4 ms·

Using Wii Fit to cruise around Google Earth

12 points by pbnaidu 18y ago

TrevorJ 18y ago
Nintendo is really cool in my book, if only for all the great hacker ideas they have spawned with the wii controllers.
bprater 18y ago
Would be more cool if leaning rotated instead of just moving left or right.
SwellJoe 18y ago
We just got the Wii Fit yesterday (great job, Amazon, on that whole "pre-order" thing, getting it to us only a week after release), and it's made of awesome. It suffers a bit from some of the same problems as the Wii-mote--it doesn't quite behave the way it seems like it should, and the further from your feet the body part it tries to measure is the less well it works (the heading soccer balls game is a bit frustrating, because it just doesn't respond very well), but the skiing stuff is great and very responsive. The girlfriend also likes the hula hoop game. Now that I think of it, I like the hula hoop game, too...not so much playing it myself, though. Anyway, the wide array of controller options makes me want to write software for the Wii. A live music performance system would be wonderful with a Wii-mote, a nunchuk, and the balance board. I'm a little giddy just thinking about it. Might be a good time to learn one of those new-fangled music languages...maybe I'll drink the Lisp Kool-aid and go with CLM.
- rms 18y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Music
  - SwellJoe 18y ago
    Looks cool...but not exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking actual tools for producing real original music. I'm the kinda guy that loves tinkering with analog synths, odd analog drum machines, acoustic instruments of many types, old amplifiers and effects devices, recording gear. I've owned and played some lovely and bizarre stuff...Chapman Stick, Synsonics Drums, accordion, banjo...as well as normal stuff. I just think there's an amazing amount of fun one could have with entirely novel input devices like the balance board and Wii-mote. But I'll definitely be buying Wii Music.
    - rms 18y ago
      You should check out the prequels to Guitar Hero, Frequency and Amplitude for PS2. They had gameplay similar to guitar hero only you played on a controller and you switched between tracks of music with the d-pad. They also had a remix mode where you could actually make new remixes of the new music. The gameplay from that remix mode could be greatly enhanced with the Wii controllers... you only get 3 discrete notes/pitches in each track in the Frequency remix mode. They didn't have a remix mode in Guitar Hero so they could license more music, but it was a really innovative feature that hasn't yet been replicated in gaming. I played the drums a lot in high school; I'd love to spend a lot of time making music after making it with a startup.
      - SwellJoe 18y ago
        "you only get 3 discrete notes/pitches in each track in the Frequency remix mode" Yeah...see that pretty much breaks the idea for me. If I can't possibly hit a "wrong" note, then I might as well not play any note. (I have a pretty heavily jazz-tinged musical education. There are some things that rub me the wrong way. I'm even a little suspicious of diatonic harmonicas.)
- rms 18y ago
  Also, I got a Wii Fit, but I got it just to sell on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320257429171 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=32025...). Sorry about that delayed preorder...
brandonkm 18y ago
This is awesome, wii fit just dropped and someone has already taken it to the next level. Very cool manipulation of the wii, interested to see whats next.

12 points by pbnaidu 18y ago

TrevorJ 18y ago

Nintendo is really cool in my book, if only for all the great hacker ideas they have spawned with the wii controllers.

bprater 18y ago

Would be more cool if leaning rotated instead of just moving left or right.

SwellJoe 18y ago

We just got the Wii Fit yesterday (great job, Amazon, on that whole "pre-order" thing, getting it to us only a week after release), and it's made of awesome. It suffers a bit from some of the same problems as the Wii-mote--it doesn't quite behave the way it seems like it should, and the further from your feet the body part it tries to measure is the less well it works (the heading soccer balls game is a bit frustrating, because it just doesn't respond very well), but the skiing stuff is great and very responsive. The girlfriend also likes the hula hoop game. Now that I think of it, I like the hula hoop game, too...not so much playing it myself, though. Anyway, the wide array of controller options makes me want to write software for the Wii. A live music performance system would be wonderful with a Wii-mote, a nunchuk, and the balance board. I'm a little giddy just thinking about it. Might be a good time to learn one of those new-fangled music languages...maybe I'll drink the Lisp Kool-aid and go with CLM.

rms 18y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Music
- SwellJoe 18y ago
  Looks cool...but not exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking actual tools for producing real original music. I'm the kinda guy that loves tinkering with analog synths, odd analog drum machines, acoustic instruments of many types, old amplifiers and effects devices, recording gear. I've owned and played some lovely and bizarre stuff...Chapman Stick, Synsonics Drums, accordion, banjo...as well as normal stuff. I just think there's an amazing amount of fun one could have with entirely novel input devices like the balance board and Wii-mote. But I'll definitely be buying Wii Music.
  - rms 18y ago
    You should check out the prequels to Guitar Hero, Frequency and Amplitude for PS2. They had gameplay similar to guitar hero only you played on a controller and you switched between tracks of music with the d-pad. They also had a remix mode where you could actually make new remixes of the new music. The gameplay from that remix mode could be greatly enhanced with the Wii controllers... you only get 3 discrete notes/pitches in each track in the Frequency remix mode. They didn't have a remix mode in Guitar Hero so they could license more music, but it was a really innovative feature that hasn't yet been replicated in gaming. I played the drums a lot in high school; I'd love to spend a lot of time making music after making it with a startup.
    - SwellJoe 18y ago
      "you only get 3 discrete notes/pitches in each track in the Frequency remix mode" Yeah...see that pretty much breaks the idea for me. If I can't possibly hit a "wrong" note, then I might as well not play any note. (I have a pretty heavily jazz-tinged musical education. There are some things that rub me the wrong way. I'm even a little suspicious of diatonic harmonicas.)
rms 18y ago
Also, I got a Wii Fit, but I got it just to sell on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320257429171 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=32025...). Sorry about that delayed preorder...

brandonkm 18y ago

This is awesome, wii fit just dropped and someone has already taken it to the next level. Very cool manipulation of the wii, interested to see whats next.