Dangit, I Jumped!
April 12, 2007 3:45 PM Subscribe
Why does my Wii Remote have a slightly delayed response?
My wife first pointed it out when we were playing Super Mario World on the Virtual Console. I told her she was crazy and that's just the way the game played, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I just couldn't jump when I wanted to.
Then I had a friend of mine who also has a wii play Wii tennis with me, and he immediately sensed a "weirdness" to the controls. I thought he was just bitter for losing, but when I played the same game on his system, it was way better.
Of course, I could be going crazy. Any idea what could be causing this problem? The batteries are showing as full, so it can't be that.
My wife first pointed it out when we were playing Super Mario World on the Virtual Console. I told her she was crazy and that's just the way the game played, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I just couldn't jump when I wanted to.
Then I had a friend of mine who also has a wii play Wii tennis with me, and he immediately sensed a "weirdness" to the controls. I thought he was just bitter for losing, but when I played the same game on his system, it was way better.
Of course, I could be going crazy. Any idea what could be causing this problem? The batteries are showing as full, so it can't be that.
Are there any other Bluetooth devices within range? That might include cel phones; make sure to disable Bluetooth on those while you play. It could help.
Have you tried different Wiimotes on the same Wii console? If they have "better" response times then you definitely could have a faulty one...
posted by jozxyqk at 4:16 PM on April 12, 2007
Have you tried different Wiimotes on the same Wii console? If they have "better" response times then you definitely could have a faulty one...
posted by jozxyqk at 4:16 PM on April 12, 2007
Its probably either interference or your batteries no good. Try moving your Wii to a difference position to see if that helps. Also use good quality high-current batteries in the Wiimote, I find that cheap batteries go half-flat almost straight away and sometimes the Wii won't notice.
I second the idea of trying your friend's wiimote on your Wii, you could also try taking your wiimote to his house, that will at least narrow down where the problem is.
posted by AndrewStephens at 4:34 PM on April 12, 2007
I second the idea of trying your friend's wiimote on your Wii, you could also try taking your wiimote to his house, that will at least narrow down where the problem is.
posted by AndrewStephens at 4:34 PM on April 12, 2007
If you have an HDTV the problem is probably lag caused by scaling the Wii's 480p image to your TV's native resolution. This is a common issue.
Some HDTVs have a game mode that reduces the lag a little bit. If for whatever reason you're running the Wii at 480i instead of 480p, switch to 480p and that will help a lot. This is in the Wii's system menu under "video settings/resolution". (You need to buy a component video cable to do this, but the improvement in image quality makes it more than worth it.)
See here for more information.
posted by zixyer at 4:46 PM on April 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
Some HDTVs have a game mode that reduces the lag a little bit. If for whatever reason you're running the Wii at 480i instead of 480p, switch to 480p and that will help a lot. This is in the Wii's system menu under "video settings/resolution". (You need to buy a component video cable to do this, but the improvement in image quality makes it more than worth it.)
See here for more information.
posted by zixyer at 4:46 PM on April 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
Some HDTVs have a game mode that reduces the lag a little bit.
And some games (well, PS2 Guitar Hero 2, anyway) have individual settings to adjust the lag. Can't speak to the Wii ones, though.
posted by box at 4:52 PM on April 12, 2007
And some games (well, PS2 Guitar Hero 2, anyway) have individual settings to adjust the lag. Can't speak to the Wii ones, though.
posted by box at 4:52 PM on April 12, 2007
On the interference note, I have a 12" PowerBook that unscientifically seems to cause problems when it's open. While the bluetooth is disabled on the laptop, the Wiimote is really jerky if the laptop is open. Presumably there may be interference from the brightness of the screen or something, but I just know that when I close the laptop the Wiimote works a lot better. Could also be some wifi wonkiness as well, but that's in the air regardless of whether the laptop is using it or not.
posted by rhizome at 4:57 PM on April 12, 2007
posted by rhizome at 4:57 PM on April 12, 2007
wii games often have a bit of a buffer to eliminate some of the jitter inherent in this sort of inexpensive motion tracking hardware. This must be over come before your motions will effect the game so it can cause a bit of noticeable lag in the controller's responsiveness.
As other's have said flatpanel tvs can be a bit laggy on the image refresh so that can cause problems too.
posted by subtle_squid at 5:48 PM on April 12, 2007
As other's have said flatpanel tvs can be a bit laggy on the image refresh so that can cause problems too.
posted by subtle_squid at 5:48 PM on April 12, 2007
The motion tracking buffer wouldn't affect Super Mario World as described in the question.
rhizome, Is your Powerbook sitting in the Wii remote's field of view? That could interfere with the sensor bar readings. The sensor bar is really just two groups of infrared lights. The Wii remote includes a camera that it uses to see where the sensor bar is -- that's how it achieves the pointing function. If there's another source of IR light, it can confuse the Wii remote. I know that Christmas trees can cause this problem, but I hadn't heard anything about laptops.
posted by zixyer at 6:28 PM on April 12, 2007
rhizome, Is your Powerbook sitting in the Wii remote's field of view? That could interfere with the sensor bar readings. The sensor bar is really just two groups of infrared lights. The Wii remote includes a camera that it uses to see where the sensor bar is -- that's how it achieves the pointing function. If there's another source of IR light, it can confuse the Wii remote. I know that Christmas trees can cause this problem, but I hadn't heard anything about laptops.
posted by zixyer at 6:28 PM on April 12, 2007
If you're using the wireless controller, it could be because you're wireless - that will cause some small level of delay, and the old games might not be prepared to handle that. Try using a Gamecube controller or the specific Wii classic controller.
posted by lubujackson at 6:55 PM on April 12, 2007
posted by lubujackson at 6:55 PM on April 12, 2007
lubujackson: "it could be because you're wireless... Try using ... the specific Wii classic controller."
The classic controller is wireless. It plugs into the Wii remote, not the Wii itself.
posted by robcorr at 7:17 PM on April 12, 2007
The classic controller is wireless. It plugs into the Wii remote, not the Wii itself.
posted by robcorr at 7:17 PM on April 12, 2007
I'd vote for interference.
Either that, or you're like many of us, and you just think you jumped at the right time.
posted by Netzapper at 7:34 PM on April 12, 2007
Either that, or you're like many of us, and you just think you jumped at the right time.
posted by Netzapper at 7:34 PM on April 12, 2007
I've found that there's some jumpiness and slight delays if the bar on the top of my television isn't directly in front of the Wiimote. If it's at an angle, it doesn't work as well. Of course, interference could be the problem as well, but try adjusting the position of the bar whatzit that comes with the Wii.
posted by bedhead at 11:41 PM on April 12, 2007
posted by bedhead at 11:41 PM on April 12, 2007
Are there any lights that shine at an angle directly at the sensor bar? They could be interfering. I'd second the suggestion to move the bar from above the tv to below (or vice versa) and see what happens.
That, or the batteries.
posted by inigo2 at 7:04 AM on April 13, 2007
That, or the batteries.
posted by inigo2 at 7:04 AM on April 13, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zixyer at 4:03 PM on April 12, 2007