A time-honored tradition in the electronics repair business is to make many into one, specifically a stack of broken devices into one that works. So too with a triplet of heavily corroded and bug-infested WiiMote controllers that [eWastelander] dug out of a box of e-waste. After suffering abuse like leaving in leaky alkaline cells, bugs and general corrosion the task was to see whether at least one working WiiMote could be assembled from these three. (Video, embedded below.)
Adding to the fun was that the PCBs in these WiiMotes spanned at least two hardware revisions, and on one board the battery corrosion had caused an IC to fall off. After an initial assessment, neutralizing the battery acid and a deep clean of all the disassembled parts, it was time to give it a shot at reassembly into something resembling a Wii controller you could use and even want to touch without washing your hands afterwards.
Ultimately at least one working WiiMote was put together, with still an open question whether the remaining two units in much worse conditions could be revived in some way. An interesting idea here is to use the WiiMote shells for a custom OpenMote board, which replaces the guts with an ESP32-S3-based system for more general non-Wii things around the house.
Shame they got discarded like that. Wii and its motion controls were peak engineering but the gaming industry didn’t listen.
I remember watching my mother play NES, she would shake and swing the controller around as if it would save mario from death.
I still have 2 wii’s and 4 Wii motes. This seems like a great upgrade, uit they removed the nunchuck port, so that’s a big shame.
think it would have been nice to have a dual purpose placement there. Usb-c for most, the special Wii connector for transplanting things.
Also it would be nice then to have an additional usb-c charging/programming port in the battery compartment. Last wish would be a 2 pin just charging connector … I still have a charging dock, where I can slide the wiimote into, with a custom battery cover having 2 contact plates.
Wishes and all that …