Hardware lets talk about the Wii Mini

superspudz2000 · Nov 22, 2014

so last weekend i went and bought a Wii Mini. and i have to say, it was one of the best purchases i have ever made. it all looks absolutely beautiful, red controller is a welcome change from the boring white standard wiimote, and the console actually looks like a real retro top loading console like Dreamcast or PSone.

its incredible value. Mario Kart + OEM Wii motion plus controller + OEM Nunchuck + OEM power adapter + OEM AV cable + Rubber skin + sensor bar, and 100 club nintendo coins...all the extras alone would run you close to $80 at least. so you are basically getting the gimped Wii Console for $20!. where else are you going to get ANY console for $20. you cant even buy an old beat up SNES for $20.

but even the gimped wii can be put to good use.

1. Project box. maybe fit a Mini ITX motherboard in the case. maybe stuff a SNES Mini, or PSone Slim in it.

2. guts for a Portable Wii. would be perfect to portabilize, smaller board, all the bulky unnecessary bits allready removed, its Composite video anyway, and best of all it doesn't matter if you screw up because at least you didn't ruin a hackable wii.

3. replacement Laser Lens for your Old Wii that won't read disc's anymore.

------

also, don't listen to the reviews, they are WAY OFF.

Online - doesn't even exist anymore.
GC - removed from later Wii's anyway. (buy a real GC).
Composite video - difference is negligible, Composite is more widely recognized standard anyway.
Price of a used Wii - Used Wii's have worn out lasers that fail in 5-6 years. also Youtube "Wii cockroaches".
No SD slot - no real use other than CFW and Homebrew as many game saves cant be copied to SD anyway. and i can respect Nintendo's decision. they have their policy on unlicensed modifications, its understandable.
cheap "feel" - this has to be the worst complaint. how often do you "feel" your game consoles? it sits on a shelf until you put the game in. it docent need to be encased in sold titanium, it only has to look nice and hold the "guts" together. and as designs go, its a lot nicer looking than some ultra-modern avant-garde style white cube, sitting upright at an irregular angle.

superspudz2000 · Nov 22, 2014

dd

are you thinking what im thinking?

Black controller with Red buttons, an NES Wiimote. all you need is grey lines to go in the middle and it would make a perfect NES controller design.

trumpet-205 · Nov 22, 2014

Lack of component video is an absolute deal breaker to me. No component output means no progressive output. I'd take progressive over interlace all day long.

The only good thing Wii Mini has going for is the appearance. Other than that nothing.

superspudz2000 · Nov 22, 2014

no reason you can't have both. have the Mini as your backup, and you can use the nice Red controller on your original Wii.

a lot of people have an old CRT Tube TV lying around in the spare bedroom, or in the rumpus room. this would make a perfect backup unit.

trumpet-205 · Nov 22, 2014

superspudz2000 said:
no reason you can't have both. have the Mini as your backup, and you can use the nice Red controller on your origional Wii.

I'm a black controller person.

DinohScene · Nov 22, 2014

>mfw traded a 40 quid GFX card for a boot1 vulnerable Wii + mote/chuck + cables back in 2011.

Welp, congratz with the purchase.

superspudz2000 · Nov 22, 2014

trumpet-205 said:
I'm a black controller person.

you have to see it in person. its like a shiny red M&M, you just want to eat it up.

superspudz2000 · Nov 22, 2014

the Black Wii was ok, but the new Mini design is defiantly WAY better then the Launch Wii.

the old wii design looks like some towering monolith from the 1982 movie TRON. like some Ultra-Modern art piece a Hipster would have on display in their Loft.

Walker D · Nov 26, 2014

trumpet-205 said:
Lack of component video is an absolute deal breaker to me. No component output means no progressive output.

Yup.. Interlaced is one video mode that afaik has no pros.. It has a slower process to display video images and its fields when refreshing make moving objects look like crap

lukands · Nov 26, 2014

I was thinking something similar to he OP, pick it up cheap and just part it out for extra/spare parts if need be.

Can the laser be taken out of the mini and dropped into a old wii?

bowser · Nov 26, 2014

superspudz2000 said:
the old wii design looks like some towering monolith from the 1982 movie TRON. like some Ultra-Modern art piece a Hipster would have on display in their Loft.

I always thought it looked like one of those trains from Half-Life 2.

superspudz2000 · Nov 27, 2014

bowser said:
I always thought it looked like one of those trains from Half-Life 2.

not exactly half life, i know, but its the best i could come up with.

lukands said:
I was thinking something similar to he OP, pick it up cheap and just part it out for extra/spare parts if need be.

Can the laser be taken out of the mini and dropped into a old wii?

i couldn't get an answer anywhere weather the ribbon cable on both drives are at least physically compatible. the entire drive assembly defiantly wont fit space wise being slot loading vs top loading. but i imagine the actual laser lens should be interchangeable.

Walker D said:
Yup.. Interlaced is one video mode that afaik has no pros.. It has a slower process to display video images and its fields when refreshing make moving objects look like crap

480p, or 480i. the actual resolution is the same, Wii can only ever output 480 resolution. and the games were designed to be low resolution.

im not going to lie and say there is no difference, obviously Component is better than Composite, but will it really make a huge difference for most Wii games, not really. So your cell shaded graphics of zelda or mario don't look as sharp, big deal.

actually i found Component to have Jaggies along all the edges. i kind of prefer Composite, it smoothes out the image and makes the imperfections less noticeable. but you have to adjust your TV settings to make it look right on an HDTV.

gypsynimrod · Nov 27, 2014

The Wii Mini is worse in literally every way with the exception of the console design.

stomp_442 · Nov 27, 2014

The red wiimote is nothing new. I bought one of these back in 2010, for $125 new at retail. That's $25 more than the Wii mini, and it has all the stuff the Wii mini is missing. Last time I checked there were still some online games working too.

Walker D · Nov 27, 2014

superspudz2000 said:
480p, or 480i. the actual resolution is the same. and the games were designed to be low resolution.

actually i found Component to have Jaggies along all the edges. i kind of prefer Composite, it smoothes out the image and makes the imperfections less noticeable. but you have to adjust your TV settings to make it look right on an HDTV.

What I pointed out was that this is mainly the worst part of interlaced:

And no ..Wii and GC era games were not designed to look that crappy. And it'll happen if you go 480i.
But don't take me wrong though ...I'm actually OK-ish about it, since I mainly use interlaced image on my console games for practical reasons. I'm just pointing the reality, so the talk doesn't gets too dreamy.

superspudz2000 · Nov 28, 2014

SickPuppy said:
The red wiimote is nothing new. I bought one of these back in 2010, for $125 new at retail. That's $25 more than the Wii mini, and it has all the stuff the Wii mini is missing. Last time I checked there were still some online games working too.

i imagine everybody who wanted a Wii for homebrew or gamecube has already bought one years ago. buying a Mini at this point would basically be either as a sealed collectible, possibly to resell in the future, or as a spare console for the basement CRT, in the RV when camping, or a babysitting tool.

its more like spending $250, as opposed to $224, for something little johnny will destroy in a week anyway.

also i thought Nintendo shut down all the online servers a while back. pretty sure the only things still up are paid DLC, like MegaMan 10.

Walker D said:
What I pointed out was that this is mainly the worst part of interlaced:

And no ..Wii and GC era games were not designed to look that crappy. And it'll happen if you go 480i.
But don't take me wrong though ...I'm actually OK-ish about it, since I mainly use interlaced image on my console games for practical reasons. I'm just pointing the reality, so the talk doesn't gets too dreamy.

this is probably a decent comparison shot even though its a gamecube game. the Component definitely does look cleaner and sharper with more detail, but even though Component is far superior, its still somewhat of a trade off. the extra detail of Component will show jagged, rough edges more noticeably.

this is closer to what im talking about

for very simple geometric shapes and cell shaded graphics, the rough edges are more apparent. But for more graphically complex games like call of duty or need for speed Component is defiantly the way to go.

also i'm wondering if S-Video makes any sort of a difference, or if S-Video even works on the Mini?

trumpet-205 · Nov 28, 2014

superspudz2000 said:
also i'm wondering if S-Video makes any sort of a difference, or if S-Video even works on the Mini?

No, not even S-Video works on Wii Mini. I don't know if Nintendo simply didn't connect the required pin to the video chip or disable all other video mode on hardware level.

S-Video is still limited to interlaced video.

superspudz2000 · Nov 29, 2014

i just tried composite cables on a Sony Trinitron CRT, and HOLY S&#%! it looks freakin awesome. its like a work of art. no jaggies, no motion blur, no interpolation, no color bleeding, even the sound was more deep and rich. ironically the Sony CRT did also have Component, which i assume would make it look even better. but it goes to show its not about the input method, as much as the equipment you are using to view it on.

i guess a $150 "COBY" LCD just looks like crap no matter what. And im guessing the latest Sony Flatscreen HDTV's will have proper Up-scaling for retro games.

im thinking Nintendo designed the games and hardware specifically for a broader range of people, who in 2006 mostly still had CRT Tube TV's. the cartoony cell shaded graphics of Mario and Zelda look just as good on a 40" plasma as they do on an old boob tube.

Walker D · Nov 29, 2014

superspudz2000 said:
but it goes to show its not about the input method, as much as the equipment you are using to view it on.

Nah, it's equally about both.
And congrats on the Trinitron! Those are one of the best thingies to play retro and Nintendo games

endoverend · Nov 29, 2014

I've been living with a 50 inch SDTV with interlaced composite Wii cables and I have pumped so many hours into playing and modding that thing it's amazing. I finally picked up a 40 inch LED HDTV and connected some composite cables. The picture was the same if not worse, and I kept the Wii attached to the old TV.

Hardware lets talk about the Wii Mini

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