Wii Remote

• 1. Introduction

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  The Wii Remote is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console, nicknamed the Wiimote by players. An early marketing video for the device showed actors miming fishing, cooking, drumming, conducting an ensemble, shooting a gun, sword fighting, and performing dental surgery. Not one of them pressed a button to produce those actions. Motion alone, tracked by an accelerometer and an optical sensor, generated everything shown on screen.

  That kind of pitch raises real questions. What did Nintendo have to give up, and who did it borrow ideas and hardware from along the way? The device that reached store shelves also came with less glamorous baggage. A wrist strap could fail. Counterfeit copies felt cheaper in the hand. And years of courtroom fights followed, over who really owned the idea of pointing at a screen.

• 2. Before It Was Wii

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  Development of a motion-enabled controller began in 2001, the same year work started on the Wii console itself. Nintendo licensed a batch of motion-sensing patents from Gyration Inc, a company known for wireless motion-sensing computer mice. Gyration had already pitched that same technology to both Sony and Microsoft, and each company had declined. Nintendo instead commissioned Gyration to build a one-handed controller. The project became the Gyropod, a traditional gamepad whose right half could break away for motion control.

  Gyration then brought in a separate design firm, Bridge Design, to help pitch the concept to Nintendo. The brief required the team to roughly preserve the existing GameCube button layout. Bridge experimented with different forms, working through sketches, models, and interviews with hardcore gamers. By late 2004 and early 2005, Nintendo had settled on the less traditional wand shape and the design of the Nunchuk attachment. Nintendo had also chosen the motion sensor, the infrared pointer, and the button layout. By the end of 2005, the controller was ready for mass production.

  During development, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto brought in mobile phones and automotive navigation controllers for inspiration. That work produced a prototype that resembled a cell phone. Another version paired an analog stick with a touchscreen, but Nintendo rejected the touchscreen idea. The reasoning was direct: a portable console and a living-room console would have ended up exactly the same. That same touchscreen idea later reappeared on the Wii U's GamePad controller, and again on the Nintendo Switch.

  Other sources suggest the Wii Remote began as a controller meant for the GameCube, not the Wii. Developer Factor 5 said that while building the game Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, it worked with an early motion-sensing controller prototype. IGN journalist Matt Casamassina said he believed Nintendo had planned to release the Wii Remote for the GameCube. He quoted Nintendo as saying it hoped the GameCube could enjoy a longer life cycle through 'top-secret peripherals that would forever enhance the gameplay experience.' Casamassina argued Nintendo might have preferred a new system instead. As he put it, 'Revolution addresses one of the GameCube's biggest drawbacks, which is that it was/is perceived as a toy.'

  Images of that GameCube-era prototype, including its Nunchuk, surfaced online in October 2018, after one of the prototypes appeared in an online auction.

• 3. Shape Over Buttons

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  The Wii Remote measures 147 mm long, 36.2 mm wide, and 30.8 mm thick, closer in scale to a television remote than a gamepad. Its model number, RVL-003, refers back to the project's internal code name, Revolution. Nintendo chose the one-handed remote-control shape instead of a traditional gamepad to make pointing feel natural. The shape was also meant to help the console appeal to a broader audience that includes non-gamers.

  The controller talks to the console over short-range Bluetooth radio, letting up to four Remotes operate at once. That signal reaches as far as 30 feet, or about 10 meters, from the console. Players can hold it in either hand, or turn it sideways to use it like a Famicom or NES pad. In games such as Excite Truck, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Mario Kart Wii, and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, turning it sideways doubles as a steering wheel. Wii Play's Shooting Range game even lets one player hold a Remote in each hand for solo play.

  At E3 2006, Nintendo revised the controller shown earlier at the Game Developers Conference. The body grew slightly longer, and a speaker was added beneath the center row of buttons. The B button became more curved, closer to a trigger. Start and Select were replaced with plus and minus symbols, and the home button's icon changed from a blue dot to a house shape. The four player-indicator LEDs switched from printed numbers to raised dots, echoing the four controller ports on a GameCube. The Nintendo logo on the face was swapped for the Wii logo, and the expansion port was redesigned around a smaller, snap-on connector. Nintendo also added a power button, letting players turn the console itself on or off remotely, which reinforced its resemblance to a television remote.

  Those same blue LEDs double as a battery gauge. Pressing any button other than power lights the LEDs as a battery gauge, as long as the Remote isn't mid-game. Four LEDs mean a full charge, three mean 75 percent, two mean 50 percent, and one means 25 percent remaining. Observers have also pointed out similarities between the Wii Remote and an early Dreamcast controller prototype. At E3 2006, the Red Steel trailer showed a Remote with a smaller circular image sensor, rather than the larger opaque infrared filter seen on other versions. And in the original teaser video from the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, the buttons later called 1 and 2 were instead labeled X and Y.

  As the Wii grew in popularity, counterfeit Wii Remotes began entering circulation. These knockoffs could mimic official functionality, but their build quality typically fell short. Components such as the rumble motor and the speaker were noticeably different from the real thing. Whether official accessories worked correctly with these counterfeit units was never entirely clear.

• 4. A Rainbow Of Remotes

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  At the E3 2006 trade show, Nintendo displayed the controller in white, black, and blue. Press images distributed for the event went further, showing white, red, silver, lime green, and black versions. When the Wii actually launched, both the console and its controllers shipped only in white. Shigeru Miyamoto said other colors would follow once supply allowed it.

  On the 4th of June 2009, Nintendo revealed it would release black versions of the Wii, the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller Pro. These launched in Japan on the 1st of August 2009, and each black Remote came bundled with a matching solid black Jacket. Club Nintendo in Japan ran a contest between the 25th of June and the 31st of August 2009. Anyone who bought and registered a copy of Wii Sports Resort was entered to win one of 5,000 blue controller sets. Each prize set held a Wii Remote, a Wii MotionPlus, and a Nunchuk. All three came in a sky blue shade called Mizuiro, distinct from other blue Remotes on the market.

  For North America, Nintendo announced on the 1st of September 2009 that black versions would arrive that holiday season. The black Wii Remote, bundled with the Wii MotionPlus, went on sale on the 16th of November 2009, while the black Nunchuk sold separately. Blue and pink Remotes reached Japan on the 3rd of December 2009. They arrived in North America on the 14th of February 2010, bundled with a standard white Wii MotionPlus. Australia received the black, blue, and pink Remotes on the 25th of February 2010. A black Nunchuk and a black Wii MotionPlus were released there the same day.

  Late in 2010, Nintendo released the Wii Remote Plus with Wii MotionPlus technology built directly inside. It launched first in the four standard Remote colors, plus a special red variant. That red edition was included with red Wii consoles made to mark the Mario series' 25th anniversary. In the years after, Nintendo kept releasing new Wii Remote Plus color schemes tied to its own game franchises.

  Nintendo confirmed the Wii Remote Plus on the 29th of September 2010, after rumors spread from box art for the game FlingSmash. The device reached Australia on the 28th of October 2010, Europe on the 5th of November 2010, North America on the 7th of November 2010, and Japan on the 11th of November 2010. It was built to compete directly with Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move.

  A golden Wii Remote Plus, themed after The Legend of Zelda, later joined several Mario character editions. The red anniversary Remote Plus also came bundled with Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros. Wii inside the 2010 red Wii package. European copies of Wii Play: Motion included that same red controller, while other regions received a black one instead. Every Wii Mini shipped with a matching red Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk.

  At E3 2011, Nintendo unveiled a gold Wii Remote Plus bearing the Hylian Crest over its speaker, tied to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It shipped as part of a limited bundle with Skyward Sword in November 2011. A matching gold Nunchuk became available to Club Nintendo members for a limited time in August 2012.

  On the 18th of November 2012, alongside the Wii U launch, Nintendo reissued the Wii Remote Plus rebranded for the new console. That version added a second sync button on the battery cover, so players no longer had to remove the cover to sync it. A year later, Nintendo began a run of Mario-character editions, starting with a Mario and Luigi design on the 1st of November 2013 to accompany the Wii U Deluxe set. A Princess Peach edition followed on the 24th of April 2014. Bowser, Toad, and Yoshi versions arrived on the 11th of September and the 16th of October 2015. They tied in to Super Mario Maker and Yoshi's Woolly World, and sold exclusively through GameStop.

  The Nunchuk itself typically came in white or black. Sky blue versions appeared in Japan starting in 2009 as a prize tied to the Wii Sports Resort promotion. Red Nunchuks followed from 2010, bundled with the red Mario anniversary Wii and the Wii Mini. Blue Nunchuks accompanied European Wii Family Edition consoles bundled with Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, released on the 18th of November 2011. A gold Nunchuk was likewise offered to Club Nintendo members for a limited time in 2011, pairing with Skyward Sword's gold Remote Plus. Sky blue Wii MotionPlus units appeared in Japan through that same Wii Sports Resort contest. Black MotionPlus units matched the black Remote bundle released in Europe and North America in November 2009.

  For all these colors and bundles, none of them explain how a piece of plastic figures out exactly where in the room it is pointing.

• 5. Sensing Sound And Memory

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  Inside the casing sits a three-axis accelerometer built from Analog Devices MEMS technology, letting the Remote sense acceleration along three separate directions. A separate PixArt optical sensor tracks exactly where the controller is pointing. Unlike a light gun, which reads light straight off a television screen, the Wii Remote instead reads light from the console's Sensor Bar, model RVL-014. That design keeps pointing accuracy consistent no matter what television is used.

  The Sensor Bar itself runs about 24 centimeters long and holds ten infrared LEDs, five at each end. The outer LEDs angle slightly outward, the inner ones angle slightly inward, and the rest point straight ahead. Its cable stretches 353 centimeters. The bar can sit above or below the television, centered horizontally and in line with the screen's front edge.

  With the Sensor Bar in place, the Wii Remote can point accurately from as far as 5 meters, or about 16 feet, away. The image sensor spots the bar's two clusters of light and measures the distance between them, a value the source material calls mi. Because the physical distance between the two LED clusters, called m, never changes, the Wii's processor can triangulate exactly how far away the Remote is. Rotating the Remote relative to the ground changes the angle between those two points of light, which the system also tracks.

  WarioWare: Smooth Moves uses this same sensor for a microgame built around a champagne bottle: cover the image sensor, and the bottle refuses to pop. The Sensor Bar becomes essential whenever a game moves a cursor or reticle up, down, left, or right, such as aiming at menu options or enemies in a first-person shooter. Some titles, including The Conduit and The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, let players recalibrate the pointer mid-game. Distance calculations from the Sensor Bar also let the Remote control slow forward-backward movement in three-dimensional games, while faster forward-backward motions, like a boxing punch, rely on the accelerometers instead. Those same accelerometers, acting as tilt sensors, can rotate a cursor or an on-screen object too.

  Incandescent bulbs and candles can confuse the infrared sensor, since they emit stray infrared light of their own. Switching to fluorescent or LED lighting largely avoids that problem. Some users have gone further, substituting a pair of flashlights, or even candles, for the Sensor Bar itself. What actually matters is having two fixed points of light for the Remote to calibrate against, since there is no way to set the cursor's position without them. Third-party wireless sensor bars have also appeared, popular among Wii emulator users because the official bar relies on a proprietary connector. The Remote's LEDs, meanwhile, are visible to some digital and phone cameras, since those sensors cover a wider spectrum than the human eye.

  At the 2006 E3 press conference, Nintendo revealed that the Wii Remote carries its own independent speaker on its face. A developer demonstrated it by drawing and firing a bow in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Sound from both the Remote and the television shifted together, giving the impression of an arrow flying away from the player. That speaker can also carry a non-player character's voice, letting characters talk to the player over long distance. Games that use this include Red Steel, Real Heroes: Firefighter, and GoldenEye 007. Some party and hotseat multiplayer games simply use it to signal when a turn changes. Players can adjust or mute the volume through the Home button, and if muted, those sounds instead play from the television. Rumble can likewise be switched on or off from the Home Menu.

  The Wii Remote also holds a 16 kibibyte EEPROM chip, of which 6 kilobytes can be read from and written to by the console. Part of that space stores up to ten Mii avatars, which players can carry over to another Wii console. Before that Mii data, 4,000 bytes remain free for games to use. Pokemon Battle Revolution and Super Swing Golf both use this memory, as does Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which saves controller configuration data directly to the Remote. Monster Hunter Tri saves player profiles the same way, and Pokemon Rumble uses the space to store Pokemon. Carnival Games: Mini Golf and Club Penguin: Game Day! store player avatars there too. Petz: Monkey Madness uses the same space to carry a player's monkey between separate copies of the game.

  Two standard AA alkaline batteries power the Wii Remote, lasting 60 hours if only the accelerometer is active, or 25 hours with both the accelerometer and the pointer running. In May 2013, Nintendo announced a rechargeable battery and dock accessory of its own, alongside various third-party charging solutions already on the market. Nintendo's industrial designer Lance Barr said the expansion port's design made it unsuitable for internal battery charging. Only externally charged nickel-metal hydride batteries are supported. A 3300 microfarad capacitor supplies temporary power during quick movements, when the connection to the batteries can briefly cut out. If left unused for more than five minutes, such as while a player uses a GameCube controller instead, the Remote shuts off. Pressing any button reactivates it.

  That same five-minute shutoff also applied back when the Wii ran a video-on-demand service, since discontinued.

• 6. Snap-On Extras

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  A 400 kHz I2C connector at the bottom of the Wii Remote accepts a range of functional attachments. This design echoes the expansion port used on the Nintendo 64 controller. Nintendo's own female connector accepts any accessory built with a matching male connector. Racing games such as Mario Kart Wii and several Need for Speed titles use this expandability. So do fighting games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and the Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution trilogy. Each offers multiple control schemes to suit different kinds of players.

  Nintendo revealed the Nunchuk, model number RVL-004, at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show as the first Wii Remote attachment. A cord between 1 and 1.2 meters, or roughly 3.5 to 4 feet, connects it to the Remote. Its shape, once attached, resembles the nunchaku weapon, which is where its name comes from. It also echoes the middle handle of the Nintendo 64 controller. Like the Wii's two console predecessors, the Nunchuk carries an analog stick constrained to an octagonal range of motion. It originally had two trigger buttons, changed in a last-minute redesign to one trigger and one button. It works alongside the main controller in many games. Its own three-axis accelerometer, from STMicroelectronics, senses motion and tilt, though it offers no feedback of its own.

  Having a motion sensor in the Nunchuk lets the Wii Remote read gestures from both of a player's hands independently. Wii Sports uses that for its boxing controls, and hack-and-slash games like Prince of Persia: Rival Swords use it for dual-wielded combat. Despite having fewer buttons, the Nunchuk can also serve as its own standalone controller, a trick used by Opoona, Bust-A-Move Bash!, and SpeedZone. That allows two players to share one Wii Remote. It lets Bash! and SpeedZone support five to eight players across the maximum of four Remotes a single console can sync. Only one Nunchuk ships with each Wii console; extra Remote units sold separately don't include one. Its two shoulder buttons, once called Z1 and Z2, were reshaped and renamed sometime after the Game Developers Conference showing. The smaller circular one is now called C, and the larger rectangular one is now called Z. The Nunchuk's body measures 113 mm long, 38 mm wide, and 37 mm thick, with a larger connection port than the Remote's.

  Any microcontroller capable of I2C communication, such as an Arduino's Atmel AVR chip, can connect to a Nunchuk and read its accelerometer, joystick, and button data. A developer known as Todbot built the Wiichuk, an adapter that makes this connection easier on an Arduino board. Wireless Nunchuks, requiring no cord to the Remote, became available from third-party makers in 2008.

  Nintendo introduced the Classic Controller at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, plugging it into the Wii Remote through a cord much like the Nunchuk's. A second version, the Classic Controller Pro, followed the same basic design. Unlike most accessories, the Classic Controller largely takes over the Remote's job, duplicating its buttons on the new controller. The Remote itself becomes little more than a wireless transmitter, though it keeps its pointing functions where a game calls for them. It can still function as a separate, active controller for another player in multiplayer modes of games like Bust-A-Move Bash! and SpeedZone. In shape, it resembles the Super NES controller, sharing its size, its four face buttons, and its directional pad placement. Two analog sticks and two extra shoulder buttons replicate features from the Nintendo GameCube controller. It sees most use with Virtual Console titles, some of which require either it or a GameCube controller. Dozens of native Wii titles support it too, for a more traditional feel.

  The Wii MotionPlus expansion lets the Remote track more complex motion with greater accuracy. It plugs directly into the Remote's expansion port, built with a custom version of the Wii Remote Jacket, and adds about 4 centimeters to the controller's length. Inside sits a tuning fork gyroscope, working alongside the existing accelerometer and Sensor Bar to render motion on screen in real time, according to Nintendo. It sells separately, though it also comes bundled with MotionPlus-compatible games such as Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort and Ubisoft's Red Steel 2.

  The Wii Vitality Sensor, a fingertip pulse oximeter meant to plug into the Remote, never made it to market. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata unveiled it at the company's E3 2009 media briefing on the 2nd of June 2009. According to Nintendo, the device would sense a user's pulse and other bodily signals, then report on the body's 'inner world.' No specific application was announced, though Iwata suggested at the time that games might use it for relaxation. Some in the press compared it to the Bio Sensor, a Nintendo 64 accessory built for Tetris 64 in 1998. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said more details would come at E3 2010, but the device went unmentioned there. He later told GameTrailers that E3 'was not the kind of environment for a game based on relaxation.' Nintendo, he added, was saving news on it for another time. Ubisoft introduced its own pulse oximeter accessory, called Innergy, at that same E3 2010. At E3 2011, Nintendo said more about the Vitality Sensor. Shigeru Miyamoto noted it struggled to perform consistently across different situations, even though it might still see release. On the 5th of July 2013, Iwata confirmed the project's cancellation, citing a lack of broad compatibility. The device had failed to work with about 10 percent of the people it was tested on. He called it narrower in application than Nintendo had originally thought. He left open the possibility of revisiting the idea, once technology could guarantee at least a 99.9 percent success rate.

  The Wii Zapper is a gun-shaped shell that holds both the Remote and the Nunchuk together. Its trigger actuates the Remote's B button, while every other button stays reachable inside the shell. The name nods to the NES Zapper light gun from the Nintendo Entertainment System. Shigeru Miyamoto explained the idea in an interview: 'What we found is that the reason we wanted to have a Zapper is when you hold a Wii Remote, it can be difficult for some people to keep a steady hand. And holding your arm out like that can get your arm somewhat tired.' The Zapper suits most games centered on firearms, including light gun shooters and first- and third-person shooters.

  The Wii Wheel is a steering-wheel-shaped shell built for driving games, letting players steer by tilting the Wii Remote left and right inside it. It first shipped alongside Mario Kart Wii and appeared prominently on that game's packaging.

  Since the Wii's release, third parties have built countless aesthetic, ergonomic, and functional accessories for the Remote. Enthusiasts have also explored new uses for it through Wii homebrew development. A Windows program called GlovePIE lets a Wii Remote emulate a keyboard, mouse, or joystick on a PC. It connects over Bluetooth, and the program BlueSoleil has proven capable of making that link. Two students built driver software connecting a Wii Remote to a Symbian smartphone. Their idea used a phone's TV-out port to stand in for a full game console. Programmer Johnny Lee posted video demos and sample code showing the Remote used for finger tracking. He also used it for low-cost interactive whiteboards and head tracking for desktop virtual reality. Lee presented several of these projects at a TED conference. The WiimoteProject forum grew into a hub for his work and related developments from others. Researchers have studied using the Remote to help fine-tune surgeons' hand motions. At the University of Memphis, researchers used a tool called DarwiinRemote to adapt it for cognitive psychology data collection. Autodesk released a plugin letting the Wii Remote control the orientation of 3D models inside its Design Review software.

  None of it required Nintendo's blessing, and years later Nintendo would answer some of the same ideas officially, with the Switch's own controllers, the Joy-Con.

• 7. Straps And Safety Recalls

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  A wrist strap hangs from the bottom of every Wii Remote, tied with a cow hitch knot, meant to stop the controller from flying loose during play. Every Wii game repeats a safety warning about strap use during its startup sequence, and again near the start of its instruction booklet, even in games that don't use motion controls. That warning is a word-for-word repeat of a standard notice Nintendo established. The same strap restrains the Nunchuk's cord by a hook, slowing any sudden movement if the connector is forcibly pulled loose.

  Despite those repeated warnings, some Wii games are actually played by swinging the Remote in ways a wrist strap would hinder, including Let's Tap, most House Party games in Wii Party, and the Treasure Twirl game in Wii Play Motion. Those titles specifically instruct players, both on screen and in the instruction booklet, to play without the strap attached.

  IGN reported that the strap tended to break under heavy use, risking the Remote flying out of a player's hand. WarioWare: Smooth Moves sometimes required players to actually drop the Remote, raising the stakes if a strap failed. Nintendo responded by posting guidelines for proper use of both the strap and the Remote itself.

  Units with thicker straps began appearing in some regions on the 8th of December 2006. A week later, on the 15th of December 2006, Nintendo publicly denied there was any wrist strap recall underway. Even so, the company replaced broken straps free of charge, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission became involved in that replacement program. The original strap, 0.6 mm in diameter, was replaced by a larger 1.0 mm version. Nintendo's online 'Wrist Strap Replacement Request Form' let owners request up to four free straps by supplying a Wii serial number and shipping details.

  A newer strap design appeared on the 3rd of August 2007, replacing the old movable slide with a lock clip meant to keep the strap from loosening during long play sessions. That lock clip version became the standard going forward. When the Wii U launched, the strap was updated once more, so players could reach the sync button through new jackets and battery covers.

  Nintendo announced a free accessory, the Wii Remote Jacket, on the 1st of October 2007. This removable silicone sleeve wraps around the Remote for a better grip, and cushions it if dropped. Nintendo began including the Jacket with every controller starting on the 15th of October 2007. The standard safety Jacket is usually translucent, though black Wii Remotes and red Wii Remote Plus units came with a matching-colored Jacket instead. The original Wii MotionPlus also ships with a built-in safety jacket that, according to Nintendo, is unsafe to remove.

  Within days of that December 2006 recall denial, a law firm would take Nintendo to court over the very same straps.

• 8. Verdicts And Lawsuits

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  At its first public showing, at E3 in 2006, the Wii Remote's control style drew praise from the crowd. Once the console launched, press coverage began scrutinizing how well that control style actually worked in practice.

  IGN UK's Matt Wales singled out the precision of the shooting game Red Steel, writing that 'taking down swathes of enemies with nothing more than a twitch of the wrist proves immensely satisfying and, more importantly, incredibly involving.' Nintendo Power called the Remote an innovative controller, crediting it with several firsts: the first motion control, the first built-in speaker, and the first infrared pointer. That claim wasn't quite accurate. The first video game controller with motion sensitivity was actually Le Stick, made by Datasoft Inc. for the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, released in 1981.

  GameSpot found that some motions in Cooking Mama: Cook Off failed to register correctly, an issue echoed in other launch-window titles. Computer and Video Games was blunter, writing that 'the first batch of games... do a better job at exposing the obstacles of full motion control, rather than the benefits.' The same review called Need For Speed Carbon 'near unplayable,' said Far Cry 'got it all wrong,' and described the motion control in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as feeling 'tacked on.'

  Joystiq summed up the wider situation bluntly: 'Over the months since launch, the unpredictable Wii Remote has led to a maddening dichotomy. Some games are too easy, while others are too hard, for all the wrong reasons... Gamers who crave a deeper challenge have to settle for battling incomprehensible controls.' Critics largely blamed developers' inexperience with the new hardware rather than the hardware itself. Electronic Gaming Monthly's Jeremy Parish compared this early rollout to the early days of the Nintendo DS. IGN's Matt Casamassina likewise argued the first wave of Wii games was experimental, with plenty of room left for refinement.

  Game Informer's Matthew Kato reviewed Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 and found the controller 'has a hard time detecting your backswing,' adding, 'there were even times the game putted for me by accident.' A GamePro review of Medal of Honor: Vanguard struck a different note, calling it 'an encouraging sign that developers are finally starting to work out the kinks and quirks of the Wii Remote.'

  Metroid Prime 3: Corruption drew near-universal praise for a control scheme critics considered unmatched by any other console game. It used the Nunchuk for strafing and the Remote's infrared pointer for turning and for special gestures used to select visors. Other Nintendo titles took a simpler route. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree relied mostly on the pointer and buttons. Super Paper Mario used a sideways grip resembling an NES controller, downplaying the Remote's more advanced tricks.

  Commercially, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combined sold more than 8.5 million units in the United States, taking the top two spots in video game accessory sales in 2006. In January 2008, the Nunchuk alone was the best-selling piece of video game hardware in the US that month, moving 375,000 units, while the Wii itself was the best-selling console with 274,000 units sold. According to Nintendo's Shinya Takahashi, player feedback about the Remote's size, and requests to shrink its form factor, fed directly into the design of the Nintendo Switch, a console small enough to double as a portable with smaller controllers of its own.

  Interlink Electronics filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nintendo in December 2006, over the Wii Remote's pointing functionality, claiming losses from 'reasonable royalties, reduced sales and/or lost profits.' That case was terminated in March 2007. Hillcrest Laboratories filed a complaint against Nintendo with the U.S. International Trade Commission on the 19th of August 2008, alleging the Remote infringed three of its patents, plus a fourth covering graphical television interfaces. Hillcrest sought a ban on Wii consoles entering the United States. Nintendo and Hillcrest reached a settlement on the 24th of August 2009, though neither side disclosed the terms.

  In September 2011, ThinkOptics sued Nintendo in the Eastern District of Texas over its own motion controller, the Wavit Remote. It claimed the Wii Remote violated patents behind a 'handheld vision based absolute pointing system,' and argued the Wii U infringed the same patents. ThinkOptics sought an injunction, royalties, attorney's fees, and damages for lost profits. The company dismissed its own lawsuit in August 2014.

  Starting in December 2012, iLife Technologies began suing companies, mostly in the medical field, over patents covering ways to evaluate a body's movement relative to its environment. It sued Nintendo in December 2013 over the Wii Remote, seeking $144 million in damages based on a $4 fine for every Wii unit sold to date. A jury sided with iLife in August 2017, and Nintendo was ordered to pay damages. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld that verdict in December 2017. In January 2020, though, a federal court overturned the judgment, ruling that iLife's patent was too broad.

  That law firm was Green Welling LLP, which filed a class action over the Remote's 'defective wrist straps' in mid-December 2006. Nintendo issued a product recall days later and released an improved strap, and the lawsuit was eventually dropped. A second class action followed in December 2008, filed by a mother in Colorado who argued the updated straps were still ineffective. That case was dismissed by September 2010, when a court found Nintendo hadn't knowingly sold faulty straps under Colorado's consumer protection laws.

  Back in 2000, Miami-based Fobis Technologies trademarked the name 'Weemote' for a TV remote it designed for young children. Though spelled differently, 'Weemote' sounds identical to 'Wiimote,' the unofficial nickname for the Wii Remote. Fobis said Weemote sales, under one million by 2008, had suffered from confusion with the Wiimote, and called this trademark infringement. Nintendo, notably, never actually used the term 'Wiimote' in its own marketing, even though many retailers did. Fobis sent up to 100 cease-and-desist letters to retailers, and offered to sell Nintendo the trademark outright. Nintendo declined, stating it 'does not use and does not plan to use the Weemote trademark.'

  Nintendo's own attempt to trademark 'Wii Remote' hit a snag after it filed the application in March 2008. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office initially rejected it, arguing the word 'remote' was too common to trademark on its own. The office agreed to accept the filing only if Nintendo disclaimed exclusive rights to the word 'remote' and confirmed that 'Wii' would always precede it in marketing and manuals. The USPTO accepted the 'Wii Remote' trademark in July 2012. The controller would go on to outlive its own console in one sense: the Wii U supported the Wii Remote and its peripherals in any game that didn't specifically require the GamePad's own features.