Wii message board vs. Wii whiteboard

by Kyle Orland { Nov 11th 2006 at 4:00PM }

The message on the screen above took about a minute and a half to input using the on-screen keyboard and Wii remote, not including the few seconds it took to pick up the controller and access the message post function. The message written on the actual Wii took roughly a minute to write, and that's including about 40 seconds spent searching for a white board marker (not to worry fanboys... it washes off with a damp paper towel).

The message on the screen requires Billy to turn on the Wii, pick up the controller and click through to the message in "today's posts" before being readable. The message on the actual Wii/whiteboard is readable as soon as Billy walks in the room.

Nintendo, remind us again how the Wii message board is "somewhere where the family can easily share and exchange ideas."

Tags: blogathon06

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Bbnight3 @ Nov 11th 2006 2:35PM

How did you get the Wii to display on the Dell Monitor?

Mullinator @ Nov 11th 2006 3:04PM

If they could make the messages posted have features like showing a photo it would be quite a bit better. Or maybe have an HTML link to locations on Google map or something.

MEANING_OF_LIFE @ Nov 11th 2006 3:12PM

I also thought the whole idea was kinda rediculous. And form what we know right now,(As Readers) The browser and the message board are two totally unrelated applications. So I doubt we'll see hyperlinks ect. If this somehow worked online... then it would useful.

Dylan @ Nov 11th 2006 3:18PM

Hey, but dont forget, the Wii is going to be the first thing Billy goes to, this will get him the message LOOONG before hes ever going to check the refrigerator or something.

Anthony @ Nov 11th 2006 3:30PM

Yeah, that's great.

Now what if Mom has two notes for Billy? Or more? Or more realistically, what if Billy gets notes from Mom, Dad, and sis at the same time? With the Wii as small as it is, I'm guessing the message board will seem much more useful than trying to relay several of your messages on the side of the Wii.

Metal_Link @ Nov 11th 2006 3:30PM

Oh-em-gee, I almost had a freakin' heart attack!
Don't ever do that on something we've been waiting for years to get our hands on!
Stop bragging about it!
I hurts my huge gamer herat to see that done to the wee little defenceless Wii.

brad drac @ Nov 11th 2006 4:01PM

Isn't one of the innovations/gimmicks of the wii meant to be it's "always on" thingy? If the wii was just left on the message chanel, little billy would merely need to turn the TV to wii input. Also, doesn't involve vandalising (your own) expensive electronics.

Fernando @ Nov 11th 2006 4:08PM

Hi... what are the chances that someday the Wii can handle a game engine like Unreal 3 (Gears of War). I mean, the X-Box 360 release a game with that engine after 1 year, so maybe the Wii can also handle an engine like that in 1 year (I mean, Red Steel is a first generation Wii game and looks like a first generation X-Box 360 game)

alex @ Nov 11th 2006 4:21PM

wow seriously fuck u joystiq, biggest nintendo wii haters ive seen so far

JRM @ Nov 11th 2006 4:21PM

the wii is supposed to be on 24/7, and there's supposed to be an LED saying you got messages like most office telephones. If you see a light, just turn on the tv. No need to crouch under the tv, and fumble through the maze of wires to turn on the Wii.

What I wish is to be able to input messages on the DS (pictochat) and send it to the wii or retrieve it from the wii--as it's always on. That would be much more useful.

Nmaster @ Nov 11th 2006 4:25PM

No, seriously, please reply to #1.

How did you hook it up to a monitor? I must know...

Korexz @ Nov 11th 2006 4:27PM

Gameplay > Graphics

Screw Sony and MS... best system I ever played was the NES.

I could give 2 lumps if Nintendo ever catches up graphically. "Uncanny Valley" will set in.

Lex @ Nov 11th 2006 4:29PM

The Wii doesn't have the power to run a game like Gears of War.

But then again Nintendo didn't design the Wii to play games like Gears but games that would in theory be different from conventional games.

dvnt @ Nov 11th 2006 4:31PM

Joystiq, you've already posted about this exact same topic before and the poster was summarily lashed by your readership. So, are you guys daft or just gluttons for punishment?

C. Grant @ Nov 11th 2006 4:35PM

The Dell 2405FPW (and the newer 2407) supports video input from VGA, DVI, Component, and Composite video connections. You just plug it in, and it works! Easy!

ALH @ Nov 11th 2006 4:36PM

I REALLY cannot see the point of this message system, granted I live alone and wont be letting anyone touch the thing when im not there, but thats besides the point :p.

Now, the fact that you can draw on it with a whiteboard marker without leaving a stain, thats attractive. :p

Mac @ Nov 11th 2006 4:37PM

To those asking how they hooked up the Wii to the monitor, it's simple: that model Dell monitor has component input.

There are adapters to convert component to VGA ( http://www.x2vga.com/ ), but don't expect them to work properly unless you have a monitor that supports that mode properly. For CRT displays, that's not hard, but most LCD displays don't know what to do with the traditional 480p/720p/1080p signals... until you get to the high-end models, and even then many don't.

Paul Carroll @ Nov 11th 2006 4:41PM

#1 and #11,

Some monitors have various inputs for video that arent your standard VGA or DVI.

Michael Armstrong @ Nov 11th 2006 4:48PM

What a terrible mother.

CD @ Nov 11th 2006 4:50PM

There's also the fact that once the Nintendo servers are up and running you can send messages to your friends' Wii. That's where it'll actually be useful. I wish I could send messages to my DS friend's list. Then maybe I could get some people together to hang out in Animal Crossing.

killr0y @ Nov 11th 2006 4:52PM

Wow look at the Nintendo zealots ready to die for the cause! The message system is a stupid gimmick... NEXT!

Also, gameplay does not > graphics. Great gameplay + Great graphics = a great game. Since the Wii will never be able to attain the "Great graphics" to the level of the 360 or PS3, it will always be relegated to the bargain basement & casual gamers. There is nothing wrong with that.

Stop pretending the Wii is something that it isn't. The sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you will be able to have fun on your system without feeling the need to justify it to the world.

I think the Wii is a great little product, and as soon as it hits $99, I'll buy one. The honest truth is that Nintendo could have released a Gamecube compatible Wiimote and accomplished the same thing, except they really needed to shake off the Gamecube brand, as it was/is a commercial flop.

StevenM @ Nov 11th 2006 5:11PM

@#21

Nintendo wants to pretend that the Wii is a revolution - playing the "we're different" card. Sony wants to pretend that the PS3 is a PC - playing the "tax dodge" card. Microsoft wants to pretend that the XBox isn't a PC with bells on - playing the "denial" card.

azesino @ Nov 11th 2006 5:23PM

Like I would let anyone touch my Wii , when Iam not home my Wii is going to be locked on my safe in case my house gets vandalized , they could take the money, the cars, heck even my 42' plasma but not my Wii

Jelster @ Nov 11th 2006 5:36PM

Its an additional function that probably would be noticable in its absence. Considering they have online, game and content msg'ing on the system the ability to send a msg to yourself/locally isn't such a bad thing to tack on.

Again I'm still more interested in whether you can send messages *to* a Wii via email or text msg.

Happy @ Nov 11th 2006 5:44PM

@azesino

lmao

Ed @ Nov 11th 2006 5:56PM

Kyle: Did you see any option for the EZi/T9 Text Input?

This video at 0:19 shows text completion for "fri" -> "fridge".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxQb9KCr46g

Robert @ Nov 11th 2006 6:13PM

@24

I completely agree. The Xbox Live messaging system is nice for the quick texts to friends in game and to organize online play. Being able to send a message to someone else "locally" is a logical extension.

I'd like to see more about how the notes are organized, though. I haven't seen anything like a login profile for this, so how do you know which notes are for who?

Matt @ Nov 11th 2006 6:13PM

i'd go fucking GoW-chainsaw on my mom if I was a kid and she wrote on my brand new Wii...

schtum @ Nov 11th 2006 7:11PM

Kyle,
Your mom has man-handwriting. And she thinks your name is Billy.
-Dad

Undead98 @ Nov 11th 2006 7:13PM

People might not think to look at the whiteboard when they get home from work or school. You can bet they check the message board on the Wii though.

I don't think its a revolutionary technique, but I bet my kids would be more likely to check the Wii.

corwin @ Nov 11th 2006 8:06PM

where would joystiq be without the word fanboy.

you own a nintendo, Fanboy!
you own a PS3, Fanboy!
you own a dvd player, Fanboy!
you have diabetes, Fanboy!
you pay a morgage, Fanboy!
you read books.... and so on.

Dusty @ Nov 11th 2006 8:12PM

It's important to note that even though the monitor has component in, it still will not display the Wii signal in proper aspect ratio. The Wii outputs in 16:9, computer monitors' AR is 16:10 (note the slightly oval appearance of the circles on the screen). A chintzy workaround for this problem is to adjust the vertical screen size until you get some appropriately-sized black bars on the top and bottom.

tom @ Nov 11th 2006 8:31PM

hey did u really write of the wii or just used MS paint? coz itll be pretty cool if you could use the wii as a whiteboard with out the pen staining...

some person @ Nov 11th 2006 9:56PM

oh whatever! there could be more messages that could fit on the "wii/whiteboard", also, it could serve as a reminder in case billy forgets to (do the chores), of course, if nintendo was reading this, they could make the messages apear when you boot up the Wii, and maybe they can make a accessory like the sensor bar, when you walk out the door, the alarm for a message for you (with the Wimote in hand/pocket/backpack)

Master_Po @ Nov 12th 2006 12:04AM

I would also like to know how you are hooking up your Wii to the 24" Dell monitor, and what . The reason I am asking is because I have one myself (2407WFP), but my component input looks like crap, I was wondering whether or not I should bother shelling out for the component cables or just bear with the composite cables, depending on you telling me how good it looks with whatever hookup you have.

Ben Serwa @ Nov 12th 2006 12:34AM

*coughs*

This is incredibly silly.

Venz @ Nov 12th 2006 4:04AM

Lol looks like ninty fangays got owned by stiqqy!

phantom42 @ Nov 12th 2006 8:37AM

i know you guys are just trying to stir up some conversation, but how many times are we going to have this discussion?

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/02/nintendo-expects-mom-to-leave-notes-on-your-wii/

Jim @ Nov 12th 2006 9:20AM

Hahahahhahaha, sweet, the best news today.

OMAC @ Nov 12th 2006 10:03AM

I hope you can only send messages to a very limited number of friends at a time...I can just imagine the potential for SPAM abuse with this option.

Halopend @ Nov 12th 2006 11:44AM

One thing I find interesting is that all the stickies are displayed under the channels menu. If you check out http://youtube.com/watch?v=tDCuhPlSrX4 you can see at 30s the bottom edge of a note. This means if you can move their physical location, you can make them stick out on the main interface as an extra visual cue there is a message to be viewed.

KevMa @ Nov 12th 2006 1:36PM

I think we will look back one day and remember Joystiq as that company that couldn't review anything correctly. Good bye, you guys have become so biased it makes me laugh.

Wii @ Nov 12th 2006 5:13PM

Wonder if that is in the manual...

Harry @ Nov 12th 2006 11:02PM

To: Bbnight3

Dell makes TVs also... though that could actually be a moniter.... though it might not matter

Jasen @ Nov 13th 2006 11:38AM

When I saw "whiteboard", I thought of those things you write on with a pen. And I thought you could use the Wiimote(s) to draw on the screen. Then I thought it'd be awesome to get work to buy a bunch of Wiis to use as "wireless whiteboards" in the conference rooms.

But alas, it's just a bulletin board. *Sigh*

jzephyr @ Nov 13th 2006 3:47PM

I have that exact monitor (or at least I think I do.. 2407?) It works great, VGA, DVI-D,S-Video, Composite, and Component. You can hook up a ton of stuff to it. Nice display size too =].

t bone ified @ Nov 14th 2006 12:25PM

they should've called the Wii/whiteboard the Wiiminder. kinda cute huh? ^-^

Mama Rati @ Nov 21st 2006 11:40AM

Yeah, I think this is really getting old. Y'all need to find another dead horse to beat.

And you guys (surprisingly) must not live at home with moms. And certainly not moms that play video games. I got the Wii for my son (who is 11), but I play it just as much or more. And in the two short days that we've had it, we've sent plenty of messages. And not stupid messages like "mommy's at the store, honey." But fun messages like, "If you put a goatee and mullet on my Mii person again then you're grounded," and "Mom, don't touch my save file on Zelda or I'm hiding your stash of coffee and chocolate." It's a way that us nerdy moms and kids connect. And I like it.

You can also register email addresses and send picture attachments as well, so even for moms who don't mess with the Wii, once their email address is in the address book, all they have to do is send an email and it goes to the same place as the message board stuff. Mom's at work and kid is home... mom can send email.

Do you guys think us moms are a bunch of technologically challenged idiots or something? Wake up. We are the target demographic these days, we have buying power and now that a new generation of tech-savvy moms are coming around, the toys are starting to have features that appeal to us and not just 16-24 year old boys.

Get over it. Go fondle your Xbox or your PS* while I cuddle up with my beautiful Wii.