People say that the pointer isn't accurate and I always wonder what was they talking about because I play a lot of wii games that use the IR and never had a problem.  Now the frame rate can make it jerky( like the James Bond game) or not having the option to change the turn speed can make it hard to walk/run around an area can be a problem (Red Steal) but thats the game not the IR.  Then some people think that motion+ can help but I don't know how?  If the game gives you a good frame rate and the option to change turn speeds, its perfect (MoH, CoD).  Sometimes i think the people that say the IR is bad are bad game players just like how my friend blame his Sony controller for losing on Street Fighter.

What do you think about the IR pointer fuction?

i think that it's something that takes time to get used to. at first i was fumbling around with it, and i had a problem just sellecting stuff on the wii's main menu, but practice (plus the fact that you can sit on your lazy behind and rest your wrist on your lap or something and keep it steadier) have made me relize the ir pointer is almost perfect. it's easy to point at something in a split second and interact with it (like the goo balls in world of goo, the targets in the zelda croosbow game, the 3-d blocks in cubello, or a myriad of other things).

ya, it's mostly the players or the makers of the games problem for crappy ir utilization, though it is a little hard to get used to at first (like the first time you play the wii).

I agree vonbo.  Another thing is placement of the sensor bar.  One of my friend also put his sensor bar next to his tv instead of putting it up or below the tv and another friend of my had a lamp next to his tv which fuck up the pointer.  Both was complaning about the pointer isn't good until i fix their setup for them.

ya i forgot about other sources interfearing with the ir pointer. i have a window in the room i play my wii in, and it always shines the light at me in the late afternoon, and it would interfere with my ir pointer. i put up a sheet over the window though, so it's mostly fixed the problem. it doesn't detect it now unless i point it directly at the window (my sensor bar it just a foot or so to the right of the window.)

people just like to find something to bitch about. and the funniest argument is how they hope that aiming gets better with motion+, lol.

but i have heard that buying another sensor bar and placing it on top of the other makes it work perfect and at a longer distance, so before you bitch try that out. OOH extra money that sucks huh, well you guys all seem to love your big harddrives and installs to make a game better, i doubt it s that much for you to fork over 15 dollars for perfect aiming

The IR pointer is very accurate.

Some things that CAN be an issue if the gamer or developer let them, are the fact that it doesn't necessarily act 1:1 with your TV screen.... ie if you actually look down the length of your remote like a gun barrel it might not be pointing where the on-screen pointer is.

This is not actually a problem unless you are holding the remote up to your face all the time, and in fact makes it easier to use on small screens, where if it was direct pointing it would be too sensitive.

Games that need it to be direct like rail shooters generally have a calibration option to alter it.

The turn speed thing you mentioned is a game mechanic problem, and one I have reason to believe will be fixed with The Conduit from the info seen on the menus.

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The only actual problem with it is that is is affected by other IR light points.... so if the sun reflects off the corner of something shiny toward the Wii remote it can register as a new point of light, which can make the pointer jump across the screen... again this isn't much of a problem and just involves you either not having things that can reflect a point of light below you TV (the 'point of' bit being important) or closing the curtains of something similar.



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Oh yeah, and motion plus will have no effect on the pointer function, because the pointer is more accurate than M+ (it needs to be)

I think much of the issue is set up as some other posters have said. Even little things like having the sensor bar set a little too far back in your home entertainment unit can affect it's responsiveness. Even my good friend who is an avid gamer had failed to set his processor to gamer mode so there was tremendous lag on the IR pointer which i found virtually unplayable.