News Article

Nintendo Said Unto the Patent Office: Let There Be Wii Light

Posted by Trevor Chan

Another wacky peripheral gets uncovered

Nintendo's always been one for experimenting with peripheral accessories designed to boost the functionality of its hardware. From football controllers, to inflatable horseback saddles, Nintendo's patented them all.

A recent uncovering by Siliconera has revealed yet another crazy idea by Nintendo, this time in the light department. A patent filed back in 2009 in Japan shows a device called Wii Light, which reacts to how a gamer plays a video game and produces a spectrum of colours via red, blue, and green LEDs. The accessory can output 256 colours by controlling which LEDs are turned on and by saturation adjustment.

Light from the LEDS pass through condensing lenses which enable the colours from each LED to be blended together, giving a single coloured beam effect. The device can also output different intensities and patterns like blinking. The peripheral's raison d'être is to reflect the mood of what's happening in-game and the patent suggests developers could use the device to output different colours according to when bullets hit their mark in shooting games, or when fists make contact in fighting games.

Another proposal is to use the Wii Light in music games such as Activision's Hero franchise. Colours can be changed to match what the player is doing on their instrument controller.

As this is just a patent, it doesn't necessarily mean it will come to market, but if it did, do you think it will add something beneficial to your video gaming experience?

[via siliconera.com]

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User Comments (58)

DarkLloyd

#1

DarkLloyd said:

ah nintendo just wants to make sure they come up with alot of stuff so other companies cant use it :P

Dev

#7

Dev said:

Sounds like it would be distracting to me, unless you were playing a Dance Dance Revolution game or Just Dance. I still think the Wii Saddle is the weirdest, though.

SilverBaretta

#9

SilverBaretta said:

I would actually really want this, especially if I played it to games with beautiful music like Super Mario Galaxy.

kurtasbestos

#11

kurtasbestos said:

Just imagine this thing with any of the Art Style (especially light trax) or BIT.TRIP games. It could be relatively simple and cheap yet still add to the gaming experience in a way that no one else has tried (as far as I know). I would totally buy this.

Also, I'm just a huge fan of using LEDs to make crazy lighting contraptions anyway. Maybe I should just build my own.

WaveBoy

#13

WaveBoy said:

3D is out of the question for their next system, so that aside....I'd love to see some type of smellovision innovation, where i can smell the fresh green grass in Super Mario Bros, the wind blowing through my face when soaring through the sky, or better yet bowsers smelly butt. :p

C7_

#15

C7_ said:

I always wanted my tv to look like a peacock.

And now it can.

aaronsullivan

#16

aaronsullivan said:

There are TVs that do this automatically in a subtle way. I think it could pretty cool in some applications. Helps envelop the player in the game. Not that loony. Probably the idea was to put this on the infrared light bar so it has a dual purpose.

It could be a cool secret finder in a Zelda game, where it would change color as you got near something underground in a gradual way. A bit like the old rumble pak and Ocarina. :)

TeeJay

#19

TeeJay said:

wtf is this crap? People would actually buy flashing lights? What are you guys, four? No thanks.

OverlordMao

#28

OverlordMao said:

This is a late april fool's joke right guys?
This is confusing me to no end why this thing needed to be made.
More money? Come on Nintendo, you're not THAT greedy.

Robo-goose

#29

Robo-goose said:

This would have lit your room up almost as fast as an angry boyscout playing a game of pick up sticks.

hylianhalcyon

#30

hylianhalcyon said:

I had completely forgotten about the vitality sensor until I read this. I'm beginning to think that they thought it through a little more and that we probably won't be sensing our vitals, at least not as a peripheral for Wii. E3 will tell.

Sakeraf

#31

Sakeraf said:

seems interesting. i would probably get it.
hopefully it will work with VC games too

JayceJa

#33

JayceJa said:

at first it sounded really odd, but if its incorporated well into games it could add to the atmosphere of the room while you play, and id be willing to give it a shot provided it didnt cost too much

moosa

#34

moosa said:

I came up with this. Years ago. On April 1st at about midnight.
I wrote an "April Fools" news article about this being one of the big, as yet unannounced features of the Nintendo "Revolution" for a small fan site where I was a staff member. It was about this "ambient lighting" that the console would fill the surrounding walls with colors and such to reflect or compliment what was on screen, and referencing Miyamoto's quote about wishing games could extend beyond the borders of a television and filling a room. I also added additional lights to the controller itself in my concept. It was the best April Fools article ever, and others agree.

It makes me feel a bit tingly that Nintendo is patenting this now. Such patents rarely amount to anything that's actually produced, but that's beside the point.

DivineDope

#35

DivineDope said:

That could be really cool. You can imagine that the way you view the game would be at the least subtly influenced by the new light show. And it could be put to ingenious uses. I'm seeing Farfetched dancing up there and imagining the lights blinking when you encounter a Pokemon. Perhaps in different ways based on the type of Pokemon. Or like... the lights blinking faster as you near an item with your Item Finder! Yeah I know its a handheld game but imagine.

bboy2970

#37

bboy2970 said:

That...actually sounds kind of cool! Somewhat needless and likely expensive, sure but I'll be honest, if they launched this, I would probably buy one ;)

marc_max

#41

marc_max said:

I wouldn't pay more than 10€ for it.
Sounds great, and it can improve experience. But it's not an innovation and it's not necessary.

WiiLovePeace

#43

WiiLovePeace said:

Wow this sounds AWESOME! I'd buy it for sure as long as lots of games used it though :P Damn you 3x MotionPlus controllers! Haha.

JimLad

#44

JimLad said:

mmm could be useful...
Just the fact they are looking into all these crazy immersion ideas gives me hope for the future of video games.
Hope that it won't just be the same games in 3D.

mushroomer

#45

mushroomer said:

Maybe it will be included with their next console. WiiHD

It could really help enforce emotional moments...like if you get hit with a bullet in a shooter the whole room could turn red.. that would be cool!!!

Raylax

#47

Raylax said:

DSiWare Smash Hits Flashlight and Discolight - Coming soon to Wiiware!

Sakura_Moonlight2421

#56

Sakura_Moonlight2421 said:

Do they have any idea how fun it would be to look at the pretty colors we make when playing games. :D I for one would get one just so I can shower my living room with flashing lights and colors~!

motang

#57

motang said:

Wonder if this will pave way to Super Wii or Wii 2, or whatever it's called.

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