I was browsing the usual video game news sites when I came across this informative 2.5 minute video:
I thought that there must be something unexpected about the Wii Sensor Bar when I found out it was only $10 US on the Nintendo Store. Just for the hell of it, I tried this out myself. My method was a little different; I used my One For All URC-9910 and its RF Link box, and It worked rather nicely. I just put my remote and the RF Link box side by side, aimed my Wii remote between the two, held down the CH+ button, and I got a shaky but workable cursor. This is a great thing for those of you who have a broken sensor bar. With some games that don’t depend on the cursor, such as Wii Sports, once you get past the Wii menu, you don’t need the Sensor Bar at all. Still, do get Nintendo to replace your Sensor Bar if it is broken, but use this trick while you are waiting for Nintendo to send you a replacement, and you won’t have to suffer through Wii withdrawal.
One extra little note for those of you who don’t have a deep understanding of how infrared technology works. Any remote should work. (TV, VCR, stereo, etc.) Just make sure it has a little bulb on the front of the remote, and that bulb is facing the Wii Remote. If you don’t hold down buttons that repeat on your remotes, you will have to rapidly press the buttons you are holding on the remotes for the Wii Remote to recognize your remotes. For most remotes, the best buttons to use are the channel +/- and the Vol +/- keys. There are two ways to tell if a button repeats. If your remote has a LED that glows when you hold down a button, try holding down a key. If the LED on your remote glows until you release that button, then you should be pressing a button that repeats. Another way is to use the remote with the device it works with. Press and hold down a button on the remote. If the operation that button triggers keeps occurring as you hold down the button (i.e. holding down the next track button, and your CD player keeps skipping tracks), then you have found a button that repeats.
As the video says, for those of you who are tech savvy, it shouldn’t be hard to create your own Sensor Bar.
November 24, 2006 at 8:56 am
THANKS – I ran my son’s sensor bar wire over with a vacuum.. and he’s now able to play while I go and wait for a new sensor bar.. I’m not sure how it all works.. but it does!
November 26, 2006 at 12:38 am
I am always glad to help. Don’t give me too much credit, though. I only posted what someone else discovered.
December 4, 2006 at 2:42 am
[...] I unplugged my sensor bar during my testing, so this will definitely work for you if you do have the Classic Controller. It is a little quirky, though. For example, sometimes it would let me use the Classic Controller to select options in the Home Button menu, and sometimes it would not. I tried plugging GameCube controllers into every port, and sadly, that would not work to move the pointer. So, if your sensor bar is busted and you have the classic controller, great! You will be able to use most functions while you wait for a replacement sensor bar. If not, oh well, the other solution works at least well enough for you to get into the disc channel to play games. [...]