Brian's Brain

One of the most intriguing aspects of Nintendo's Wii, to me, is that the console's wireless controller is Bluetooth-based and therefore amenable to beyond-the-console applications. The hacking community has been up to the challenge, in spite of a lack of documentation or other support from Nintendo. Check out, for example, Remote Buddy and open-source DarwiinRemote for Mac OS X, or GlovePIE (and scripts for it) and WiinRemote for Windows. WiiLi lists other Wiimote drivers (including ones for Linux), and you can find other interesting hacks at the aptly-named WiiHacks.com, or check out any of the links at this Google search results page.

If you're interested in personally adapting the Wii controller to another application, either for profit or pure fun, you'll also need an infrared sensor bar to enable the controller to orient itself in 3D space. The sensor bar that comes with the hard-to-find and expensive console is Wii-specific with respect to its power connection. Instead, I'd suggest you pick up the battery-operated sensor bar from Nyko that I last wrote about back in late March. And thanks to a Dealnews RSS feed heads-up I just received, I'm able to pass along to you that Amazon's currently running a one-day $14.99 sale on the device.