New Wii Information Released!

The Wii Wireless controller has been announced to run only on two double AA batteries, which will allow the controller to run for 30 to 60 hours before having to charge or replace the batteries. This shows that it is even more unlikely for the controller to have a charger.

The Wirless Technology installed in both the controller and the system will run at a rate of 2.4GHz, showing that there will be little delay if any between the movements of the controller and system's response. This technology is powered by BlueTooth.

The controller also has 6 KB of memory on it, but the purpose of this, is still unknown.

There also now a SYNCHRO button shown under a flap on the Wii remote which will determine which controller acts as Player 1, 2, 3, and 4. The first to push the button gets to be player 1. However, there is also another method of assiging who is which player if gamers do not care who is player 1. The system identifies controllers by a unique ID number, so this way there is no interference between game actions taken on each controller. This is similar to the Gamecube Wavebird Wireless Controller, except there is no physical wheel to set which "channel" the controller is on.

A new sensor bar has been shown to be the device that powers the motion sensitivity feature of the controller. It is 20 centimeters long and must be placed either below or above the television set to properly function, as you can see in the picture below.


The LED lights on the Wii Controller are designed to what player you are and battery power. Now, instead of the "green = good - red = bad" scheme, Nintendo shows four power levels of the battery life. When the battery is higher than 3/4 full all four LEDs will blink. If the battery is between 1/2 and 3/4 full three LEDs will blink. Anything between 1/4 and 1/2, two LEDs will blink. And for anything under 1/4 battery life, only one LED will blink.

Now, instead of going to "Options" during an in-game menu, you can turn the rumble feature of on the controller itself.

Now, the Wii controller can also act asan "eye" measuring movement along the X and Y axis.

"Whether or not this data can be interrupted into visual information remains unknown, but we're not ruling out the possibility that the pointer could sub as a camera. This is, of course, purely speculative on our part, but stranger things have certainly happened..." (IGN.com)

FINALLY! Nintendo has offically announced that Wii will be released before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Rumors state that it will be released on Halloween, but Nintendo has scheduled a press conference in September where they will at last announce the offical price and release date of the system, possibly along with even more new information.

We'll keep you updated on the latest information as it emerges!