Mouse on a mini bicycle could power Nintendo's Wii

by Blake Snow { Feb 21st 2007 at 1:40PM }

In this a console war of one upmanship, HCW compares the power consumption of all three consoles including a mid-range PC machine. The result? Wii can help you save mother earth when powered on while both the 360 and PS3 are electricity hogs, especially during movies. According to the study, just having your console plugged in will cost you about a buck fifty for the entire month. And while Wii is clearly the most power efficient console ("It's a GameCube incognito!"), if WiiConnect24 is turned on in standby mode, you could end up paying close to $7 a month. Click onward for complete testing deets and usage comparisons.

UPDATE: HCW has since updated their originally flawed math to $1/month when WiiConnect24 is connected and $.20 for PS3 to be plugged in (which they originally cited as $1.50).

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

required @ Feb 21st 2007 1:42PM

what about the controllers and their batteries? I hear they eat acid juice up like there is no tomorrow.

Grog @ Feb 21st 2007 1:44PM

This is actually information I'd love to know. My electric bill was double the month I got my Wii, but I tend to think that's just the -20F temps we were having, and this makes me feel a lot better. I'm curious also about the respective drains associated with charging the various controllers (I'm guessing they aren't plugging the controllers in for this).

required @ Feb 21st 2007 1:45PM

another important factor overlooked in the test is the visual output (quite integral to gameplay)

navstar @ Feb 21st 2007 1:51PM

Then why does the Wii still require a power brick?

And how can the 360 & PS3 use the same amount of energy, yet the 360 need that gigantic power supply while the PS3 has none!

PS3Crashed @ Feb 21st 2007 1:45PM

Blake Snow rides mini bicycles for fun

john @ Feb 21st 2007 1:50PM

Well.. The Wii Was the only unit using a step down converter, and it coincidently also had insanely lower usage. i would venture to guess this had something to do with it.

Homophone @ Feb 21st 2007 1:52PM

10 Watts * 24 hours/day * 30 days/month = 7200 WattHrs/Month = 7.2 kWh/month.

A reasonable price is 10 cents per kWh. This gives a cost per month of 72 cents. Figures in TFA are off by a factor of 10.

Andy Witmyer @ Feb 21st 2007 1:53PM

navstar - I could be wrong, but I think the power brick on the PS3 was placed inside of the unit.

32_Footsteps @ Feb 21st 2007 1:54PM

Great, now we just have to find Ralph S. Mouse and set him up next to a Wii, and we're all set.

NintendoFanbot @ Feb 21st 2007 1:55PM

PIKACHU!!!

^____________^

Intentless @ Feb 21st 2007 1:55PM

where can i get this minibike riding mouse?

X @ Feb 21st 2007 1:58PM

Who cares! You wanna play, you gots to pay :)

Carl @ Feb 21st 2007 2:00PM

Oops, misplaced a decimal.. *embarrassed*

FSK405K @ Feb 21st 2007 2:00PM

So what we really need are smart outlets that actually stop the flow of electricity when you think you have your crap turned off.

silkylove @ Feb 21st 2007 2:01PM

Cool. I like saving money and not wasting power. But I guess I'll have to turn my wii connect24 off from now on.

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 21st 2007 2:03PM

I posted figures like this a long time ago on here and other places.

For an estimate on power costs on devices that are on 24/7, just turn the number of watts into dollars.

10W standby means about $10 a year to have your console on.

Yes, it'll be lower in some places, perhaps half of this, but it's a good approximation at current rates in the US.

I have my WiiConnect24 turned off because I think that the console taking half as much power to be off as on is a joke. It's a huge waste of power. It's bad for the environment. Of course, the Wii also chews up Wiimote batteries, that's far worse.

Grog @ Feb 21st 2007 2:05PM

Well, I'm definitely turning off my WiiConnect24 until there's better reason to have it on. One thing I disagree with though: "Of course, the Wii also chews up Wiimote batteries, that's far worse." That's not bad at all... you just buy a couple of rechargeable AAs and a quick charger.

Jonny @ Feb 21st 2007 2:05PM

But Ralph Smart Mouse rode a motorcycle, not a mini bicycle.

Coke Boi @ Feb 21st 2007 2:14PM

they article says up to 1 dollar a month if WiiConnect is on...not 7 "The Wii requires 10 Watts to run Connect24 (which will connect to Nintendo's online service and notify you of system updates) racking up a cost of about $1 a month which is nothing too significant, but still about 5X more than if it were just turned off. Turn Connect24 off, and it's back down to normal."

kip @ Feb 21st 2007 2:14PM

I have WiiConnect24 turned off.. I noticed that it complained when I went into Everybody Votes channel, as if it couldn't just download the stuff when I clicked on the channel.

Hinkmania @ Feb 21st 2007 2:23PM

I've noticed a trend here, did all the bloggers here do poorly in math in school?

arrrgh @ Feb 21st 2007 2:26PM

If anyone out there is still using disposable batteries for their remote/wireless controllers, that's their own waste, not nintendo's. Buy some rechargables. Good for you Nintendo, that was one of the main things they said they were considering when designing their newest console. Glad to see they followed through on it.

Carl @ Feb 21st 2007 2:28PM

#20: The article has been updated; I had misplaced a decimal when doing the calculation, and Blake Snow based his calculation off that number. OOPS!

Titanium @ Feb 21st 2007 2:37PM

It's a good thing the PS3 didn't have 2 HDMI ports. A lot of people would have been using a lot more power because most people would have had two TV's hooked up to them.

We were all better off with 4x3 aspect ratios as well.

10watts * 24 hours/ day * 16x9 = 34560 Watt Hours
10watts * 24 hours/ day * 4x3 = 2880 Watt Hours

16x9 has ruined power consumption.

Crono @ Feb 21st 2007 2:44PM

My god Titanium, I hope that was a joke...

Because it was damn funny!

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 2:44PM

who cares? the wii sucks. i have one and it sucks. dont waste your money. buy zelda on the GC and forget the rest. its poop poop poop. derppppp

Zachary Hinchliffe @ Feb 21st 2007 2:47PM

24: That math is extremely flawed. Aspect ratio has nothing to do with it, you could have a 15" 16:9 screen that uses much less power than a 30" 4:3 screen. (Besides, ratios are division, not multiplication.)

Go back to high school and learn math.

Zachary Hinchliffe @ Feb 21st 2007 2:48PM

6: The power brick is for converting AC power to DC. All electronics need the converter, it's just that some has it on the inside of the unit. The Wii is too small for that, so it was placed externally.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 2:51PM

thank you tech expert zach. we would be lost without you big Z.

that guy @ Feb 21st 2007 2:53PM

navstar - the PS3 power brick is, in fact, inside the PS3 console unit.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 2:55PM

that guy --- are you retarded????? of course its inside because it isnt on the outside now is it? god so stupid!@!@@!@WE@!ED@ just listen to the BIG Z and he will guide you to the light. out.

bmac @ Feb 21st 2007 3:00PM

More power usage = more power, ps3 clearly is teh most powerful system for consoles!

ill trooper @ Feb 21st 2007 3:04PM

"27. 24: That math is extremely flawed. Aspect ratio has nothing to do with it, you could have a 15" 16:9 screen that uses much less power than a 30" 4:3 screen. (Besides, ratios are division, not multiplication.)

Go back to high school and learn math.

Posted at 2:47PM on Feb 21st 2007 by Zachary Hinchliffe"

Dude, even though you were looking right at your computer monitor, you seem to have missed that JOKE that just flew out over your head!

"Family Guy" must seem like a boring news program to some folks.

NintendoFanbot @ Feb 21st 2007 3:05PM

"("It's a GameCube incognito!")"

(They're PCs incognito!)

Guess which two systems I'm thinking of. :D

Anyways, I kid.

Titanium @ Feb 21st 2007 3:06PM

Zachary,

Thank you for helping me see the errors in my math. I'm still using my TI-81 and it is not really doing much for me because half of the screen is broken when sally in my 6th period Algebra class sat on it.

Humor is wasted on Joystiq.

Thankfully we do have brave bloggers to help us out though. Zach you are my blogger of the day!

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:08PM

dont make fun of the BIG Z. he will pown you with knowledge about aspect ratio power consumption. pown you god dammit!@@#@!

syco @ Feb 21st 2007 3:11PM

Turning off Wiiconnect24 to save power is nutty, and this proves it. You save all of 8.6 watts, or $1 a month? I'd rather just leave it on. It actually bothers me to see the light red instead of orange.

And don't kid yourself, this is purely about money. People use the environment to try to guilt trip people into conforming to made up social norms every day, don't fall for it. This all has to do with how much money it costs, and if the service provided is worth the money spent.

Pure economics.

F1ghter @ Feb 21st 2007 3:15PM

The 360 power is lower than I expected when compared with PS3. I wonder how much it will drop when they switch over to the 65nm processors.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:18PM

who cares if it wastes electric. seriously. just play with your wee when watching the tv looking at p0rn0. then you will make nintendo proud, stripping the kiddyness from the beloved wii console. i dont think it was called wii by chance (oh ya dirty japanese with their sideways vaginas and slanted eyes).

jono @ Feb 21st 2007 3:19PM

Yeh navstar, the PS3 has its power brick in the console... Thats why continuous play for around an hour is not guaranteed. It's also why you can cook a couple of burgers on it too.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:25PM

actually the ps3 doesnt run that hot. ive left it on for almost a day straight and it was fine. jono doesnt know crap. probably playing with his wee right now. oh ya ya ya oh ya......

Jack of No Trades @ Feb 21st 2007 3:25PM

The power consumption on the Wii better be lower since it is running on a 400 mh processor with 32mb of ram.

PS3Crashed @ Feb 21st 2007 3:25PM

JJC...You're a real fuck you know that?

Je2037 @ Feb 21st 2007 3:27PM

Now you're playing with not really that much power!! Terrible.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:35PM

smile ear to ear. yes! yes! mission accomplished! like a bad kid trying to piss people off for attention. my friend you just made my day for falling for the bait, hard. real hard. oh ya..... BIG Z UR THE MAN>>>YES>>YES

Jack of No Trades @ Feb 21st 2007 3:36PM

@ PS3Crashed

Your the reason why these blogs are jacked up. When someone disagrees with you and comments on how the wii is worthless you cuss them out. You sir are the prick.

BTW the wii will crash once the general public finds another mindless electronic to barely entertain them.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:40PM

jack of no trades your my new hero. awesome.

JJC @ Feb 21st 2007 3:45PM

im out cya guys! its been fun. hopefully i wont have to post as JJC2 tomorrow. but i will. oh yaaaa oh yaaaa

Jonny @ Feb 21st 2007 3:55PM

I don't mind JJC being bored at work and trying to get a rise out of people, but does anyone find him humorous at all? If he's going to be annoying he should at least be funny. Dude, if you're just completely lacking in wit let me know and I'll lower my standards accordingly. Otherwise have fun trolling.