Wii Don't Need Fingers, what button combo's would you sacrifice?

[meek]

Hi, my name is Michael Chernoff, I'm from Toronto

I have 2 questions regarding the use of the Wii & Nunchuck together:
a) Is it common that a game player needs to press 3 or 4 buttons simultaneously (buttons A,B,C,Z)? If so, which games, which situations?
b) Is there a button combo that is rarely if never used in games (ex: people have to hold down A & B all the time, but are they ever required to hold down B & Z)? What 2-button combo could you give up.

I am asking these questions for the following reasons:
I recently hosted a Wii modding event called "Wii Don't Need Fingers" on Dec 16th 2007 where we were trying to figure out how to modify a Nintendo Wii controller and nunchuck for a client of mine (I volunteer with Tetra) who is a quadraplegic with functional arm movements, but no working fingers (he can't use feet to press buttons and it's not advisable to use his head for button pressing movements that have to be done 70x a minute). We tested the games "Wii Sports" & "Naruto, Rise of the ninja" (or was it clash of the ninja), but I didn't check what button combo's were absolutely necessary.

For the buttons A,B,C,Z I have a control scheme that lets him press on those buttons with his wrist. The client can even hold down 2 buttons at a time, but there will always be a single button pair that cannot be pressed, because the client can only use wrist movements to press the buttons. I'd love to hear reliable input on this subject, because I don't own a Wii myself, and my current TV is not compatible with a Wii system.

 

[toomstone]

games like wii sports should be OK it is suggest they are played while standing but it can be done sitting down if you "cheat"... if you play tennis a wrist flick is all that is needed to swing the racket same with base ball... only holding the remote is you problem... most of the game i have i wouldnt suggest like Guitar hero 3 resident evil... mm your client could do some games in wii play i think... their are some very simple games for the wii that im sure he/she would enjoy i just cant remember their names i have seen a few at game shops i suggest you go and talk to them about the matter=D
good luck

 

[Abes16]

^^yea exactly wat he said
lol

 

[toomstone]

may i ask how you will use the motion sensor are you straping a sensor to his/her arm?

 

[meek]

Currently the entire controller, and entire nunchuck will be fitted onto bracers connected to the client's forearms (think of those arm shields built into batman's costume) This is to reduce how much soldering/wiring needs to be done. I might eventually sacrifice the original plastic housings and just use the circuit boards themselves. The bracers are set up to allow as little sliding/rotation of the bracers relative to the forearms as possible.

These bracers will also hold the contact pads that the client will connect to using wrist movements, replacing the original buttons. This is why wrist movements will be harder to implement. If I just used the controller by itself, then I would likely have a slightly easier time using wrist flicking motions because I could use the other hand for taking care of all of the button pressing and just restrict the Wiimote to being used as a motion sensitive controller.

I expect that more tradeoffs will be required and identified as time goes on.

 

[toomstone]

yeah i sort of see what your talking about it is going to be hard but anything is possible these days

 

[Wiily Good]

I can't think of a single moment in any game that requires more than 2 buttons to be pressed at once. Just make sure that A and B can be pressed at the same time, this is a common combination and used to start many games.