Nintendo Wii - what's in the box?
There
seems to be a lot of confusion about what's in the Nintendo Wii box. In
particular people are unsure about how many controllers they will get
and whether or not Wii sports is included.
I took some photos of my own Wii console and I've posted them up on this page to show people exactly what's included with the Wii console.
The Top Tray
When you open the box you will find two 'trays' that slide out separately.
In the top tray you will find the controller, scart adaptor, Wii Sports,
the sensor bar and the manuals.
The Lower Tray
The lower tray contains the heavier stuff, such as the power supply, console
stand and the Wii console itself. They've also put the Wii AV cable in
this tray.
Component Summary
This is a summary of the main components included with every UK spec
Wii console
- Wii console (of course!)
- 1 x Wii Remote
- 1 x Wii Nunchuk controller addon
- 1 x Wii Sports game
- 1 x Basic AV (Audio/Video) lead
This Video is of the North American Wii box, but there is little difference from the UK version. The power supply is all that has changed.
Detailed Component List
A list of just about everything you'll find in the box.
- Wii Console
The first thing you'll notice about the console is that it's very small. In fact compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 it's tiny.
- Power Supply
Although it's not as big as the Xbox 360 power supply, the grey coloured Wii power supply is quite large when you consider how small the console is.
- Console Stand
The console stand consists of two parts. To put this stand together, just clip the clear plastic disc onto the stand.
- Standard AV cable + SCART adaptor
Unlike the old consoles such as the PS1 and the Megadrive the Wii has no RF output option. With this console you will, at the very least need a TV with Yellow video and White/Red audio input sockets.
This video connection works fine on my Panasonic plasma, but when I took the Wii to a friend's house and plugged it into the front sockets on their older Panasonic CRT TV I could get nothing but a black and white picture. It's a good job Nintendo included the RGB SCART adapter then, as it worked perfectly when I connected the adaptor and plugged it into the back of the TV.
If you have a Plasma or LCD screen you can switch the resolution to 480P mode and improve the display quite a lot. Although the Wii is not a high definition (HD) games console, 480P is better than standard definition (SD) TV and is referred to as enhanced TV or EN TV. However to use 480P you'll need to purchase a new component video cable. You can read more about screen resolutions here - Wiki guide to screen resolutions
- Wii Sensor Bar + Stand
For some reason I expected the sensor bar to be 3 ft long. I was quite surprised to find it was just a thin black strip not much longer than a pencil. The sensor bar stand is an optional small Z-shaped piece of clear plastic that lifts the sensor a few centimetres higher. In most cases you won't need this stand, but if your TV is sat on the floor and you can't mount the sensor bar on top of it, the stand will help improve sensitivity.
The sensor bar is not really a sensor, but a very simple light source. All the sensor bar does is emit two infrared lights that the controller picks up and allows it to calculate it's spacial position. Some people had been experimenting and playing around with different light sources. In this video the Wii sensor bar has been replaced by two candles.
- Wii Remote Control + Strap + Nunchuk + 2 x AA Battery
The Wii remote looks very sleek and stylish, it could have been designed by Apple. This little remote is a very intelligent piece of kit. It contains an infrared detector at the front, wireless RF components inside to communicate with the console, a speaker and a vibration device. In my opinion, besides the obvious motion sensing features, the best thing about this controller is the built in speaker. When you're playing a game half of your sound can be coming from the TV and half from the remote itself. What's more if you have more than one controller (you can attach up to four) and you're playing multiplayer games when it's your turn the controller can beep or rumble to let you know.
The nunchuk is a Wii controller add-on that plugs into the Wii remote via a short cable. If you only have Wii sports, you'll only have one game that makes use of the nunchuk and that's Wii boxing. In Wii boxing the nunchuk becomes your left hand (or right hand if you're a lefty) and can be used for straight jabs. The nunchuk has a joystick and two extra buttons, so there's sure to be more games that take advantage of this standard Wii add-on.
The nunchuk is sold separately to the Wii remote, so if you want to play 2 player boxing in Wii sports it could prove expensive as you'll have to buy an additional Wii remote and nunchuk.
- Wii Sports Game
This is a free game that is included (in the box) with every UK spec console. Wii Sports has been supplied and written by Nintendo to showcase the Wii's motion sensing controller. The 5 sports games are simple games that will get you used to using the Wii remote. Some people have gotten bored with Wii Sports very quickly, but it's always worth digging this game out if you've got friends around as it's great fun to play with a group of people.
- Manuals and Documentation
There are two manuals; the thinner silver manual covers system setup and the thicker white operations manual contains information about system configuration and using the Wii channels. There's a separate quick setup guide that is a bonus if you're impatient like me and just want to get you're Wii powered up asap and a card with your club Nintendo membership number.
- Wii - What's in the Box?
If you want to see everything that's contained in the box, here it is. This picture shows everything that's included with a UK spec Wii console.
Article by Wii-Consoles.co.uk, the UK's best Wii
stock locator site
| Illustrations: Click the thumbnail to go to the full size image |
 The top Tray |
 The Lower Tray |
 Sensor Bar |
 All Wii components |