When next-gen technology meets prehistoric practices, we are confronted with the perplexing discovery that, instead of the usual sensor bar normally used to detect the movements of the Wii remote, Nintendo's new console also works with... candles! Before any kind of demystifying explanation, I think you'd better watch some movies that have already popped-up on YouTube - such as this, this or this - in which we are shown why we should always have a couple of candles at hand, just in case.

There have already been several attempts to replace the Wii console's sensor bar, last week, arguably the most notable of them being one that shows how to make your own wireless sensor-bar, by using some regular electronic components. A quite literally enlightened mind took the technological regress even further back in time, all the way to the age of candles! How is such a thing even possible?

Well, basically, all the Wiimote needs in order to "triangulate" its position are a couple of infra-red light sources (those would be the LEDs from the Wii senson bar). But since candles also emit in IR, not just visible light... ta-daaaa, it's a miracle! For a more "live" explanation, check out the second movie, accompanied by the following explanation:

"See the two candles at the top of the TV, I'm gonna use those to make the Wii detect the remote's movements. And as you can see it is clearly detecting them, and quite flawlessly I might add. Reason being, the Wiimote detects the infra-red signals from two candles, and transmits them back to the Wii. The Wii sensor bar has LEDs that emit IR, and basically it's the same thing as having two candles up there. I thought this was pretty cool."

Now that's what I call retro-compatibility!

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)