometer to do this.
Q: So the Wiimote is accurate?
A: Yes. Additionally, the Wiimote can refresh itself 200-300 times a second: 5 times the refresh rate of the more expensive LCD models.
Q: How good of a quality is the speaker?
A: Fair enough. Expect something like a Hallmark music card that pops every now and then. Nothing earth-shattering, but does have a nice effect in shooters when you reload your weapon, and it works well with the motion sensing and rumble.
Channel Q's
Q: What are channels?
A: The Wii's interface (the first thing you see, right after the warning label) is divided into seperate channels. Each channel reresents a specific function or game.
Q: Can you describe the different channels?
A: Here's the compact list below briefly describing the channels:
*indicates channel is only availible online
Q: Are there other functions besides the channels?
A: Yes. They're still on the main menu, but not as a channel:
Hardware (CPU and GPU capabilities):
Q: I heard the Wii is a Gamecube 1.5. What does this mean?
A: The Wii's architecture is the same as the Gamecube's with only an overclocked cpu and gpu at 1.5x the speed of the Gamecube, which is not exactly true.
Q: Umm... what does that mean?
A: The Wii is just a Gamecube that does stuff faster.
Q: How is it not true?
A: The foremost important reason is that the Wii has 8 pixle pipelines while the Gamecube only had 4.
Q: What does that do?
A: It increases the fillrate, which is important for textures (something makes a game look good). Since the Wii has double the pixle pipelines and 1.5x the clock speed, the Wii can be considered a Gamecube 3.0.
Q: Other than the fillrate, what else does the Wii have that the Gamecube doesn't?
A: The Gamecube has 24MB of RAM while the Wii has 88MB of RAM. 3 and 2/3 times the capacity the Gamecube has.
Q: What does that do?
A: Whenever you play a level on a videogame, the console "reads" the CD and puts all the information on the RAM. A greater RAM means that levels can be larger and more detailed than the Gamecube's levels and with less checkpoints for the game to stop and load the level.
Q: Anything else?
A: The Gamecube had to use 18-bit color modes due to hardware restrictions. While I can't find a full tech specs sheet (and I'm using the Gamecube's tech specs mixed with anything I know about the Wii), but I'm very positive that the Wii can handle better colors. It is also VERY important to know that the Gamecube's cache was double the total capacity of the Xbox's.
Q: What does that do?
A: A cache is a part of a graphics card (the thing in all videogame consoles and computers that do the stuff that you see on the screen) that stores little bits of information that it can reach easier and quicker than the RAM. A high clock speed (how fast a graphics card can get something done) is worthless if the information doesn't come quickly. The cache makes sure the information goes fast. It can also assist with lighting and geometry effects. It is a major determining factor in the performance of a cpu, but many people either don't care or don't know.
Q: I heard the Wii cannot handle normal mapping... what is this, and is it true?
A: Everything in the videogame world is made of little tiny shapes put together. These shapes are called polygons. When there is a light somewhere near something in a videogame, each triangle changes to 1 color only for shading (ie: a lamp is shining at a box and the side of the box facing the light gets brighter while the other side facing away gets darker). Since the more polygons you use the more a graphics card will have to read, developers try not to use too many of them. But, objects that have a low number of polygons to look ugly when shading is done. Normal mapping tells the graphics card to treat each polygon with more than 1 solid color for shading. The end result is that something that would normally look yucky and ugly looks very nice without the huge amount or reading a graphics card has to do. The Wii is capable of this technique and it is being implemented in games such as Dewy's Adventure.
Q: I also heard the Wii has some things better and worse than the original Xbox 1 from Microsoft. What are these "things?"
A: The Wii has a downgraded cpu clock speed by 4Mhz. Really, that's not a lot. More importantly though is that the Xbox had 2 texture units. Remember what pixle pipelines do? Well, when you multiply the fillrate by the number of texture units, you get the number of megatexles that can be produced. This little number defines how great textures can be rendered on a console as well as how advanced the graphics can be. But since the Wii's fillrate is so incredibly high, it doesn't need another texture unit to surpass the Xbox's texel-rendering capabilities. A texel is like a pixel: you know that all screens are made of tiny little dots? Well texels are exactly like that, but on textures like brick walls, the ground, the sky, etc. The Xbox was able to output resolutions in HD wheras the Wii is restricted to 480p (ED) only, not by the hardware, but by the firmware (basically, Nintendo made this restriction so that developers would use more advanced effects to make games look good). Other than that, the Wii basically beats the Xbox in all other aspects as far as I'm concerned...
Q: Is there something that the PS3 and Xbox 360 can do that the Wii can't?
A: The Wii can do very much anything the PS3 and Xbox 360 can, but not to that extent. Remember what I said about polygons? The other 2 consoles can handle more polygons than the Wii can. Same as the fillrate. Although the Wii is a 480p powerhouse, you need much more to get the same stuff in HD. Also, the Wii only has 1 core wheras the Xbox 360 has 3 and the PS3 has 8 (only 6 can be used though). Imagine having the Wii's "brains" and making it several times "smarter." Now imagine putting 3-6 of those brains all working together. Unfortunatelly, very few games on the Xbox 360 or PS3 show off this kind of "intelligence" per se, but it is much better than the Wii and come off with only a few disadvantages.
Hardware (General):
Q: How big and heavy is the Wii?
A: 44 mm (1.73 in.) X 157 mm (6.18 in.) X 215.4 mm (8.48 in.). It weighs 1.2 kilograms, or 2.7 pounds making it Nintendo's smallest home console yet and the lightest one in all the seventh-generation consoles.
Q: Is the Wii energy-efficient?
A: It's core runs at 20% less power than the Gamecube's and it has the smallest fan of all the next-gen consoles as it does not produce a lot of heat.
Q: Does the Wii overheat when running Wiiconnect24?
A: It was designed to handle the heat of continuous, subtle usage. Even if you're still scared, you may buy another fan for the Wii for only $15.
Already have a Wii and need some help with the console? You've found the right place! Everything from hookups to frequently asked questions and even a guide for the entire system settings and what you should do to get the best experience possible!
Startup
Q: How do I connect the Wii to the TV?
A1 (using A/V cables included):
A2 (using store-bought cables):
Q: How do I connect another Wiimote to the Wii?
A1 (permanent use): Open the front flap on the Wii located next to the disk slot. Open the battery cover on the Wiimote. Press both red buttons at the same time (you don't need to hold them). After a few tries, the Wiimote and Wii should both be syncronized and you won't have to do this again.
A2 (temporary use, ie: connecting a friend's Wiimote to your Wii): If you press any button on the Wiimote, it should connect with the Wii. You might not be able to turn the console on and off with that controller, however.
Q: The Wii said it can't read the disk, but I put in a game. What do I do now?
A: Make sure the shiny side of the disk is facing the left side (the side with the buttons and the flap).
Controller Issues
Q: How do I connect another Wiimote to the Wii?
A1 (permanent use, if the controller is yours to keep): Open the front flap of the Wii located next to the disk slot. Open the battery cover of the Wiimote you want to connect. Press and release both buttons. Repeat until the controller connects.
A2 (temporary use, if your friend brought his controller to play on your Wii): Press any button on the Wiimote except for the red one on the battery cover. Repeat until the controller connects.
Q: The hand on the menu shakes a lot even though I'm holding the Wiimote steady.
A: There is interference with another IR source. To make this more simple to understand, The Wiimote has an IR camera which detects the 2 "dots of light" comming from the sensor bar. But the Wiimote also detects other lights, such as sunlight, house bulbs, and even Christmas lights. You can either turn down the sensitivity of the Wiimote (you can find this option in the system settings), or just turn off the light sources. For sunlight, just close the blinds.
Q: Ok, I turned down the sensitivity, but I still have the problem.
A: If you did not turn off the light sources and you still have problems, you may be sitting too far away from the sensor bar. Either sit closer to the television or get a more powerful sensor bar from a store such as Gamestop. Any wireless sensor bar will be more powerful than the sensor bar included.
Q: I can't click on a channel on the Wii's menu because the hand is shaking too quickly. How can I play a game without the sensor bar?
A: Only the pointing functions have to do with the sensor bar. The classic controller analog sticks can guide the hand in most channels on the Wii's menu. You can play many games and all Virtual Console games without the need of a sensor bar at all!
Q: The speaker on my controller makes funny sounds. How do I get rid of this?
A: The Wiimote speaker is a very low quality one. It is normal for it to make undesirable sounds. However, turning it's volume down would help. Press the home button on the Wiimote, click Wii Remote Settings, and you can turn the volume down there. This could also save some battery power.
Q: How do I turn the rumble function off?
A: Press the home button on the Wiimote, click Wii Remote Settings, and you can turn the rumble on and off. This can also save battery power.
Q: How can I check the battery level on the Wiimote?
A: There are 2 ways. If the console is turned off and you press any button, you should see the LED lights blink. 4 lights for 75%-100%, 3 lights for 50%-75%, 2 for 25%-50%, and 1 for 1%-25%. When 1 light is shown, you will also notice that the LED light is dim. The second way to find the battery power is by pressing the home button on the Wiimote. There, you can tell the battery level for all the controllers.
Q: The hand on the menu sometimes disapears.
A: Something might be in the way of the black top of the controller and the edges on the sensor bar. The pointing functions require that nothing comes between the controller and sensor bar.
Q: In the middle of the game, I get a notice that says "Communications with Wii Remote have been disrupted." How do I reconnect the controller?
A: Just press any button. The battery should be dying at this point as well. Make sure to save your game data and replace the batteries.