Wii sensor question

[IronBuddha]

I'm late to the modern gaming times but I recently bought a Wii. I have a question since I'm new to this concerning the sensor bar. When using the controller as a pointer it's jittery and makes it a little hard to use for point and shoot games or even just as a cursor function. I sit back about 12 feet away from my Wii, it's displayed on a 47in lcd and I've tried the sensor bar on top and bottom of the screen with the same problem.
At first I was a little disappointed thinking this is the way the system is, but when I watch videos of game play (from regular people not Nintendo themselves ) I notice their cursor moves nice and smooth.
So the question I have is, Any suggestions on what I can do to fix this issue? I am aware of the candle trick but I don't like that idea of fire near my electronics. Also would something like the wireless/ultra sensor bars I see I could buy help me out significantly? I understand the drawbacks of them, that they use batteries and you have power them on and off manually etc. But would they make a difference and which one would you suggest?

[incubus421]

I am assuming you bought a brand new Wii as opposed to a used one?
The only time I have ever seen jittery pointers from a Wii has been with older Wii's that have seen some playtime. The fact that this may have come out of the box jittery throws up a red flag for me and I would definitely contact Nintendo or try to exchange it as soon as possible.

As far as the wirless sensor bars, I definitely recommend the long Ultra brand one you can get. I have sold tons of these and cannot remember but 1 or 2 ever coming back defective.

Also I'm sure you've done this but maybe getting a little closer would help. The cursor will definitely jump if you start getting out of range. That being said, I have a 42in lcd and play anywhere from 5ft to 12ft+ away and I definitely get better results being a little closer. The wireless senosr bars should correct this as well though as they are claimed to have further range.

Hope this helps.

[aboblyndsae]

Does your TV have a black reflective surface, or is your sensor bar placed on or near a reflective surface? This can cause jitteriness.

[IronBuddha]

Incubus it's new right out of the box. And getting close wasn't really helping either, that's why I was a bit worried.

aboblyndsae thanks for the info, that was the problem. I have the bar sitting on my Blu Ray player and it's shiny black. I had my girlfriend hold it "mid air" and instantly it worked. The top of the LCD is also shiny black and would explain that as well. Eh it looks like I have to mount it to the wall with that double sided tape it came with, I'll figure out a way to not make it look so "rigged".

Thanks guys for the help!

[YoshiM]

Does your TV have a black reflective surface, or is your sensor bar placed on or near a reflective surface? This can cause jitteriness.

And another thank you. I have a similar problem with my 46" Sony Bravia. The face is reflective and the top of the TV stand is black shiny glass. That explains a lot when trying to play Goldeneye or the Sam & Max games. Might have to glue my wireless bar on the wood that faces the couch.

[ProgrammingAce]

There are a number of things that can cause jitters with the sensor bar. Main outside factors are bright sunlight, fluorescent lights, candles and anything that emits infra-red. Pointing the wiimote at a bright window is generally a bad idea.

[IronBuddha]

I have another newbie question I'll ask here instead of making a whole new thread.

My sister doesn't have a wii anymore but still has the memory card with whatever WiiWare and Virtual Console downloads she bought. She said I can have it but before I do I wanted to know will they work on my Wii? And could it cause my Wii to get locked out?

[Leo_A]

It won't do anything to your Wii. But they won't play on anything but the Wii that made the purchase.

[IronBuddha]

It won't do anything to your Wii. But they won't play on anything but the Wii that made the purchase.

Damn, I kinda thought so for piracy reasons. Well thanks for the fast response!

[Nz17]

Remember, you can adjust the Wii remotes' sensitivity from within the Wii's options menu. If your pointers are having jitters or shakiness, lower the sensitivity in the options. The lower it is, the more it ignores. Just keep dropping it until you don't have it seeing anything but the two lights from the sensor bar.

Personally, I had the sensor bar picking up strong sunbeams one morning that were causing the pointer to go crazy. I thought the batteries were dying or leaking acid into the remote causing damage, but as it turned out it was just extra infrared noise from the sunshine.