Hardware Joycon Application Revelation

[Pandaxclone2]

So I just remembered that Joycons basically function like glorified Wiimotes/Nunchucks with a few extra buttons and an internal battery. And then I realised that this is the same description of the perfect Wiimote/Nunchuck controllers that I wanted on the Wii; controllers that don't require changing out batteries which last maybe 2 hours each, and made by Nintendo instead of a third party.

There's every possibility that what I'm suggesting may not be possible. Only time will tell. But it would be awesome if the Joycons were backwards compatible with the Wii as proper controls. Failing that, it would still be neat if the homebrew scene made them compatible through homebrew. Either way it would make playing on the Wii so much more enjoyable.

 

[Alex658]

So I just remembered that Joycons basically function like glorified Wiimotes/Nunchucks with a few extra buttons and an internal battery. And then I realised that this is the same description of the perfect Wiimote/Nunchuck controllers that I wanted on the Wii; controllers that don't require changing out batteries which last maybe 2 hours each, and made by Nintendo instead of a third party.

There's every possibility that what I'm suggesting may not be possible. Only time will tell. But it would be awesome if the Joycons were backwards compatible with the Wii as proper controls. Failing that, it would still be neat if the homebrew scene made them compatible through homebrew. Either way it would make playing on the Wii so much more enjoyable.

But, how would the pointers work? The wii had an IR sensor and the wiimotes an IR sender.
Do the joycons have a proper IR output? I don't think so.
While it's true that the wiimotes could work via BT (as normal controllers), any pointing functions would not work.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

Do the joycons have a proper IR output?

That would be a yes.

 

[Alex658]

That would be a yes.

I know how a JoyCon looks like, what i'm not seeing is it's IR sensor.

what goes into this part of the wii

Spoiler

 

[Pandaxclone2]

I know how a JoyCon looks like, what i'm not seeing is it's IR sensor.

what goes into this part of the wii

Spoiler

Do I really need to point it out?

 

[Alex658]

Do I really need to point it out?

So it's on the lower part of the controller, you'd have to use it backwards, basically...
I completely missed it, sorry

 

[Pandaxclone2]

So it's on the lower part of the controller, you'd have to use it backwards, basically...
I completely missed it, sorry

Not really a bad thing considering that it'd mean the button layout would be similar to the Wiimote; directional controls on top, buttons on the bottom.

 

[Aurora Wright]

If I'm not mistaken they use Bluetooth Low Energy (part of the BT 4.0 specification). Wii has BT 2.1, so nope, not a chance

 

[Pandaxclone2]

If I'm not mistaken they use Bluetooth Low Energy (part of the BT 4.0 specification). Wii has BT 2.1, so nope, not a chance

What about homebrew-wise? Surely some software installation or even an IR Sensor replacement should work, no? Is Bluetooth not backwards compatible? (Excuse if this seems stupid; especially if the limitations are hardware-based and therefore impossible.)

 

[Aurora Wright]

What about homebrew-wise? Surely some software installation or even an IR Sensor replacement should work, no? Is Bluetooth not backwards compatible? (Excuse if this seems stupid; especially if the limitations are hardware-based and therefore impossible.)

No, BLE works differently from normal bluetooth and Bluetooth isn't backwards compatible

 

[xile6]

It wouldnt been enough of a deman for anyone to try to work on thos other then to simply say they did it.

With that being said the controls would be very off for a wii game that needs the ir pointer. Also there os a lot of coding to be done to read the outputs from the joycons to the inputs of the wii.

In other words dont hold your breath on this working.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

It wouldnt been enough of a deman for anyone to try to work on thos other then to simply say they did it.

With that being said the controls would be very off for a wii game that needs the ir pointer. Also there os a lot of coding to be done to read the outputs from the joycons to the inputs of the wii.

In other words dont hold your breath on this working.

Of course I wouldn't. It's just annoying that Nintendo has never decided to make internal battery refurbished Wiimotes or something. They still produce Gamecube controllers after all these years so I don't see why they haven't made that.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Of course I wouldn't. It's just annoying that Nintendo has never decided to make internal battery refurbished Wiimotes or something. They still produce Gamecube controllers after all these years so I don't see why they haven't made that.

I haven't seen official gamecube controllers other than a few for smash. And that's the main reason, because people still actively use gamecube controllers for Smash.
Is it that hard to buy a rechargeable battery and dock for your old wiimotes if you need them to recharge that badly?

It honestly to me would make no sense for anyone to need or want to use a joycon on older hardware like the Wii or Wii U. It doesn't have proper button layout anyway. I really see no reason for that to ever be a thing.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

I haven't seen official gamecube controllers other than a few for smash. And that's the main reason, because people still actively use gamecube controllers for Smash.
Is it that hard to buy a rechargeable battery and dock for your old wiimotes if you need them to recharge that badly?

It honestly to me would make no sense for anyone to need or want to use a joycon on older hardware like the Wii or Wii U. It doesn't have proper button layout anyway. I really see no reason for that to ever be a thing.

It's really less about the fact that it's using new hardware on old and more about actually having first party controls that don't chew up AA batteries. Rechargeable batteries w/ docks for Wiimotes are third party and are likely to fail whereas Nintendo's quality standards would ensure some measure of reliability.

Look at both the PS3 and Xbox 360; the PS3 controller does have an internal battery and all it requires for you to charge it is a standard cable and a USB port. While the 360 controller does still require batteries for wireless use you can purchase a cable that hooks it up to the console, bypassing the need for batteries.

The Wiimote on the other hand has no first-party solutions to its battery problem. An internal battery model or even a method of hooking it up to the system would make playing on the Wii bearable, but neither of these have been done by Nintendo. It's only now that we have controls which are not only similar in design and have the same amount of buttons (albeit not exactly the same layout to a Wiimote) but actually do have internal batteries in them. Even if it were homebrew forced to be used on the Wii, it would be a perfect solution to a problem that's been around ever since the Wii's launch.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

It's really less about the fact that it's using new hardware on old and more about actually having first party controls that don't chew up AA batteries. Rechargeable batteries w/ docks for Wiimotes are third party and are likely to fail whereas Nintendo's quality standards would ensure some measure of reliability.

Look at both the PS3 and Xbox 360; the PS3 controller does have an internal battery and all it requires for you to charge it is a standard cable and a USB port. While the 360 controller does still require batteries for wireless use you can purchase a cable that hooks it up to the console, bypassing the need for batteries.

The Wiimote on the other hand has no first-party solutions to its battery problem. An internal battery model or even a method of hooking it up to the system would make playing on the Wii bearable, but neither of these have been done by Nintendo. It's only now that we have controls which are not only similar in design and have the same amount of buttons (albeit not exactly the same layout to a Wiimote) but actually do have internal batteries in them. Even if it were homebrew forced to be used on the Wii, it would be a perfect solution to a problem that's been around ever since the Wii's launch.

But what you are saying still makes no sense. If we want to use your playstation/xbox reference, it would be like saying the xbox one controller should be made to work with the 360 because it's better.
Plus if you buy a proper rechargeable battery instead of one of the cheap ones it will almost identical to an "official nintendo product" battery. Nintendo doesn't have some specialty brand battery, they have them made by other companies that also produce them for companies other than nintendo.
Wanting the joycon to work with older hardware is just extremely unrealistic, and honestly kind of silly.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

But what you are saying still makes no sense. If we want to use your playstation/xbox reference, it would be like saying the xbox one controller should be made to work with the 360 because it's better.
Plus if you buy a proper rechargeable battery instead of one of the cheap ones it will almost identical to an "official nintendo product" battery. Nintendo doesn't have some specialty brand battery, they have them made by other companies that also produce them for companies other than nintendo.
Wanting the joycon to work with older hardware is just extremely unrealistic, and honestly kind of silly.

Wrong, because there's already a solution provided by Microsoft that doesn't require disposable batteries. (Not to mention the 360 controller feels more comfortable IMO.)

Finding a "proper" rechargeable battery in amongst the sea of cheap ones. You may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack. The point is Nintendo brand demands a level of quality; third parties don't need to do this and most cheap out, resulting in pretty dirt poor performance. That's not to say that all third party ones are like this but at least you know you're getting decent quality from a first-party brand rather than a hit and miss gamble and the occasional online review from third party brands.

Even if wanting the Joycon to work with the Wii is extremely unrealistic, it's pretty much the only option available for first party controls with internal batteries. If there's anything I've learned from the homebrew and hacking scene here, it's that the developers here usually pull off things that were previously thought to be impossible or "not in popular demand" on certain devices. Native DS loading from SD on the 3DS is a shining recent example. Heck, there's really no practical reason for the NES Mini to have been hacked but it was done anyway. Just because it doesn't make much sense to do it, doesn't mean it couldn't be done.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Wrong, because there's already a solution provided by Microsoft that doesn't require disposable batteries. (Not to mention the 360 controller feels more comfortable IMO.)

Finding a "proper" rechargeable battery in amongst the sea of cheap ones. You may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack. The point is Nintendo brand demands a level of quality; third parties don't need to do this and most cheap out, resulting in pretty dirt poor performance. That's not to say that all third party ones are like this but at least you know you're getting decent quality from a first-party brand rather than a hit and miss gamble and the occasional online review from third party brands.

Even if wanting the Joycon to work with the Wii is extremely unrealistic, it's pretty much the only option available for first party controls with internal batteries. If there's anything I've learned from the homebrew and hacking scene here, it's that the developers here usually pull off things that were previously thought to be impossible or "not in popular demand" on certain devices. Native DS loading from SD on the 3DS is a shining recent example. Heck, there's really no practical reason for the NES Mini to have been hacked but it was done anyway. Just because it doesn't make much sense to do it, doesn't mean it couldn't be done.

Hint: want to find a decent battery? Don't cheap out on price. Or better yet, just buy standard aa rechargeables. That's what I've been doing that for years for all my devices and they still run fine.

Along with that you seem to have completely avoided other points I made, such as the buttons don't match up at all making it impossible or impractical anyway.
Plus we aren't even sure if the technology in the ir camera is the same. I would say they are different. The Wiimote was made to only see the ir leds in the sensor bar, and that is all they can see. The joycon however can see any object in front of it and determine distance and shape. Could possibly be used as a pointer with the sensor bar, but without really knowing how it works we can't say for sure.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I am going to say only a handful of people would want this, so Nintendo won't make it happen. You would have to rely on homebrew devs for that

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Pandaxclone2]

Hint: want to find a decent battery? Don't cheap out on price. Or better yet, just buy standard aa rechargeables. That's what I've been doing that for years for all my devices and they still run fine.

Along with that you seem to have completely avoided other points I made, such as the buttons don't match up at all making it impossible or impractical anyway.
Plus we aren't even sure if the technology in the ir camera is the same. I would say they are different. The Wiimote was made to only see the ir leds in the sensor bar, and that is all they can see. The joycon however can see any object in front of it and determine distance and shape. Could possibly be used as a pointer with the sensor bar, but without really knowing how it works we can't say for sure.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I am going to say only a handful of people would want this, so Nintendo won't make it happen. You would have to rely on homebrew devs for that

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I won't deny that standard AA rechargeables or possibly finding a good chargeable battery are valid options. I would just rather have a first-party solution (even if it was forced with homebrew) over those. Plus I have been misled before on poor devices at a somewhat "valid" price. (EB Games, which is Gamestop Australia, has a third party accessory for charging a Wii U gamepad for sale. The darn thing didn't even work as intended and I had to get a refund.)

Does it matter that the button layout doesn't match? Adaption my friend; it helped us out when we were surviving so why wouldn't it apply here? Even if it is somewhat awkward I would gladly trade it over the Wiimote. The sensor bar issue honestly remains to be seen. Like I said in the OP, it may not be possible. I just wanted to put it out there anyway in the possible event that it could work.

And I agree that Nintendo would very likely not allow it to work on the Wii, but I tend to lean on "anything could happen" on this. An example would be everyone expecting Pokemon Z to happen and then it didn't. Hell, they made a season of the anime called "XY and Z" so it doesn't make much logical sense that they'd potentially hint at it and then not.

 

[Bladexdsl]

joycons on the wii?

 

[xile6]

I dont get the battery think.
My x360 and x1 held batteries great. I tl could easily get a week of game play.
I also use duracell and not cheap battiers in it.
Same goes for the wii if you use cheap ones they will die fast