A peek at this fall's Wii kiosks?
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ Aug 31st 2006 at 5:15PM }
Alert the rumor patrol -- our big daddy blog Joystiq stumbled across pictures on the Internet and they may be news. This time it's the (possible) demo kiosks for the Wii. Note that this picture does not feature a widescreen television. If real, this could reflect part of Nintendo's marketing to mainstream consumers rather than just gamers, as mainstream audiences tend to be less likely to have the best and brightest tech. A display like this would give regular folks a good idea of how the Wii could look in their living room. On the one hand, we think that the best marketing scheme for the Wii is the console itself -- just let people play it, as Nintendo has pledged to do. But after discussions of interference from other electronics at E3 affecting the exchange of data between the Wiimote and the console, we've gotta ask: how will the Wii play at your local Best Buy or Wal-Mart? They can't exactly ask everyone shopping to turn off all wireless devices, now can they?
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Despite the poor quality of the image, this seems like a good possibility.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mykie @ Aug 31st 2006 7:04PM
What wireless interference are you talking about?
The only interference I'm aware of is with the infrared spectrum that comes from halogen-style lights.
And I'd imagine that anyone who already has problems with thier existing TV remotes will likely have problems with the Wii-remote.
noliberalbull @ Aug 31st 2006 6:26PM
I've been wondering how local store demos would work ever since they announced the controller. How does one demo the freestyle controll of the wiimote AND nunchuck, and keep those from walking away from said demo... and tethering just doesnt sound like a a good idea... if it were just one controller, yeah, it would work, but since you have two seperate pieces, it is an odd dillema. And thats not taking into account florencent lights and wireless devices, as you have just pointed out... or the fact that at walmart you usually have to look up about 80 degrees to see the screen. hmm...
Mike @ Aug 31st 2006 7:32PM
Hey, you guys got through the whole article without calling it a "Wiiosk" -- good job! I've gotten used to the name "Wii", but I still cringe everytime I hear or read "Wiimote".
madcrasher @ Aug 31st 2006 7:11PM
Infrared isn't a problem; bluetooth devices (cell phones, headsets, PS3 controllers, etc.) are. Not to mention that they want to keep people from walking off with the Wii-motes, so using tethered, wired controllers seems like a logical and necessary solution. And the tethers in that picture look pretty long to me.
Spex @ Aug 31st 2006 8:02PM
The interference is a problem that's probably been sorted out for the most part by Nintendo at this point. I'm pretty sure they're aware that other wireless devices could cause issues and have found ways to keep their signal somewhat seperate from the other noise out there. As for Halogen light issues, I beleive that still exsists as a rumour. Unless it's been proven that bluetooth can be affected by this, or the sensor bar elements are thrown off. Again, if it's true, I'm sure Nintendo is gonna do what they can to work around it
Even if neither of these problems are completely solved, they'll find a way to make sure there's minimal interference.
As for room to play, stores will probably just make room for the Wiiosk so customers can try it safely. Also, it wouldn't be a big challege to find a way to "lock" the nunchuck to the Wiimote if needed. However, given the fact that they want to appeal to non-gamers, they will probably demonstrait mostly Wiimote-only games and occassionally switch the controlers with nunchuck attachments locked on.
CJC @ Aug 31st 2006 8:46PM
Tethers are very important. With everybody wanting to use wireless controllers next gen, there is bound to be a fair amount of stealing without them. As long as they aren't too restricting, it should be fine.
Kiggles @ Sep 1st 2006 10:06AM
One thing to note (not that I think anyone was worried about this):
The Wii Console must run EXTREMELY cool if it's in such a form-fitting and small Plastic bubble case with no vents or fans on it. Pretty neat.
DeN @ Sep 3rd 2006 4:05AM
These booths are a stride in a future... I think that they will be very popular by the beauty and unusual thing...
taco @ Sep 2nd 2006 11:56PM
Quote = Kiggles (#7)
**************************
One thing to note (not that I think anyone was worried about this):
The Wii Console must run EXTREMELY cool if it's in such a form-fitting and small Plastic bubble case with no vents or fans on it. Pretty neat.
***************************
The Wii is not without a cooling system.
Visible at the rear of the console is a fan that is almost as wide as the console itself
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/aussie-nintendo/BackofWii.jpg
Judging from this I'd imagine the Wii has a similar setup to the Dreamcast with the GPU and CPU being attached to heat pipes that run to the fan.
And the Dreamcast itself was not exactly under-powered when it launched in 1998 in Japan...
Onto the subject matter - did anyone really think that they would *not* have kiosks with hard wired Wii-motes?
The only surprising thing is the lack of a 16:9 screen in this picture.
game_master @ Sep 4th 2006 9:36PM
I recently read on DSMeet.com that Nintendo may NOT have Wii kiosks in stores at all, because you can't get the true feeling of playing a Wii game in a cramped aisle in a store.