The Sensor Bar. Flimsy little plastic box with the world's longest, spindliest cable. An irritation to every Wii owner who has ever had to move their console. What was it good for?
There's not a lot to the Sensor Bar. A little device that emits some infrared light. If the Wii Remote is pointed at one, it recognises that's where the TV is. It's not high-tech. Famously, its functionality can be replicated by two candles. Cheap, cheerful, reliable.
The Wii's motion controls weren't always implemented in particularly complementary ways. Anyone who's ever had to pull off a special move by aggressively shaking the remote, or perform intricate aerial manoeuvres via tilting a controller will gladly tell you that. But did anyone have a problem with pointing?
The concept of pointing and clicking dates back to some of the earliest electronic games. Not just clicking a mouse in adventure and strategy games, but further back to clicking a trigger in the early light gun games and the electronic shooting ranges that inspired them. Over a decade before introducing the NES Zapper, Nintendo had already operated businesses for electronic clay pigeon shooting in abandoned bowling alleys and later brought out a home equivalent that projected flying ducks on players' walls. Pointing and shooting are more deeply engrained into Nintendo's DNA than the D-Pad, representing some of their first work with electronic entertainment.
Though the limited commercial impact of the Super Scope and concerns about representing itself as a family-friendly brand may have put off Nintendo from dabbling with the technology for around a decade and a half afterwards, light guns found massive success in arcades at the time, through games from such developers as Namco, Sega, Midway, Taito, and Konami.
The Wii's marketing focus was all on the accelerometer, but the secret sauce was in the infrared sensor.
A diverse library of titles steadily built itself on the technology, from the pioneering 3D design sensibilities found in games like Virtua Cop and Time Crisis, to the live-action laserdisc games Mad Dog McCree and Who Shot Johnny Rock, to later technological experiments like Silent Scope and Police 911. It's a critically important part of gaming history, and one that was soon forgotten as arcades died out and consumers swapped their old CRTs for HD Ready TVs.
The Wii's marketing focus was all on the accelerometer, getting people up out of their seats to bowl, dance and generally gesticulate wildly, but the secret sauce was in the infrared sensor. It's what made navigating the main menu so intuitive, crossbow aiming so quick and satisfying in Twilight Princess (not to mention Link's Crossbow Training), and brought whole new genres to the console. Giving the controller a sense of where the player's display was allowed for a whole new range of intricate actions, and even hard-nosed gaming veterans became believers in the technology when they saw its application in Metroid Prime Trilogy and Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.
Excitement for the Wii Remote was so high that Nintendo rereleased a range of GameCube titles as 'New Play Control' versions. Success of these titles was varied, but the generally agreed highlights of the series were the new versions of Pikmin 1 and 2, which used pointer controls to aim your Pikmin — a feature so well received that it was featured heavily in the original Wii U version of Pikmin 3.
Pointer controls also encouraged ports of older titles like light gun games, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Ghost Squad, and Mad Dog McCree, and point-and-click games like Broken Sword and Telltale Games' LucasArts revivals in the Monkey Island and Sam & Max series. Even games that were designed with a touchscreen in mind, like the DS's Another Code and Trauma Center, would receive pointer-centric sequels on the Wii. Genres that hadn't been thought of as viable home console releases for years finally found a home again. The technology even led Nintendo to re-releasing its most iconic light gun game, Duck Hunt, on the Wii U Virtual Console with Wii Remote support.
Flash forward to 2017. The Wii U — which, let's not forget, had a 'sensor bar' built into the GamePad itself to enable off-TV pointer-based play and compatibility with the Wii's library — is regarded as a commercial failure and a mark against Nintendo's reputation. The Wii is now deeply unfashionable, and the company wants to distance itself from the branding. The Switch would not feature a Sensor Bar and IR functionality was reduced to an infrared sensor in the bottom of the right Joy-Con.
Haven't we lost something valuable there? The expanding popularity of the Switch and the diversity of titles on the eShop has led to all sorts of quirky games finding niche audiences. Genres that had been thought of as unmarketable in the 2010s are now thriving. Nintendo has brought first-party ports of games to the console that once featured IR pointer support. Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Super Mario 3D All-Stars' version of Galaxy attempt to replicate the intuitive, reliable controls of their original releases via the Joy-Con's gyroscope, but without the sensor bar they lack that real-world reference point to maintain accurate tracking. Skyward Sword HD also suffered from the loss of the sensor bar to help keep its gyro-based sword positioning in check.
You need only compare the pointing of the original World of Goo to the Switch port to get a sense of just how much more reliable the infrared tech is. Unless a bright light source interferes with your sensor bar, of course, but we're told real gamers play only in dank, darkened basements, so they shouldn't be troubled by inconveniences like twinkling Christmas tree decorations. Or, you know, sunlight.
There are downsides to IR, then, but they simply don't outweigh the benefits. Gyro-based cursors inevitably drift, lack accuracy compared to the IR equivalent, and need to be reset and recalibrated frequently. Gyro controls can work well, particularly when they're supplemented by analogue aiming, such as in Splatoon or Metroid Prime Remastered, but your Switch doesn't know where you're pointing your Joy-Con or where your TV is. Gyro aiming is a compromise.
Maybe there's a future for pointer controls, though, IR or otherwise. Gyro advocates have been so persistent that even Sony is starting to support the technology in big titles like The Last of Us Part I and God of War Ragnarök. There is also a glimmer of hope for light gun fans with the PC release of The House of the Dead Remake receiving support for the Sinden Light Gun, which works with modern televisions, unlike your NES Zapper and other traditional light guns. Players have discovered that the Switch Joy-Con can function as a stand-in Sensor Bar, so while Nintendo abandoned the bar itself, it hasn't totally forgotten IR tech on Switch — it's just limited to novelty 'cameo' functions in the Labo series, Brain Training, 1-2-Switch, and a handful of other titles.
Nintendo has re-released old controllers in the past, with Nintendo Switch Online subscribers able to pick up Bluetooth versions of the NES, SNES, and N64 pads to use on their Switch. We still don't know exactly how Pikmin 4 controls on Switch, but we do miss the accuracy of old-fashioned IR pointing. Perhaps it's up to us to let Nintendo know we still care about this stuff. Some of us may still have the bitter taste of terms like 'waggle' and 'shovelware' in our mouths, but maybe we just need to... recalibrate a little.
Let us know below if you miss the precision and spindly cable of the sensor bar/Wiimote combo, and the games you enjoyed most with them.
Comments 134
As someone that turns off the gyro aiming in Splatoon, I’m happy the Switch went further away from the Wii remote’s “functionality.” Skyward Sword and other such games on Wii were sometimes more frustrating than fun if you played them the way they were intended.
That said, I’m looking forward to the new Warioware and possibly the 1-2-Switch sequel if the motion control stuff is fun. I’m all for silly motion control party games, but largely prefer things to be a bit more grounded for regular games.
Motion controls were always a novelty, not a legit control style.
I didn’t play a single game where I thought the Wii remote was an asset. The best thing about Metroid Prime Remastered was the ability to play with traditional controls.
Link’s Crossbow Training was a ton of fun. 😊
The light gun VC games like Duck Hunt just had a little too much lag and imprecision to feel like the originals.
Wii pointer controls are so much better then gyro. Gyro is great for precision aiming in something like splatoon but boot up Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime on Switch and you'll notice right away that the Wii control was superior.
Still have my WU plugged in on my desk. Along with my Super Mario red/blue Wiimote.
I do...well...kinda. What I DO NOT MISS is the freakishly' long cord of the Sensor bar. Though could've been alleviated if I bought the cordless one. But at the time when I got my first Wii, the wireless/cordless variety didn't exist yet until 2 years later.
As for the motion aiming, I didn't really have any issues aside from having to position the Sensor Bar itself. It was much easier to place it on my CRT TV than my HD TV.
Do I miss it? Well...yes...and no. To put it simply: 50% miss it, 50% not miss it.
Wii Version of Resident Evil 4 is still the definitive release of that game in my eyes, pointer controls work so well for that, I honestly didn't love them for many other like Metroid Prime 3 for example I don't think was all that great.
Motion controls as a novelty, sure. Motion controls as an integral part of the system, no. Other than a few niche experiences on the Wii, they were more frustrating than fun.
We still have the WiiU hooked up to our TV. After I transferred my Wii to it at launch it became our all-in-one Wii player (RIP GCN compatibility). We still use the WiiU a lot and usually to play Wii titles. The IR pointer was a great way to interact with titles. It still feels incredibly intuitive and futuristic even now. I was playing CHAINGUNNER (I forget the full name) on Switch yesterday using the gyro controls for pointing. It worked fairly well, but I did find myself missing the old Wii days where I would rock GHOST SQUAD for hours at a time.
The biggest issue with the sensor bar was its relative size to your TV.
When I used it on my dads small "portable TV" it was basically 1:1 and felt great, when I got my 42inch plasma it was harder
They could slap a sensor bar on the Dock of the Switch 2. Maybe.
I don't miss the sensor bar to be honest. It's useful for a pretty limited number of games and for most of them I prefer gyro controls. Especially as I prefer playing handheld.
I'm sorry to say, but I hate motion controls. Never found any time where I found them preferable to traditional controls. I agree that they worked better with the Wii as pointer rather than gyro with joycons, but my vast preferance on both Wii U and Switch is to play with Pro controller only (or button controls only on Switch Lite).
My family had a Wii, which I got for my kids, and there are games that I enjoyed on there - Galaxy 1&2, Sonic Colours... but in general I felt annoyed every, single, time I was forced to waggle for something. I enjoyed the Wii U far more as there seemed to be a majority of games that allowed just using traditional controls.
I hear that the lightgun shooter style games worked well with the Wii pointer. In the 8/16/32bit eras I loved lightgun games and I've always been sad that modern tvs don't work with them, so I guess thats one exception to my dislike of the Wiimote, its just not one I've felt compelled to try out.
I guess I had some fun with the EyeToy games on the PS2, which I mostly got for Sega Superstars. But they were very much a novelty, and I felt the same way about them as I did things like dance mats, guitar controllers, bongos, fishing rods, lightguns or whatever. Great for very specific games, but not something I want an entire console centered around.
By the way, I'm not hating on others who like motion controls. I'm really happy for those that enjoy them. I know how pleased people are when gyro aiming is added as a feature and I'm always happy for others when it happens. Its just not for me. My brain doesn't like it, it takes me out of teh game and back into my physical body. And no-one wants to be there! hahaha
Now, for me, the "one thing Wii did much better than Switch" is the Virtual Console! Not just the fact that we could buy games and own them rather than a monthly rental, and curate our collections rather than have a load of games on a messy menu where we dont' care about half of them... but also the overall selection of games was better, over a wider variety of consoles, and the fact we aren't forced to have a stupid ugly border that you can't switch off! Grrrrrr. That last point drives me crazy and I dont' know why they won't let us turn it off.
For me, at least, our family Wii became predominantly a Virtual Console machine, and it was great to have a way to legally buy roms and support the devs. I still remember the excitement in the crowd when it was announced that the Wii would be able to play games from all previous Nintendo home systems!
Oh, no, Wii did something better than the Switch that I hate anyway!/s
Ross Foubister writing for Nintendolife feels like a dream come true. Great read! Get him on full time!
One thing. ONE THING! I don't think so.
Can we talk about the backwards compatibility with controllers? There's no reason the Switch can't do this aside from wanting to sell Drift-Cons. Heck. my Wii U Gamepad still doesn't drift and I am needing to send my Drift-Cons back for the second time.
Let's talk about just user interface and over all fun. Mii Maker, Weather Channel, those beats slapped.
Free online? Honestly though you pay for it now I don't notice the service being any better. At least you get free classic games... But with the Wii you could buy whatever game you wanted and it had a larger library of classics.
Though I'm just getting started I'm done writing about all the ways Wii was better than Switch. Of course Switch does some things better than Wii, but mostly that just includes being portable, and having a larger library of indie games.
Motion control was a nice adventure for a while but did god I can’t stand them. Having a proper controller for the switch is simply amazing. Any game that has motion controls I turn them off instantly as long as I can.
Left Nintendo for over a decade because of the wii and wiiu can't take a game seriously that asks me to jack off my controllers to do things on screen, imprecise and prone to accidental imputs but the majority of the games weren't considered serious games compared to the likes of what was considered actually gaming on ps3 and 360. Much rather have physical buttons and control over exactly what I'm doing rather then attempting to cut diagonally to the left and have it register as a right up diagonal... Tried the switch version of controls in mario Galaxy and skyward sword hd and meh I get what you're saying but also on wii only like a handful of games really made it seem worth it .... Wii sports and resident evil 4
To me, RE4, HotD Overkill (and a couple other railshooters), Red Steel 2 (and a couple other fps'es), Blazing Angels, Excite Truck (and some other racing games), the Broken Sword remake, and more silly stuff like Warioware Smooth Moves and Zack & Wiki and World of Goo... And Wii Sports Boxing, yes. Those are the games that proved motion controls and pointer controls could truly enhance a game, immersive or just in a fun way. And the Wii remote was an excellent idea that I was glad was still part of some Wii U games, enhancing them greatly as well (like NintendoLand, BlackOps 2, Pikmin 3, ZombiU in multiplayer, Mario Kart... I was absolutely amazed when I found out the Gamepad even had a built in "sensor bar".
But yeah, I prefer handheld with well implemented gyro aim for most games. Most, as in RE4 Wii Edition cannot be made better (still not buying it on Switch because of how it does NOT have gyro aim, and no physical in Europe, and a very stupid "physical" in US, in typical Capcom fashion. I gave 5 another chance with gyro aim now, but it's still a bad game in my experiene)
@Shambo Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition is just...superb.
I loved the pointer controls, it's one of the best features of the console to me.
Whenever typing on a keyboard came up in a game or channel, that was it, the perfect time to break out your epic pointing skills.
Between GC backwards compatibility, VC, and internet browsing, it's hard not to see the Wii as the best console.
Yep. We can all look back at the Wii Remote for having pretty primitive motion control capabilities, but the IR Sensor aspects are sorely missed with Switch games doing a terrible job replicating what was implemented in the best way back in 2006. It was a constant frustration when I played The World Ends With You - Final Remix and Wolfenstein II if you chose to play this option. It’s why I still prefer the Wii versions of Metroid Prime, Mario Galaxy and Pikmin.
I would love to see and actual pointer control add-on for Switch, as the tech can’t be that crazy to produce. After all, you could infamously MacGyver your own Wii Sensor through 2 sources of light.
Talk about a missed opportunity for the whole smart TV market. It's mind-boggling to me that TV remotes didn't evolve to include Wii-style pointer controls built in (and by that logic, smart TVs having sensor bars). Using directional arrows on a standard remote to type in passwords and email addresses feels excruciatingly backward. What throws me into a mild fit of rage is when a TV apps tells you to visit a website on your phone to complete setup. Argh! But it shows just how antiquated the TV interface is--and how much better it would be with Wii pointer tech.
Yeah, the pointer was the thing I liked most about the Wiimote.
Playing house of the dead overkill (and any others light gun arcade port) on wii is fun
It's not the Wii remote, but lack of a sensor bar on the Switch, that is causing any issues, if there are indeed any in the first place.
a real cowboy eats his peas with his mashed potatoes.
The Wii era was a special time because of the games that expertly made use of the pointer controls, like RE4 and Metroid Prime Trilogy. I have fond memories of Okami and Trauma Team too. Heck, even Cooking Mama was kind of fun. But I do not miss the waggling and shaking and poor attempt at turning the Wiimote into a sword in Skyward Sword (one of many reasons I disliked that game).
It's not the same with Switch, least of all because a Joy-Con is so much smaller and less ergonomic in comparison, no sensor bar to reference it to, and most Switch games just don't bother with the functionality. Given the Switch's success, one can't fault Nintendo for leaving behind the unique ideas of the Wii, but I do kind of miss what it was.
I actually miss other parts of the Wii/Wii U more though. I thought the Balance Board was a brilliant piece of tech that deserved more love.
Yes, Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii is fantastic thanks to pointer controls (of course, sensitivity needs to be set to maximum)! I also really miss the light gun games from Wii.
Ah, the fond memories of ceremoniously lighting the candles in front of the TV before we begin an hours-long Smash Bros Brawl session.
I very much enjoy motion controlled aiming in games, but only when paired with traditional joysticks. I prefer to have joystick sensitivity all the way up for broad movements, and motion control all the way down for precision aiming.
As a one-off novelty, I don't mind stuff like this. Stuff like the NES Zapper, where only select games used it.
The Wii era was good for Nintendo, lots of people loved it. I hated it. It was the worst era and console, for me personally. I loathe forced gimmicks. Coming home from work and just wanting to sit and play a game became a chore. I didn't want to wave my hands around to play Zelda or Mario. Couple that with nerve damage and joint pain, the Wii became unplayable besides short bursts anyway.
I skipped a lot of, what I assume are otherwise great games, simply because of the forced motion controls.
The Switch does it 100% better, because it's not forced. You want gyro, turn it on. Don't like it, turn it off.
Very true. Loved World of Goo on Wii then grabbed Little Inferno on Switch and there was a world of difference.
Another thing the Wii does better is the Wiimotes work better for solo play than single joycon. We're visiting relatives who have their Wii U in the living room and my 5 year old is way better at Smash Brod when using a Wiimote than she is with a joycon
@ogo79 could not agree any more so. This is gospel truth
This article details why I cannot stress enough that the Switch's motion controls are nowhere near being more advanced than the Wii.
Many people may not realize this, but games like Skyward Sword and Wii Sports Resort (and Club) benefitted from the dual-usage of the sensor bar and gyroscope/accelerometer going hand in hand. The precision of having those combined together outmatches anything on the Switch.
Please, to everyone who hasn't read this article, stop saying the Switch has better motion controls. As stated here, it's a compromise, not an upgrade.
@johnvboy I don't think there is a problem. I hated galaxy When I played it with a wiimote, and loved it on switch. And there's a lot of pointing in that game.
It's a rather niche example, but I don't think a game like Art Style Cubello could be made without pointer controls.
Arguably, a lot of games that were made for use of the Wii Remote are rather difficult to replicate with Joy-Con because of hardware contradictions.
Still take the Switch for about every other advantage.
Resi 4 was PERFECT with the wiimote. I will never go back to playing it any other way. Same with Metroid. It was horrible without it. I hated it on GC.
Couldn't they release a sensor bar that just usb plugs into the doc?
It doesn't need to be for everything, but for those that want that IR precision, they could get the bar and control? Options are always nice. Doesn't need to be a required or packaged in item, but an option for those that might want it.
I personally loved pointer controls for shooters, and thought it was particularly well done on M.A.G. on the PS3 using the Move controller. It was a nice way to even the odds for people (like myself) who aren’t particularly good at shooters. I wish more developers would introduce motion controls like Splatoon which seems like a nice middle ground between pointer and dual stick controls.
"Gyro-based cursors inevitably drift, lack accuracy compared to the IR equivalent, and need to be reset and recalibrated frequently."
Who's arse did you dig that info out of? Lmfao
1500+ hours of gyro centric games on my Switch would highly disagree with you. I've never even had to recalibrate it once. Lack accuracy? What?! I've never seen my gyro cusor shake like I did when using the Wii pointer and trying to hold it still.
I guess we are going to ignore the fact that the Wii had Virtual Console.
Nintendo Switch Sports could be a lot of fun, but I don't play it because of the controls. It is so difficult to be consistent bowling that I just gave up.
I could bowl in Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort for hours, and I knew if I made a mistake it was my fault as opposed to the controls.
@Hajilee I didn't ignore that! That's the REAL area where the Wii beats the Switch hands down imo.
I used to like the motion controls in Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii. But having tried motion controls in Skyward Sword HD and Metroid Prime HD on the Switch, I quickly grew to dislike them. The Switch's joycons are a lot less accurate compared to the Wii-mote. I found myself turning motion controls off in both those games eventually because I got sick of the gyro constantly de-calibrating itself. I honestly didn't think they'd be moving backwards with the newer tech with regards to aiming accuracy, balance etc.
I dug my WiiU out of storage the other day for my son to try The Wind Waker (where is my Switch port Nintendo?!? Ahem.) And then I popped in Boom Blox which is quite fun and needs the sensor to work.
I use the Wii weekly with people recovering. The simple joy of Wii sports and Wii Fit plus is still a lot of fun and the sd graphics are less stressful for the mind.
The IR sensor was the real game changer on Wii even when it was relevant and it sucks that we’ll probably never see a return to it. I don’t consider it “motion controls” at all, the actual movement of your wrist to use the pointer was as minimal as using your thumb on a joystick. Still think it was the most revolutionary controller input since the analogue stick but instead of being a standard feature it’s now relegated to a novelty of its time.
I tried using the emulated pointer controls in MPR and Pikmin 3 Deluxe and though they did a great job with them gyro pointing is just not as good as the real thing. Dual analogue plus gyro is as good as it gets nowadays, which is fine but it sucks knowing there’s an even better setup (for some games anyway) that will probably never come back.
Yeah, I loved the pointer controls and do wish we had them on the Switch.
In general, I think controls and controllers are over-complicated. There’s just too many buttons - one shoulder-button on each side I can cope with, add a second and I no longer remember which one does what.
But then I much preferred joysticks that I could hold - a thumb-stick is far less accurate. Basically, give me an Atari 2600 joystick, add in an IR pointer, and we’re done…
Yes the switches gun games using gyro are awful to play. If only there was a away to use the IR pointer from the right joy-con and bundle the game with a IR sensor bar same as the Wii one.
Chaingun S
House of Dead
people often blame motion for waggle, but not buttons for button mashing.
@ComfyAko Had Nintendo released an ambitious online competitive shooter on Wii (it's own Halo if you will), pointer controls would've been here to stay. Because Prime 3/ Trilogy's controls were smooth af (best way to play after keyboard-mouse). The 'Revolution's' control scheme looked super promising for FPS and RTS games and Nintendo never did anything with it. Boggles the mind. Well, they couldn't really have made big scope ambitious games anyway as the Wii was too underpowered.
On DS too they achieved FPS control scheme perfection with a little Quake 3 Arena-like shooter called Metroid Prime Hunters. But of course competitive online FPS on a low end handheld proved too niche of a market when you consider it was traditionally found on PC, a high specs platform. I bet few of FPS aficionados followed or took seriously handheld gaming or even knew Hunters existed. Game still garnered a niche following though and is still played online today. And for some reason Nintendo never bundled the thumbstick in Europe. Another blunder. Small detail, big difference.
Then we got inferior gyro controls on Wii U (Splatoon) and 3DS (Federation Force). A real shame. Made my realize things don't always progressively get better.
@DanijoEX I'm such a fan of the things that I've got two wedged in the gap below my TV.
@samuelvictor
as a kid who didn't have a nes or snes growing up the VC was a magical experience, while i wasnt a fan of some of the games being 50hz (at least in europe) it was also nice that some games which previously never came to europe made it onto it such as earthbound.
I remember really not being a fan of motion controls during the wii era and with quite a few games on the wii the controller was somewhat of a barrier to my enjoyment which is why im happy the switch generally goes for the "play your own way" mentality (im really hoping the next system is a next gen switch since i would love to see the concept continue for at least one more generation similar to how 3ds was to ds)
I guess I learned something today... I didn't know this opinion was even possible. And based on the comments, not only is it possible, but even common?!?! Personally....
Gyro pointing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> IR pointing.
It was the single best upgrade in the switch version of Mario Galaxy. I played both versions of the game in the last 4 years for the first time, and the gyro controls made a world of difference, far superior to IR.
With IR, you have to stop playing to "find the bar" with your remote.... And it never worked well for me, so it always took a while and by the time I find it it's often too late. Gyro works from absolutely any starting position.
@Mgalens Yeah I totally agree with all of that!
I was (am) a retro enthusiast that started buying second hand consoles the second I was earning my own money to catch up on stuff I'd wanted as a kid but we couldn't afford! I had already owned all the consoles that were included in the Virtual Console, and also been emulating them for years as well. But I still really appreciated the convenience of having so many classics spanning multiple generations available on my current gen system plugged into the main family TV, and also a legal way to pay for the games that I'd already been emulating. I think most people who emulate games are willing to pay a reasonable fee to own their favouroite titles if companies make them available - we only "pirate" because legit alternatives don't exist. For example, I'm very happy to now finally buy the physical collection of Pikmin 1 & 2
@Poodlestargenerica,
Totally agree, which was why I said " If there is a problem ", The pointer controls work pretty well for me, and my dock is behind my T.V.
I always hated that stick in my Wii, especially in games where you can't play normally with Classic or Gamecube controller. Classic control much more comfortable.
I love motion controls but the IR pointer controls the most because they brought back the arcade style shooters. Still keep my wiius (I have three) and wii hooked up now.
@johnvboy Yeah I was just agreeing with you.
Without doubt, the Wii is one of the finest consoles I've ever had and one I still own. It's still sat proudly amongst my Switch, PS2 & PS3 on the main TV. In fact, I only just re-completed Super Mario Galaxy 2 last night having initially played it back in 2011. A great console where I still have fun times.
@appleseedeon LG TVs do exactly this. They call it the "Magic Remote" but it's just a gyro-based pointer. It's great!
The Wiimote was such a great device and the IR sensor is its greatest asset. It really does make interacting with modern systems feel dated in comparison. So many amazing games that made use of that functionality. Still got my homebrewed Wii and Wii U hooked up in my room and they drive the majority of my entertainment time.
I don't think I could ever play Twilight Princess without motion controls.
@ModdedInkling That makes a lot of sense however, in practice it's completely different. Wii Sports, Resort, and Club take Tennis for example (or table tennis), your racket would fall out of sync within a couple minutes, so you'd have to hit up (or was it down?) on the wiimote to reset it constantly. Switch Sports it's more like once every few weeks that it might need recalibrated. Which the old Wii Sports games required calibration at the beginning of the match by pointing at a spot on the tv.
Wii's Skyward Sword's Motion Controls were atrocious!
Having to recalibrate every few minutes!
Constantly "going off screen" and having to reset to center!
The Wii will always be a uniquely appealing piece of hardware.
TWO things.... this, AND the virtual console.
Yes yes yes. I've been missing this so much. RE4, Splatoon, Pikmin, Metroid Prime. Just way less fun and intuitive without it.
Hated playing Metroid Prime 2 on my wii, I just wanna play a game in the most lazy way possible! Lol
for me its the joycon drift. I love motion controls but Im scared to play certain games like mario golf or the new warioware game bc I feel like I have to baby them.
Couldn’t stand the Wii. In my opinion a gimmicky mini game device built to sell to grandmas. That being said Wii sports and other basic gimmicky motion control games were fun to play with family. If I was to do my own timeline there would be gamecube, the dark years and then the light returning with the Nintendo switch 😅 and no I’m not including handhelds.
The House of the Dead 2&3 Returns would not be the best home versions of those games if it wasn’t for the Wii IR pointing capabilities. 2 on Wii is even closer to the arcade than the Dreamcast version since the Wii remotes replicated the flashlight tracking behavior in dark areas perfectly as the arcade version also used IR sensors in the guns. The Wii should have gotten more home ports of arcade light gun games while it had the chance. I wish the Switch had that option as Gyro pointing isn’t it. However, Splatoon 3 totally brings back good feeling motion aiming that’s far superior to Splatoon 2’s sloggy iteration. Both are still not as snappy as Splatoon 1, but 3 is definitely the more playable version. I should totally make that “You can’t do this with sticks” Splatoon kill compilation I’ve been meaning to do.
I skipped the Wii. It was the console that pushed me away from Nintendo for a LONG time. Considering my love for the GameCube, it was quite sad for me to see them go in that direction. I still kept the DS lite and I loved it, but I will admit that outside of RPGs I didn’t buy much native DS software. I used it as a glorified GBA for my pretty big GBA collection I had back then.
I was actually interested in the Wii U but I had to choose between that and a PS4 considering it was my own money. I made the right decision.
The Switch is what brought me back to Nintendo. I don’t have any nostalgia for the Wii. I did fool around with a friend of mine’s but honestly I didn’t see what the fuss was about. Motion controls are lame to me.
Other things the Wii did better than the switch:
-Backwards compatibility with the GameCube
-Free online
-Virtual Console
Well put. It will be interesting to see how the spiritual successor to Warioware Smooth Moves (a masterpiece on the Wii) holds up on the Switch. Switch Sports was a bit of a dud.
And yes, free online + Virtual Console was better.
@theModestMouse ...What are you talking about. Literally every gyro motion game (as in something designed to use motion solely not motion + stick) has a button to recenter that you have to use constantly. It's not a permanent drift, it's that the remote loses track of where the tv is as you use it.
I must be missing something but accuracy and wiiremote are to words i have never used in the same sentence
Motion controls suck and I'm so glad I can avoid them now.
@skeets agreed! I was going to say the same thing. I played Galaxy on both Wii and Switch (motion controls) recently and it’s not even close for me-Switch is way better. Very surprising to see so many people disagree.
@Emacster So very wrong on so many levels. If you allowed yourself to get past that stigma of the Wii being for the non-gaming community, you would find that it is truly an amazing console with a fantastic range of games. A mate of mine had the exact same feelings towards the Wii too. He's a massive gamer, has been since the good old Speccy & C64 days, but completely ruled out the Wii. I tried to educate him but to no avail - he just was not interested in the slightest. As they say though, each to their own. If we all liked the same things, it would be very boring world.
In my opinion the motion controls were great when used properly. DK returns, Mario Galaxy, Metroid, RE4, HOTD, Deadspace, Metroid other M all amazing. The trouble was most devs used it just for the sake of it. Resulting in pointless waggle controls.
@Poodlestargenerica,
No problems.
I miss the proper Wii pointer controls in the proper Wii game. I mean the ones that used it properly. It reached it's height in Wiisportsresort with wiimotionplus. Barely any games used the increased precision if that plus facility though sadly and somewhat frustratingly. It was inevitable it was going to leave Nintendo gaming sadly. I love gyro controls too when implemented properly. I prefer playing shooters greatly with them. Since the pointer controls and gyro controls introduction into gaming, I am dissuaded from playing shooter games without either of these (properly implemented).
As for pointer game controls on Switch on the tv screen? I have barely played any besides one two switch. I am a 95% handheld gamer now.
Good read by the way.... Thank you.
for Pikmin the sensor was vital. I tried the joy con with Pikmin 3 but it failed every time. They could have release a wireless sensor just for Pikmin 4
Pointing was also great for stuff like Netflix where the Wii version was the best even now and that includes the "update" that made it worse. The worse accelerometers than the Motion+ is a killer though. Nintendo cheaped out on literal pennies and it made Skyward Sword with the proper control garbage to play. That was something that legitimately got out of sync every few minutes for me.
Absolutely agree that IR sensors were one of the best features of the Wii especially because they allowed to replicate lightgun games, but at the same time I much, much prefer the hybrid nature of the Switch so I'll take that compromise any day (it's not just the portability itself, it's how easy it is to switch between handheld and TV unlike the Wii U - I mostly play in handheld, but if I need to play on TV, mostly when visiting friends, I can do so in an istant and it's much easier to carry around)!
That said, maybe they could include them as an optional feature for the Switch's successor, at least in docked (also because there are people who actually prefer gyro pointing over IR).
So I completely disagree that the switch cursor on games like Pikmin 3, Galaxy, Captain Toad, etc is a worse experience than playing on the Wii, simply due to the fact that I can relax whilst I play these games on switch I don't have to be sat in direct view of my TV and keep pointing at the screen, you just get used to pressing the reset button and you're good! Mario Galaxy is my favourite game and I play it multiple times a year, but the switch is definitely my go to system to play now, cause it's just more comfortable
There definitely has to be a distinction drawn between "pointer" and "motion" controls — whereas the former was implemented perfectly in games like Metroid Prime Trilogy, HotD Overkill, and World of Goo (yeah, that Switch Port, while playable, was nowhere near as intuitive as on Wii), the latter had gamers frantically waggling their remotes like a gibbon in heat to do something as simple as swinging a sword or jumping, when a simple digital button press would just as well have worked perfectly, and I'm glad we've seen the back of it.
The Wii-mote was NOT a novelty. So sick of people calling it that. It was a legit step forward in gaming controls. It made the likes of Metroid Prime, Resident Evil IV, HotD, Ghost Squad, Mario Galaxy legit the very best definitive version of those games. If used properly it put pretty much ever FPS and Lightgun shooter to shame on any other system. It's a pity the Switch doesn't have that functionality for its Docked mode for instance. HotD on Switch is goddawful to play as it is on any system using a gamepad. Metroid Prime on Switch plays really well (it had a decent gamepad control scheme anyway) but it pales compared to the Wii trilogy package imo.
@Nintendo_Thumb
That's not entirely true. Motion controls still go out of sync pretty often on the Switch, and the only thing Nintendo has done to reduce recalibrations was to decrease the sensitivity.
The amount of recalibrations for Wii Sports Resort and Club are drastically reduced in Tennis thanks to that sensor bar. However, they kept the sensitivity higher to maintain precision.
@Sputnik_Corner
Going out of sync isn't my main concern. It's having steadiness and precision. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but more times than not, even with very calm and steady hands, your pointer doesn't stay very still and sometimes "drifts" past where you want to point.
@ModdedInkling I guess i've been lucky but i've never had any noticeably frustrating instances, now its obviously not as accurate as an actual sensor, but in my experience its been just as usable just with added comfort
The IR sensor on the Wii Remote was definitely more accurate, but I was actually really impressed by the pointer controls on Metroid Prime Remastered. Does require you to recalibrate fairly often, but it's just a quick tap of the R or ZR Button.
In general, pointer/gyro controls are so much better for shooters than dual analog. I really struggle to understand anyone who argues otherwise. I can only put it down to stubbornness and/or laziness, quite honestly.
Motion controls are like the FLUDD. A fun novelty that shouldn't be the core function of any game.
@Sputnik_Corner
The saving grace for me with Joy Cons is that I'm using motion controls on a legitimate controller with all of the buttons available.
@ModdedInkling Wait a sec, you must not have played these, or not lately. I play Switch Sports every day, it doesn't desync maybe once every few weeks. I used to play Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Sports Club about every day as well, and I know for a fact that those games needed you to push the direction button to reset it, and it needed to be done several times throughout a match, in addition to the calibration it already does at the beginning of the match. Seems pretty obvious that they got rid of the sensor bar because it's no longer needed. Same thing with ARMS, you start playing that and calibration is never an issure, it just works.
@ModdedInkling If any of that was true don't you think Splatoon 2 & 3 players would be complaining about the game getting worse in the sequels compared to the Wii Us which have sensor bars? I'm here pretty often, and the only thing I've noticed anyone complain about is that the Switch doesn't have a second screen to look at the map.
Don’t really have a opinion on the article itself but I just wanna say this article was extremely well written. Excellent.
Some of the comments on this article kill me. Imagine playing an FPS or RTS like Pikmin with analog sticks lmao.
I've been reading some of the comments and while I do usually prefer traditional controls to motion, I think dismissing motion controls as nothing but a novelty is a disservice to what they can provide.
I think motion controls can be perfect matches for certain games and great as optional alternatives for others. I genuniely love motion controls for games like Pikmin and Metroid Prime, and they're a great match for virtual reality games as well.
Reference point/sensor bar indeed. I like a mix of traditional and motion depending. Also IR. Why right joycon not used smartly in left hand almost/put properly on the front of the right joycon (hopefully Switch 2) Nintendo.
The more I've bought games on the Wii/Wii U and PS3 the past few months and years now some always want, some at random to get a good variety, it made it easier to understand VR more than non-VR users and half the things in VR aren't in Wii/PS3 games so says a lot I can adapt to the uniqueness and similarities still (besides just used to old experimental/dated design and modern design in games too helps) and in turn besides Sixaxis use in some PS3 games how to make good motion control support then bad.
And why I can agree even if never experienced any Switch games with it yet why in footage Switch use of it isn't as great. Gyro is fine but reference points or a constant 'place down to re-calibrate' like Red Steel 2 had or whatever games do these days for it. Or the Magnetometer the Wii U had to deal with centering. It got stuck sometimes but it worked it out still or kept it to that direction if it think you wanted it to which was understandable even if it wasn't but I didn't hate it knowing it was doing it's intended job.
But it was still clear the limits of accelerometers/gyroscopes. So the right Joycon returning with it but it on the bottom just annoyed me.
Some games use it but oh boy if it was on the front you bet it would be so much better than the bottom and then a left handed but not as great use of the right Joycon I think. I'm glad Switch offers left/right stick on the OS to navigate but still it doesn't go very far in games or other situations.
It's why Red Steel 2 worked well as a shooter while having sword combat. Skyward Sword may have used it to balance but how many people realised because they were so used to the accelerometer and gyroscope then the IR besides what Wii Play or accessing menus in games usually for their cursor unless the game allowed you to access options normally.
Then again who used the Wiimote for storing data. Miis on the Mii Channel did just like taking a PS2/GameCube memory cards (whether with data worth transferring (say Ratchet weapon discounts with saves of the games on it or I guess the Metal Gear gimmicks that are pretty cool) between different games or handhelds GBA or PSP (Outrun 2006 PS2/PSP cross save before PS3/4 era is so cool thanks Sega with your GBA/PSP efforts like the VMU on Dreamcast for it's cool stuff) for different things (looked into a few and they are really cool) or just saves and put it in the game cases for transport) with you to other's houses.
Barely know anything else that used the Wiimote for that besides the Mii Channel. It's why I found The Golden Bolt youtube video on it so interesting as I can't think of anything else but the Mii Channel on Wii. A side menu to move Miis in and out of the remote that I never used and barely remember until I do.
For aiming though, not ball maze puzzles (they didn't bother me I just don't think it's a good idea whether Ratchet Tools of Destruction Sixaxis or Breath of the Wild), racing it kind of can but i usually hate it, Mario Kart did it well enough I think but man Gran Turismo 5&6 with Sixaxis or Need For Speed Nitro on Wii with tight corners yeah motion is terrible for that it's why Ridge Racer would have to have tracks changed for it. It's why Speed Racer the Movie game has basic tracks besides well development troubles but still the DS version doesn't have that of course). Some things it works others not so much.
I hate VR over compensating with it it's hilariously bad 2006 Wii controls again. Yet Wii games then used less buttons and even later ones with better design used buttons and motions in smarter ways imagine that VR devs which never used motion before look at good old games and cough GDC talks like they are made for not for us customers to take notes and devs waste our time and learn nothing/not learn at all from the sources provided to them.
I don't own any motion games really (Monster Hunter Rise's Bow is something but not for cursor or other uses of motion yet) but until I get Pikmin 1+2 HD or Pikmin 4 on Switch or Splatoon 2 & 3 then I'll compare (got 1 on Wii U) (got 1 on Wii and 3 on Wii U) then I can tell if the cursor (aka not the IR on the bottom of the right joycon to the TV which would have made more sense but no Nintendo didn't do that grrr, that doesn't use it which sucks and makes more sense then just the gyro positioning)
@mystman12 Awesome! I hadn't heard that before. I'm glad to see someone realized its potential.
I was hoping for a big reveal of the joycon IR sensor being used as a light gun for switch, but this never happened. The IR controls on Wii made it the best way to play on-rail shooters and also Metroid Prime. House of the dead remake was pointless without IR controls. I still hope Prime 4 will come with a light gun of some kind.
There were a few FPS that utilised the Wii controller well, namely the Metroid Prime and The Conduit games, CoD wasn’t bad either. But I feel Pikmin used it the best, so much better than a traditional controller.
The absense of pointer controls has meant I haven't played shooters on Switch at all.
I went from enjoying them thoroughly on Wii and Wii U to straight up eliminating them from my diet.
@Nintendo_Thumb
Mind you, the Wii U GamePad does not require the sensor bar - It's only there for Wii Remotes.
The experience with Splatoon is the exact same as Splatoon 2 and 3. I don't know where you found the idea that the GamePad uses the sensor bar for Splatoon, but that is entirely untrue.
Edit: As for Nintendo Switch Sports, the button press was only a feature Nintendo added, but it has nothing to do with technical advancements. If you think back to Skyward Sword on the Wii, that game also had recalibration via a button press.
Wii Sports Club in particular did not go out of sync very often with the sensor bar attached, because the game would auto-recalibrate your controllers if you point at the screen. I believe the same applies to Nintendo Land as well.
Edit 2: And I will say this again, the sensitivity on Joy Cons is noticeably reduced from the Wii Remotes. That's literally the only reason why it doesn't go out of sync as often.
@ModdedInkling very good point! another reason why I will always from now on play Mario Galaxy on switch, two sticks and not having to frickin' waggle to spin, I can play like I don't have a tick in my right hand (no offense to those with Ticks in their right hand)
@ComfyAko Try to play splatoon without them against who use them and we talk again.
@1UP_MARIO heck yeah
It was a huge mistake not to include a Sensor Bar on the Switch. As such, all FPS games as well as a some others like "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword," the "Pikmin" series, and "The Wonderful 101" will always control better on the Wii or Wii U than they do on the Switch.
@Hungryluma Yeah, dual analog controls have always sucked compared to IR motion controls. The hybrid systems in games like the "Splatoon" series aren't much better, because they still require dual analog controls. That defeats the main purpose of having motion-controlled shooters in the first place!
Oh well, there's nothing stopping me from continuing to play FPS games on my Wii U (albeit with a lack of online play) or on PC with mouse and keyboard.
The classic games selection? Backwards compatibility? The shop interface? The main menu?
Hated Metroid Prime on GC, loved its controls on Wii, and I will never play another Resident Evil game after the perfection that was RE4 on Wii.
Definitely miss the Wii motion controller and the light guns that it supported as well.
Would be great to have the sensor bar and those controls with improved performance back for Switch 2.
@ModdedInkling I am not going to stop saying the Switch has better motion controlls. In my personal experience it's much better and much more convenient. Super Mario Galaxy worked just as good on the Switch as on the Wii with the gyro controlls and in Skyward Sword the controlls felt significantly more precise and in no instance was I required to actually point at the screen.
In any shooter that I've played on the Switch gyro aim works really well if it's there. Games like Arms and Switch Sports have shockingly good precission.
@OldGamer999
Yep, I miss the pointer which made even mediocre shooter-games like The Conduit and Red Steel fun to play. As joy-cons already have an IR-camera (but at the wrong end), it should be fairly easy for Nintendo to use it on a updated joy-con model and just make the Switch 2 Dock compatible with the Wii Sensor bar. And as the Wii U Gamepad also had a built-in sensor bar, it should work in portable tabletop mode as well.
@BulbasaurusRex
Yep, and as they already built-in a infrared sensor in the joy-con, it would've been letterally free for Nintendo to include support for "Wii-style pointer controls" with a simple port for the old sensor bar in the dock.
@Aurumonado FACTS
The one unassailable truth about the Wii Remote (Pointer controls) and Nunchuk combo was how perfect it was for Pikmin.
It's amazing to me that the perfect controller setup for the series came along 5 years after Pikmin 1 was born.
Whenever I look at the Wii Remote I inwardly shudder. Just looking at it aggravates the gamer in me. Everything about it screams 'casual gamer gimmick', I don't know, or want to know, how people who had the consoles managed. Even if everyone in the world was getting one of those consoles, I would never get it.
I love the Wii remotes, and while that's partly a "I grew up with it" nostalgia and partly a "I only play stuff like Splatoon" thing, it's still fun!
@RasandeRose
Fingers crossed for the switch 2 pointer style controller.
With or without sensor bar, IMHO the wiimotes are far more satisfying to hold than the joycons. Their size and rubbery grips makes for a superior feel, even for small-handed people like myself.
I really didn't enjoy the Wii. I get why it was a phenomenon, but it was just a gimmick and not a good control scheme. I skipped so many games during this era because I loathed the forced gimmick controls. I'm very glad the Switch moved away from it.
Though I do like the Wii and the fact that it allows you to play games in various ways, what I don't like is the force motion controls. Nintendo was so sure the Wii remote is very revolutionary that they had to force its gimmick into every game (except Punch-Out for some reason) even on those that makes no sense to have motion controls such as Arc Rise Fantasia, NiGHTS Journey through Dreams, Rayman Origins, Guilty Gear XX, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Sonic, Klonoa, and Speed Racer. It just doesn't work very well, motion controls like VR only work whenit make sense. Motion controls works great when gyro are necessary such as the case with The House of the Dead Overkill, Red Steel, Okami, and No More Heroes whereas VR only works when the game is a first person experience, once it goes second or third person then it loses its charm.
Motion controls definitely feel more clunky on Switch than Wii/Wii U. I compared them all by playing the original Skyward Sword and Skyward Sword HD. Switch motion controls felt far less accurate and needed recalibrating more often
I don't disagree but I think what the Wii did best compared to switch are how classic games are handled. I'd so gladly take the VC per-game purchase with a huge array of games over the weak switch subscription offering. How did the Wii do it so much better, and over ten years ago?
The only games that ever played well with Motion Controls were Wii Sports, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Target Terror, and Conduit.
I don't care how unfashionable the Wii may be now, it's my favourite console, and probably always will be. I would love for Nintendo to return to it, just with stronger hardware (isn't that what most of the Switch fanbase seems to want, the same hardware, just more power?).
The memories of time spent together with my family, at my first introduction to the Wii (at my mum's house), I will treasure forever. The motion controls in RE4 made the Wii version the definitive version of the game, absolutely sublime. The last game i completed was RE4 remake, with PSVR2, arguably at the cutting edge of console gaming. I played through the entire game, standing, with no comfort settings and it was glorious. Naturally, there was motion involved, such as swinging the knife 1:1, reloading the weapons. Nintendo, if they wanted to, could leverage the technology they developed for Wii, and incorporate it into their own VR offering. I'm not saying they should, but if they did, it would be beautiful.
The much maligned Wii U and its gamepad provided an incredibly engineered lag-free experience, something PS5 can't do in 2023, with their PlayStation Portal. Nintendo have always been ahead of their time, ahead of the curve. They certainly were with the Wii motions controls ... not so much with internet play.
I absolutely adore infrared on Wii, but I have a fair amount of nostalgia for it. Nowadays, if I'm gonna play a modern game I very much expect it to include gyro aiming a la Ocarina3D and Splatoon. Portal 2 was wayyy better on Switch with gyro and I sorely missed it when I played Control recently on PS5.
Gyro-aiming with the occasional need for re-centering is okay.
The real issue is that NOT A SINGLE game with FPS controls on Switch features auto-turn. NOT ONE.
Auto-turn was how the Wiimote got by for FPS without having an analog stick on it. If you pointed off the screen, most games would start turning your character, without need of input from a stick.
This option is sorely lacking in each and every FPS on Switch.
To me, they are downright unplayable without it. It was what made those games fun an accessible to me again. I do not appreciate using dual analog for the genre, and I likely never will.
@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot Those sensor bars are why there was no cord left for the NES minis.
I never owned a ton of Switch games, and my failure to do the more sensitive moves often drove me mad. But otherwise, I was usually pleased with the technology. Nintendo did a very good job.
Tap here to load 134 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...