"Could the Wii-mote be assigned an identification other that the four remote configuration we have now? The answer is yes, but the real question is “could the Wii support more than the four known to be possible?” I believe the answer to that is also yes. Why else would the Wii remote even be capable of have these light combinations, unless Nintendo had intentions of the Wii support more than four players.Could the Wii-mote be assigned an identification other that the four remote configuration we have now? The answer is yes, but the real question is “could the Wii support more than the four known to be possible?” I believe the answer to that is also yes. Why else would the Wii remote even be capable of have these light combinations, unless Nintendo had intentions of the Wii support more than four players."

http://rlk89.com/gameinfluence/2007/06/05/fifteen-wii-remotes-could-work-with-one-wii/

Not on any current Wii games and perhaps never will be, but just something I thought is an interesting concept. Other people already posted there that bluetooth only allows up to 7, so that is far more likely the actual max number than the 15 they suggest.

Another interesting note from the wikipedia article on bluetooth, "Bluetooth specification allows connecting two or more piconets together to form a scatternet, with some devices acting as a bridge by simultaneously playing the master role and the slave role in one piconet. These devices are planned for 2007."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth#Communication_and_connection

This is why I do not outright reject the possibility of the 15, but still doubt its practicality.

I believe that Blue Tooth supports up to 7 distinct channels of communication between devices but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that you could only have 7 Wiimotes working on a system ... Hypothetically speaking, you could have multiple devices communicating on a single channel if there is a way to seperate the communication. To keep this as non technical as I can, for this to work you would need a prefix on each communication between the Wii and the Wiimote in a channel. Basically the technical limitation on number of controllers would be:

7 x ( Bandwith of Channel / Bandwith needed by Wiimote)

In reality though, it is likely that Nintendo limited the Wii to handling 4 Wiimotes and is keeping the other 3 channels open to Add-Ons like Microphones/headsets.

Oh, missed putting down another part in relation to the wikipedia section. For those that don't know or don't want to look it up, a piconet is when there are 7 slaves and one master, so two together would form the possible 15. I  do agree however that it seems reasonable to leave it open for add-ons and such.

even if the wii or ps3 could handle up to seven people or more does the average gamer have enough space for all those people in their bedrooms?? or living rooms or wherever they play their games.. im not sayin anyone is poor or anything like that but.. i know alot of people who like the rock their videogames in the bed..

@Bonafide732, yeah I agree, more than 4 isn't really necessary/practical. The only games that you can use more than 4, are pretty much just football games. Even doing 4 player, on games like FPS you have to have a really big TV/projector to really see much.

Uh...there's lots of times where more than 4 people want to play Wii when we do...

But I'm fine with 4 players...it is kinda strange that 4 players has been the accepted maximum in-house player amount for so many videogame generations though...why don't consoles have like, 8 ports? Mario Party would rock with 8 players, and of course racing games would... (I'm excluding online play, just in-house)

I think the unused 3 connections on wii would be for other devices as mentioned. keyboard, headsets, whatever.

More than four players on a screen would be hell. The vision would be extremely limited unless you have a huge TV, which, of course, not many people own right now.

its not limited by the number of players, its limited to screen-size, and the consoles ability to handle that many people on screen through split screen. Yes there would be some games like Mario Party which you dont always need split screen but most games you do. And most consoles cant handle more then 4 screens.

Also we are talking IR vs BlueTooth. IR can support more but the signal between will weaken. BlueTooth is limited currently to 7 devices, but all have the same signal strength.  

I think having more than 4 controllers could be fun in some games, like in SSBB in one of the larger stages, more action-

The extra channels could just be for things like the banance board