For anyone unfamiliar with the Nintendo Wii, it's a video game console with a really revolutionary controller. The Wii remote is wireless, about the size of the cork grip on a fly rod handle.
As you move it around in the air it senses the angle that it's held, how fast it's being accelerated, etc. On the Nintendo console you can use it to swing a baseball bat or tennis racquet, golf club, etc. By giving your wrist a twist as you release a bowling ball you can put a spin on it. In short, they've made video games a whole lot of fun, easier and more intuitive, even for people who don't usually play them.
Of course every angler who experiences the Wii starts dreaming of what a fishing game would be like. Imagine a joystick with no base- you just hold the stick which isn't attached to anything, and treat it like the handle of your fishing rod. There is a version of a Rapala game for the Wii, but from reviews I've seen it sounds it was a poor game made for other systems and the Wii version isn't any better (one review gave it 3.0 out of 10).
The good news is the Wii's amazing remote control is a bluetooth device. That means that with the right device driver and a bluetooh-enabled PC, the remote could work with any PC software. A clever programmer developed a flexible driver system called GlovePIE, which can read the input Wii remote and use it to emulate a mouse or joystick. I've been working on a custom GlovePIE script to work with RWFF, and it's working quite well now.
So this is a call for beta testers - I'd like a few more people to try this out before I include this in an update of the game. To be a tester you must have (or be willing to acquire):
1 -Real World Fly Fishing - Third Edition (full version)
2 - A Wii remote (available separately for $40-$50 USD, but a complete Wii system is a great buy for $250)
3 - A bluetooth-enabled computer (you can get a USB adapter for about $30 to add bluetooth to your computer if you have an available USB 2.0 port)
If you have all of the above (or can get it) and would like to try this out, please send me an e-mail at paul@pishtech.com and I'll get you some files you'll need.
Paul
PS - Some links:
The bluetooth adapter I use is available here: http://us.kensington.com/html/9403.html
GlovePIE is available here: http://carl.kenner.googlepages.com/glovepie_download
"Nintendo" and "Wii" are trademarks of Nintendo. Pishtech does not claim and does not intend to imply any endorsement, sponsorship or other affiliate with Nintendo. We just think they've created an awesome line of products.
