When I got the Nintendo Wii I was just like anyone…really excited. I waited in line outside the Nintendo store, and was lucky enough to get one.  This was roughly two years ago.  My excitement died off really quickly. The reality is that the Wii just didn’t have very many good games (Wii Sports and WarioWare were the exceptions).

But this past Holiday season changed all of that.  I got both Boom Blox and Mario Kart Wii.  Boom Blox is an amazing game…kinda like Jenga but on your TV, but when it comes down to it Mario Kart Wii might be the best game that Nintendo has to offer.

We have been playing Mario Kart pretty much nonstop, and to my dismay klk beats me almost every time (9 times out of 10). Our game play was interrupted last weekend when my Kart would no longer turn.  The Wii Mote buttons worked, and the pointer could point at the screen and I could select things, but my kart would not turn.

After some Google Searching I found out that the Wii Mote uses something called an Accelerometer.

The Accelerometer basically measure your turning of the Wii Mote by sensing the angle that you are holding it, and in the case of Mario Kart which direction your Kart turns.  As you can tell this is a pretty essential element of the game.

The Wii Mote cost roughly $40, and I was afraid that I was going to have to buy a new one.  But help came in the form of the internet.  Apparently the Accelerometer in my Wii Mote was stuck.  I  read that if you whack the Wii Mote buttons down on your palm that it will dislodge the Accelerometer.

So I tried it. After a couple whacks on my palm my Mario Kart was turning again!  I couldn’t believe that the fix could be something so simple and primitive.  I was afraid that I would break it more so, but in the end all the remote needed was some violence.

If this ever happens  you now know how to fix it.

In Nintendo news: they are looking at upgrading the Accelerometer with a newer, faster, more sensitive version.

Photo by anescient via flickr