My Wiimote, My Muse: Top Five Wiimote Inspirations

Inspiration is often found in the most unexpected places: a passing cloud, an insightful conversation over coffee, or maybe in a pile of mashed potatoes. But a video game controller?

Even before its official release, the Wiimote caught the eye of the gaming industry for its unique design and interactivity. But it also stirred the collective imagination of gamers everywhere. Whether to enhance game play, poke fun, or to show off some truly amazing ideas, the gears have been turning since. To honor these musings, good or bad, here are my top five Wiimote inspirations.

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5) Ridiculous Accessories:
Given the trigger-like placement of the B button, a Zapper-inspired reincarnation (a la Duck Hunt) was inevitable. Additionally, the Wii has it’s share of controller gloves and rechargeable batteries, but the add-ons don’t stop there. Various iterations of sports equipment, swords, steering wheels, fishing rods, and even frying pans have all since been released, boasting sometimes ridiculous promises as to how they will enhance your game.

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4) “Wii-ner” Jokes
I’m sure it wasn’t Shigeru Miyamoto’s intention, but it’s hard to ignore the funny phallus-ness of our beloved Wiimote. Intense matches in some micro-game based titles like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves and Marty Party 8 often place you amongst friends, simulating gestures that seem to inevitably bring about quiet snickering. And mercy to the winner; the person who obviously spends “too much time alone.”
The Wiimote “controller condom” did little to squelch the innuendos, either.

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3) The “Virtual Whiteboard”

Less about gaming and more about productivity, Johnny Chung Lee’s unconventional use of the Wiimote allowed him to create the “virtual white board;” a multi-point interactive virtual surface that can be used almost anywhere. The cool factor: at a fraction of the cost, schools around the world have gained a valuable teaching tool.

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2) Wiispray
Originally a college thesis project, Martin Lihs’ Wiispray mod has garnered much attention from the gaming community. Discussion however seems to gravitate towards its application for graffiti-themed games such as Jet Set Radio and Marc Ecko’s Getting Up; a sorely misappropriated use of such potential. Lihs’ expanded idea is for gamers and artists to use the Wiispray to create art and share it with the world. And while currently limited to the PC, it certainly is deserving of its own Wii Channel.

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1) Headtracking

Johnny Lee’s techno-wizardry makes a second appearance topping this list, with a “blow-your-mind” inspiration for gaming. By merely reversing the positions of the Wiimote and the sensor bar, he created head-tracking for the Wii. Essentially turning your TV into a virtual window, which allows you to see behind objects as well as more of the environment. Game developers, such as EA, have taken notice of the fact that, with this technology, it could mean that gamers may no longer be restricted by the flat, 2D surface of games played on TVs. In the future, dodging bullets in a first-person shooter may prove to be more of a workout than you can get on a WiiFit.