Wiimote control coming to the Mac

jasenj1

Nintendo's new Wii game system uses Bluetooth to talk to its wireless controllers. Folks are already working on figuring out how to interact with these controllers using Macs (and other Bluetooth enabled computers).



This video shows a MacBook controlling the LEDs on a Wiimote. There are also videos out there showing the accelerometer values.



Since most of Apple's computers come with Bluetooth, the Mac should get some nifty Wiimote software very soon.



- Jasen.

whoami

it would be a damn cool front row remote!

placebo

Man, this is awesome, I bet it'd be entirely possible to make a program that translates the Wii data into a standard format all joystick-compatible PC games can use.

Marvin

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasenj1


Since most of Apple's computers come with Bluetooth, the Mac should get some nifty Wiimote software very soon.

Is that Mac running Linux? If so, I'd say it might take a bit longer for the hacks to work on games.

jasenj1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin


Is that Mac running Linux? If so, I'd say it might take a bit longer for the hacks to work on games.

It might be, but I don't think so. Also, there is a Wiimote "enabler" available for OS X. As far as I can tell, the enabler just lets you pair the Wiimote with the Mac - and I think stream the values coming from the Wiimote. (My officemate has it running at home.) Doing useful things with the incoming data, and sending out useful data is still to come -- but it is coming.



Who will be the first to write/port a game for the Mac that requires the Wiimote? Will Nintendo be foolish enough to lockdown the Wiimote?



Exciting times.



- Jasen.

gon

This could result in some interesting "Wiimac" software.



Then again, just how many people have a Mac and a Wii? Many developers do, and if someone hacks together a nice clean interface to receive the Wiimote input, they'll surely tinker. But how much trouble are they willing to go to develop and polish an indie game to the point where it's really fun, when the potential audience is microscopic in size?



The simplest and most generally useful thing to do would be to translate the Wiimote to act as a mouse for couch duty, either alone or with a wireless keyboard. Programmable buttons. You sit down in a beanbag chair and do not have a good mousing surface available. You grab Wiimote, press one button to change screen resolution appropriate for viewing from afar, do whatever.

steiner

I can't wait for that to come out. I am perfectly happy using a Wiimote as an every day mouse. even from further away. And how cool would this be during a business presentation!!!



the look on the face of all those PC users out there, priceless.

ireland

I just preordered my Wii, coming out here on the 8th. What about the sensor bar though, will the bluetooth sensor in my iMac sense in the same way?



/I know they both use Bluetooth, but..

amorya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland


I just preordered my Wii, coming out here on the 8th. What about the sensor bar though, will the bluetooth sensor in my iMac sense in the same way?



/I know they both use Bluetooth, but..

The sensor bar actually doesn't sense a thing. It's an infared transmitter, and is used by the remote to work out where it is in the room. That's all. So you could just use the same sensor bar with the Mac... there's no requirement that the bar is connected to whatever is reading the bluetooth signal



Amorya

jasenj1

Right. The "Sensor Bar" could be more accurately described as the "Emitter Bar". All it does is provide some IR reference points for the Wiimote to detect. There are already hacks out there to make the bar battery powered; it doesn't communicate with the Wii at all.



We messed around with the Wiimote at work today. A tedious process since none of us playing with it know anything about Bluetooth or Objective-C. We were able to mess around with the bit of code that is out there and detect the button states. It's a start.



I suspect the Linux hackers will have drivers done first, and the the Mac crowd will port whatever they have to work as OS X expects.



- Jasen.

e1618978

This could be pretty interesting for Nintendo - they might make more money selling wiimotes than selling Wii systems (at least if they priced the wiimote to make a profit, and they have enough patents to prevent 3rd party wiimotes).



Suppose the wiimote took over as the game controller of choice for the PC and all three consoles - then nintendo would basically be getting a cut of every Xbox and PS3. Hopefully the use of the wiimote on other systems will not impact Wii sales...

deestar

I haven't got a wii yet (Out on friday in the U.K) but I came across this app, looks like there is still some work to do to make use of the sensor bar but looks like a good start.



http://blog.hiroaki.jp/2006/12/000433.html

iposter

Video of some guy using the Wii-mote to play HL2 on a MacBook Pro using Bootcamp and XP. Some debate if it's staged or not though...interesting if it's real.

mactodd

As a one-time owner of both an original 128K Mac, in 1984, and a Nintendo NES, I'm really enthused about the potential integration of the Wiimote with a Mac, such as the Mac Mini hooked up to my 46" plasma!



I own 'WiiMac.com" and would love to put that domain to good use, if someone wants to work on the project...



MacTodd

xool

I've connected my wiimotes to my Macs but it was just for fun and looking at the sensor data. I have some ideas for some real uses, but at this point I was just messing around.