Wii Remote

Like the console itself, the controller is glossy white and tiny. At first glance, the Wii-mote is an enigma. Its lack of a traditional analog stick begs the obvious question, which is how does it work?

The answer is that it uses a built-in accelerometer and other motion detection hardware to judge motion, pitch, tilt and depth inside a 3D space. In games, the Wii remote effectively becomes an extension of the player's arm. In a game like Metroid Prime, it would become the gun; in a game like Red Steel, the sword; and in Wii Sports Tennis, the racket. Rather than manipulating an analog stick, players would simply point at the screen and shoot in Metroid, gesture a sword swipe in Red Steel and literally swing the controller to and from in Wii Sports Tennis. As readers are undoubtedly aware, the possibilities for this new control mechanism are endless.

The Wii remote features an on/off power switch, D-Pad, A and B buttons, 1 and 2 buttons, and finally home, plus and minus buttons.

The Remote features both an internal rumble feature and, strangely enough, an internal speaker. The rumble feature includes only one level of sensitivity, but developers can rapidly turn rumble on and off to simulate light or heavy rumbling. Meanwhile, the internal speaker is thus far only used to deliver in-game sound effects - the result, hopes Nintendo, is that gamers will feel more immersed with audio coming out of the remote.

Up to four Wii remotes can wirelessly connect via Bluetooth to the console at a time. The wireless signal on the Remote can be detected within 10 meters of the Wii console.