Wii Size and controllers (Split from Call of Duty 3)

[Darren Dirt]

Heat rises.

Vertical heat-producing gadgets = more heat dissipation (sideways and off-the-top).

[Lazybones]

How does the Wii fit into that?  It doesn't.  If you lay it flat, either the slot-load drive has to be pointed into the side of the rack and be unaccesable, or both those little doors with the ports behind have to be pointed into the side and be unaccesable.  When laying flat, only 1 side (the front) should have any type of ports/slots/buttons/etc. on it, as the other 3 sides are likely hidden/covered.  The exception would be the back-side for your output cables, as most people want those hidden.

I don't know why consoles lately have all been supporting this vertical-stand idea, but it does not mesh at all with every other home theater component on the market.

1. The Wii unlike the 360 (Concave top and bottom when sidways) or PS3 (Convex top) is flat on all sites, it should sit on top of  or beside anything in your rack / stand.
2. You can have wireless gamecube controllers... The doors are removable from what I have read.

[Mr. Analog]

With the Wii dimensions being what they are it might even fit on your DVD rack.

[Cova]

1. The Wii unlike the 360 (Concave top and bottom when sidways) or PS3 (Convex top) is flat on all sites, it should sit on top of  or beside anything in your rack / stand.

The 360 has slightly concave top/bottom for appearance, however it doesn't restrict your ability to position it either flat or standing.  In fact the 360 even has a small gyro in it so that it knows how it is possitioned - like a digital camera that automatically changes the screen to wide-mode when you turn the camera sideways, the 360 automatically changes the ring of light so that player 1 is always the top-left, player 2 top-right, etc. whether the console is standing or laying flat.  The PS3 also sits flat just fine, as does the PS2 - having a round top doesn't affect sitting on the flat bottom at all.  My point wasn't that any console should be able to sit on any side, it was that at a minimum they must all lay flat while maintaining full functionality in order to best integrate with other home theater equipment.

2. You can have wireless gamecube controllers... The doors are removable from what I have read.

Removable doors don't help access at all to an expansion port thats deep inside an equipment rack on the side of a piece of equipment.  And forcing consumers to spend extra money for wireless stuff because of poor design sounds like something Sony would say gamers don't mind doing - like playing backwards-compatible things on the PS3 without sound.  And wireless doesn't address the problem of memory cards at all, which would end up even farther back in the equipment rack with the disk-slot forwards, and are commonly moved between consoles as people take their saves/characters to their friends house.

[Mr. Analog]

Actually the more I think about it having a full AV rack already I'd have more problems trying to accomodate something bulky like an XBox (that would certainly need its own rack) than a Wii.


Note: A few things have moved around since this photo was taken (four years ago now), but things are mostly the same.

[Darren Dirt]

My point wasn't that any console should be able to sit on any side, it was that at a minimum they must all lay flat while maintaining full functionality in order to best integrate with other home theater equipment.

2. You can have wireless gamecube controllers... The doors are removable from what I have read.

Removable doors don't help access at all to an expansion port thats deep inside an equipment rack on the side of a piece of equipment.  And forcing consumers to spend extra money for wireless stuff because of poor design sounds like something Sony would say gamers don't mind doing - like playing backwards-compatible things on the PS3 without sound.  And wireless doesn't address the problem of memory cards at all, which would end up even farther back in the equipment rack with the disk-slot forwards, and are commonly moved between consoles as people take their saves/characters to their friends house.

"You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please everybody all of the time." <-- axiom the designers of all 3 gaming consoles had to keep in mind, combined with the Orders From On High.

Methinks most of the current NGC owners, especially those of us with a big library of games, memory card data, and wired controllers, are for the most part *extremely* pleased with the design of the Wii. Some will surely *not* be (possibly for the reasons you mention -- aesthetics and/or geometry) but there are always gonna be folks who switch to a competitor's offering for little or big reasons, so luckily they are free to do so... The rest of us will enjoy the new offering from Nintendo. IMHO YMMV etc. etc.

[Shayne]

Actually the more I think about it having a full AV rack already I'd have more problems trying to accomodate something bulky like an XBox (that would certainly need its own rack) than a Wii.

What are those things on the top?

I notice you have your PS2 upright on the right side, with a little moving you could do the same with the PS3 or 360 on the opposing side.

[Tom]

What are those things on the top?

Take an even closer look, I think the bottom most device is a Beta
actually its hard to tell, might be a laser disk player... But knowing Mr.A, I'm going with Beta.

[Cova]

What are those things on the top?

Take an even closer look, I think the bottom most device is a Beta
actually its hard to tell, might be a laser disk player... But knowing Mr.A, I'm going with Beta.

I'm unsure on the bottom-most device - I'd guess some type of video-tape player, could be Beta, could be VHS, an old one either way.  The top shelf is actually holding 2 devies there - a pair of turn-tables (record players).  And thats another example of stuff not designed for an equipment rack, both those turn-tables will be top-loading, so the lower of the 2 can't be used at all without first lifting the top one off and setting it someplace else, which could be an even bigger problem depending on the amount of slack cable and availability of nearby flat surfaces.  Of the 2 middle (black) devices, I'd guess the top one is the receiver and the lower one is a DVD player.

[Mr. Analog]

Actually the more I think about it having a full AV rack already I'd have more problems trying to accomodate something bulky like an XBox (that would certainly need its own rack) than a Wii.

What are those things on the top?

I notice you have your PS2 upright on the right side, with a little moving you could do the same with the PS3 or 360 on the opposing side.

Well, this was four years ago, I have my PS2 where my old VCR used to be along with my CD changer.

[Mr. Analog]

What are those things on the top?

Take an even closer look, I think the bottom most device is a Beta
actually its hard to tell, might be a laser disk player... But knowing Mr.A, I'm going with Beta.

I'm unsure on the bottom-most device - I'd guess some type of video-tape player, could be Beta, could be VHS, an old one either way.  The top shelf is actually holding 2 devies there - a pair of turn-tables (record players).  And thats another example of stuff not designed for an equipment rack, both those turn-tables will be top-loading, so the lower of the 2 can't be used at all without first lifting the top one off and setting it someplace else, which could be an even bigger problem depending on the amount of slack cable and availability of nearby flat surfaces.  Of the 2 middle (black) devices, I'd guess the top one is the receiver and the lower one is a DVD player.

Uhh, ok, again, picture was taken four years ago (this was when I had to use my spare turntable for a couple of weeks). It works just fine on top. Irregardless, the point is I have this rack full of stuff I use all the time and there would not be any room for an XBox there at all (well, not without removing something else of use). I think the Wii could happily sit where the PS2 appears in this old photo or maybe even share a shelf with the PS2.

[Tom]

Inquiring minds want to know, is that bottom unit a beta player?

[Thorin]

The vertical design of the Wii is more aesthetic than functional; the heat dissipation mechanism works in either direction.  I see Cova's complaint about having the ports on the side if the Wii is set flat; they'd be sticking out the side.  However, the Wii is so slim that most people will be able to stand it up on their TV stand next to their TV, at which point the ports will be on top and access is much easier.  Honestly, the folks who designed the Wii don't expect most people to put it in an AV rack.  My source: http://wii.nintendo.com/iwataasks.jsp (there's a *lot* of reading there).

we had to take into consideration where the console might be placed. Given that TVs nowadays have very little extra space around them ... we really wanted to avoid causing any more clutter around the TV, in terms of shape as well as size. For example, the Nintendo 64 can only fit in a limited number of places because of its many curved faces. One of our major design goals, therefore, was to create a device that can be placed anywhere.

Obviously, wider consoles are less likely to fit inside an entertainment unit right next to the TV, so they're more likely to be placed in an AV rack.

[Mr. Analog]

Inquiring minds want to know, is that bottom unit a beta player?

The old one, yes. I have a lot of Alfred Hitchcock on Beta.

[Melbosa]

LOL at the crazyness of this thread as it has gone on.  Back in the old Atari days, Nintendo years, or even the Sega Saturn times, I would have never thought size mattered so much in deciding on a console.  Today I am no different.  I want the system that gives me the games I want to play, the features I want to use, and the enjoyment I would eventually receive if the first two are met.  Given that, I bought the original XBox with the gigantic controllers, for the my first two reasons, hoping for the last.  And you know what?  I got what I was looking for.

If the Wii does this for you, then get one.  If the PS3 does this for you, then get one.  If the XBox 360 does this for you, then get one.  If a PC does this for you, then get one.  If a ball of string does this for you, then get one.  I don't think anyone would sacrifice the first two reasons on my list for sheer reason of space considerations in your entertainment unit/component stand.  That would just be silly indeed.  As long as your cabling is clean, your equipment complete to your needs, and your entertainment needs met, what does it matter if the thing is as wide as your 40" TV?  Hell don't even need your cabling clean if you wish

Again LOL!