Wii Broke It

It is with a heavy heart that we bring you this special weekend report. When PopSci's Wii arrived last week, it didn't spend too much time in the box. Ripped open without any hesitation, our little Wii gave us a long Friday's worth of furious Wii Sports and Excite Truck action at PopSci HQ. But then, it was time for it to go off to a photo shoot, where its fate would be sealed.

The plan was simple: carefully disassemble the little white box and controllers for a detailed inside look, then re-assemble it with ease and get back to where we left off, working up a sweat bludgeoning our little cartoon selves in Wii Sports Boxing. But the Wii proved to be one tough nut to crack. Due to Nintendo's special proprietary screws, we had to resort to brute force. And in the process of doing so, our precious white beacon of joy was rendered unplayable, forever.

But in the interest of making the best of a decidedly horrific situation, we figured it best to finish the job with a full, heart-wrenching disassembly. Here we bring you a visual record of our Wii's autopsy— put on your recording of bagpipes playing "Taps," get out your hankies, and click here to launch the gallery. Sniff. —John Mahoney

Comments

[Josh]

You know, you *can* buy those screwdrivers for about $8 - if you know where to look.

[Nick]

I can't believe you didn't know that you should have stopped taking it apart when the screws weren't coming off easily.

That's the most idiotic way to waste a high amount of money, when you could go buy a cheap screwdriver to fix it.

Pathetic.

[anonymous]

why is it rendered useless? couldn't you just run it open-cased?

[INAFAN]

ISTED AND ANDY!

[neutrino]

is there anyway that i can get the piece that you destroyed it into i will take them off of your hands if you do not want them.

[Some Other Guy]

I'm to pay to subscribe to PopSci, and it can't properly disassemble an electronic device without completely destroying it?

Shame on you, get some real technicians. I'll be looking to a real technical site like hackaday for my disassembly, in the future.

[Nick]

I'm sorry for being a total moron. I was being a pathetic emo fuck earlier and I want to apologize for my idiocy.

Please accept the apologies of this pathetic internet thug. :(

[lolnintendo]

That looks like a nice 25 dollars worth of technology right there.

[jwigum]

I still don't see what the fatal mistake was. A "broken" ribbon cable or connector? Replace it...

[randy the sachs]

what the hell makes adam the skinner so damn special that he gets some of j.r.'s bar-b-que sause before me.... i am still very very upset aboot that

[Luke]

Where is the RAM located?

[zorikin]

Hey, the GPU is bigger than the CPU. That's interesting.

[adam skinner]

randy the sachs, the ram is located beside my nice bottle of J.R's Bar-B-QUE sauce.....

[Mark Neri]

Nintendo used the same type of screws for most of their consoles and cartridges. Still, being PopSci, I expected you to have had the right screwdriver at hand already, or, at least, tried to look for one. Opening a new console by brute force? Tsk, tsk. Next time, don't get so excited!

[Jordan T-H]

Hah! And they're laughing at the commenters knowing they have job security for selling mad ad space :)

[Tyler]

Is it just me, or is the Wii the size of the Heat sink for the Ps3?

[JeremyR]

Well, the Wii really is nothing more than a turbocharged Gamecube (like 50% faster) - it doesn't need to be very big.

[Maniac]

The looks of the plastic casing are not very promising, it looks cheap. PS3 showed off in that segment.

[L_A_G]

Well this pretty much proves it, with technology, brute force isn't the answer.

Anyway intresting pictures, but still it's a shame to see a good console being literally ripped apart.

[Jew... WETI]

It's good you broke it. If I can't have one neither should you! I'm sooo jealous.

[Boon]

Posted by: Luke | November 19, 2006 at 12:23 AM

Hey, the GPU is bigger than the CPU. That's interesting.

------

Ever looked at a computer?

[K405]

John Mahoney,

Ur a fucking moron... Sjeez..

[Jake]

Why do you guys all care so much if he broke it? Haven't you made a mistake or ever done something without the right tools? I know I have and it's not like he planned on breaking it. And it's not like it cost them anything anyway. Besides, it makes the article a little more interesting than the average "Here's the inside of a Wii..."

[Scipio]

Wow. Renamed: Popular Tech Screwups.

[Andy]

"Why do you guys all care so much if he broke it? Haven't you made a mistake or ever done something without the right tools? I know I have"

Then you're an idiot too. How can someone start a job KNOWING they have the wrong tools for it and not expect to break it? Sure, I've made a mistake here and there, but not because I was a fool and tried to open something without the right tools.

It would be one thing if this was done by some no-name amateur (and thus far it appears so), but this is someone who works for popular-fucking-science. If anyone should be anal about getting something done right with the correct tools, you'd THINK it would be them.....

[CelerityFM]

Ok, so the controllers, where's the disassembly pics???? :P

[Ryan]

Instead of being a know-it-all dick to people here Andy, just enjoy the pictures. It doesn't matter what he could have or shouldn't have done. Nor does anyone care that you're perfect.

The point of this article is to show off the inside of the Wii, and he did just that, regardless of any mistakes made. I enjoyed the pictures.

[RocketMBA]

Is it possible that you could confirm the type of RAM chips used, as either Hynix or Samsung? I've heard conflicting reports.

[Xaridet]

The wifi-antennas look kinda crappy.

[cubeboy101]

its all fine and dandy talking the talk but i want answers i.e weres the ram is it external gddr3 dout it mosys stated 1t sram-r on hollywood and external so were is it

is the access ram still there or not does hollywood house 1tsrtam-r edram cell etc etc etc etc

i still feel specs are

hollywood 3mb 1t sram-r
holywood 24mb 1tsram-r

external 64mb 1tsram-r

16mb access ram

512mb flash drive

[cubeboy101]

the close up of cpu/gpu shows tightly intergrated design maybe some kind of phat bandwidth fsb/northbridge going on i bet theres a healthy chunk of 1tsram-r edram under the hollywood hood WORLDS BEST RAM =yum

[Pete]

I would have like to know how to take it apart the right way in addition to knowing what was in it.

[jesus]

What a dumbass! Seriously, maybe you should find job somewhere else, because you don't know shit about anything.. broke the consol, good job idiot. As for the pics, Wii doesn't look like very promising. They brag about their motion control and crap, but inside it looks like they have rushed it or doesn't really know much about anything. Nintendo has been shit for years now, why can't you fanboys just admit that its time is long gone?

[Cameron M.]

i kno you guys dont get payed to get anyones aproval, but hell sometimes the only way you learn is by just diving right in and thats wut they did. and juss to let everyone know

popular science is the shit.

[...]

Doesnt your magazine have an advert for "security" bits...haven't you guys think of actually going to your adverts to get screwdrivers of opening that damn box??? and even if it didnt open...you guys didnt have to use brute force...just take a dremel and burn out the damn heads of the screws...

[...]

Doesnt your magazine have an advert for "security" bits...haven't you guys think of actually going to your adverts to get screwdrivers of opening that damn box??? and even if it didnt open...you guys didnt have to use brute force...just take a dremel and burn out the damn heads of the screws...

[...]

Doesnt your magazine have an advert for "security" bits...haven't you guys think of actually going to your adverts to get screwdrivers of opening that damn box??? and even if it didnt open...you guys didnt have to use brute force...just take a dremel and burn out the damn heads of the screws...

[...]

Doesnt your magazine have an advert for "security" bits...haven't you guys think of actually going to your adverts to get screwdrivers of opening that damn box??? and even if it didnt open...you guys didnt have to use brute force...just take a dremel and burn out the damn heads of the screws...

[Bowii]

A simple pen would've opened it, anyway that's what they claim at engadget.

[teutonic]

do you guys seriously think that they cared if they broke it or not? they basically got this wii for free on pop sci's bill.

[dirk]

what about a detailed description and comment on the inside of the box.
Only some photos hardly make up for the trashing of the wii.

[Struis112]

hhehehehehe even i could open it without breaking it

[Lex]

"The wifi-antennas look kinda crappy."
Yeah, for something that the user never sees, they should at least have used gold-plated black pimped composite PCBs instead of ordinary yet perfectly good working standard PCBs.

[WarriorRocker]

More or less it looks like an external optical drive with a cpu/gpu. But Nintendo is right to make it simple as video game consoles have gotten more advanced and complicated it will be nice to see how the wii fares.

As to the wifi antenna's I see no reason why they are not fine as is. The wifi antenna theory and calculations to get a good wifi antenna are quite complicated. Just because you have a bigger antenna does not mean you will get a better signal. And it also seems that the engineers gave you both antennas one horizontal and the other vertical to try and create a complete coverage sphere around the console.

And common guys, give these people a break. Even if they had the right tools a number of things could have gone wrong. I know I came here because I got to see wii pics not because I cared about the actual wii they disected.

[Callum]

I'd have drilled the heads of the screws then pulled it apart.

[agit]

YAY!!!!

the finger pointing "alpha-nerds" are out in full force here too.....

For the record, just because you are "anonymous" doesn't mean you have the right to not be civil.

It's people that are posting these comments that make me HATE working in the tech industry.

BTW, seeing the insides of this was cool whether you broke it or not. To the posters, who cares whether it got broken or not, did *YOU* pay for the console? Was it *yours*, if not what's the big freaking deal?

[Thomas Wrobel]

"Due to Nintendo's special proprietary screws, we had to resort to brute force. And in the process of doing so, our precious white beacon of joy was rendered unplayable, forever."

You could you know, get a gamebit screwdriver, theres plenty of places that sale them. (assumeing the wii uses one of Nintendos previous screw types)

[ivan]

Im jelous, i didnt get the wii.
i enjoyed the pics, its nice
ill give you a dollar for the broken console(maybe 2 dollars :)

[khu]

got the right driver here from my GBA Afterburner kit.

[Patrix]

http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/18/mini-how-to-make-a-tool-to-breach-nintendos-security-screws/

;-) /Patrix

[Mike]

You know Pop Sci had ads for security bit sets in the classified at the back of the magazine...oh right...I am sure you knew that already :)

Mike

[User]

Cool to see the guts and bolts of this machine. Nothing impressive, but interesting none-the-less. Good work...

[arcano]

MY LORD!!! it's true you can open the damn thing with just a stupid pen!!!!!! what's wrong with these guys????? i'm affraid to ask what kind of tool they would use to brake in to a nuclear bomb!!!!!

[NewbPwner]

wii got pwned

[Keith]

Nice work guys,

I appreciated the effort of good journalism and getting the story out in a timely manner. To all you whiners out there Shut Up (oh that poor broken Wii… Blah!!!), it’s not like they paid for it. POPSCI paid for it, if anyone paid for it. And I’m sure the guys would never do that to a Wii that they personally owned. With that said, why not have a little fun if you can’t get it open, and the purpose was to get the story to all of us readers first and for most (Thanks guys). Don’t any of you (the whiner)guys remember breaking open one of your first Hot Wheels just to see how it was put together, come on you know you do.

Always remember to have a little fun

[dtronb]

you know what whould be a cool video game is one that you play the roll of a technician and you can take apart electronic equipment.

But really what a cool job taking s*&t apart how do I get that job

[Wiilly]

you are the worst website in the history of internet, i will be reporting you to nintendo for destroying a great project, this machine was made to have fun with not to break or take apart and reveal the innards.

some things in life should not be messed with. when your website fails i hope you will look at this as the turning point

[ugboots]

Wiilly: You're going to report them? Heavens, no! Not the wrath of Nintendo who can't do anything against people opening their products and breaking them in the process! Duh.

I don't understand how you broke it (surely it can be played outside of the plastic case?), but it looks interesting inside :)

[Gil]

LOL some of the u guys r serious tards, so what if the guy broke it? ..isit yours? no? he's showing the inside of Wii & he's done so.

Woo report him to Nintendo, big deal like Nintendo would care?

Take a chill pill & calm down

[Cookie Monster]

I've wanted to do that to my PS2 for years but i like videogames too much. Maybe you could take apart a PSP or PS3 sometime. Great Job! No really i find it fascinating to see what's inside things like that! I also love the magazine

[Christian]

This is how to disassemble a WII properly:

www.smashmywii.com

[1marine]

i'm betting they say they broke it and can't fix it so they can fix it and keep it, a ribbon cable isn't that hard to fix. i've had worse. I would do the same.

[peter]

theres no reason to go crazy because they broke the casing, just make a new case out of Plexiglas or if its beyond reassembly give it to a hacker as a gift.

[half a brain]

why don't all of you morons move out of mom's basement and get a job. And for those who have a job, get a life and spend less time in a game world. To popsci: please kill a PS3 and a 360 for me. P.S. to those here who are married and angry about the death of the wii,find out who your wife is screwing while your playing games!!

[Alex]

Posted by: CelerityFM | November 19, 2006 at 12:22 PM

Instead of being a know-it-all dick to people here Andy, just enjoy the pictures. It doesn't matter what he could have or shouldn't have done. Nor does anyone care that you're perfect.

The point of this article is to show off the inside of the Wii, and he did just that, regardless of any mistakes made. I enjoyed the pictures.
************************************************
I totally agree! Andy, your a ass, and let me say this:, you've probably never broken anything because you're to stupid to even attempt to take something apart. Besides, at least it wasn't a $600 PS3.

[Adonis]

Nintendo is probably a little sad that the Wii got opened, but if it means that anyone needs to buy a second Wii, I'm sure they'll get over it. In fact, they probably would like it if a few more people ruined them. So anyone that didn't get enough info from these pictures, go ahead and break one of your own. Nintendo is behind you 100%, as long as you get another one.

[the guy sitting back]

Wii rules suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is their wii so fuck them.

they sould have the right tools

[john]

heh, wow, popsci, i really didnt think that you, of all people, would screw up a wii like that. pretty sad showing from your crew. *tsk tsk*

[ChrisS]

Maybe they SAID that they broke it so that they didn't have to provide instructions for modders?

[nduriri]

Since the gravitomagnetic force component Fg is not radial, it exerts a moment of force on the two-body system. This moment of force is negative during half cycle A and positive during half cycle B. This moment of force induces a negative rate of change of momentum known as torque during half cycle A and positive one during half cycle B. Thus an alternating torque, hence an alternating rate of change of angular momentum of the two-body system. There is no conservation of angular momentum as stated by the Newton law. The positive moment of force is always greater than the negative one. This explains the mercury perihelion advance. For more details see gravitational waves radiation www.gravitomagnetism.com

[yoda]

yoda kicks *** arrrrrrrggggghhhhh die sith lord.

[darth vader]

die you green booger... take this and ouch.. that was my light saber arm. da** you.

[Whats Itmatter]

I am disturbed that Popular Science Mag. is now going neanderthal. Any fool can smash and break things.
If only PopSci still hired those type of people who could actually solve problems, design stuff, and show kids how to build things (affordably, easily, & simply).
All the while showing pics of the latest aircraft/tank/missle/sub/shuttle or whatever.

Picture 7 clearly shows damage caused by a screw pulled through the plastic brace.

If I'd known PopSci couldn't afford tamper resistant drivers, I would have donated mine to you in the name of science, as I no longer work in the electronics repair field.

I mean Popular Science Magazine had a hands-on, do-all, we-can-do-it-right, kind of reputation.
Now PSM is resorting to chest-beating curio-tainment?

Why?

[psychosmoka]

i want to viciously kill you, "Whatsitmatter..."

[psychosmoka]

my bad, actually i want to viciously kill ben johnson

[Eehaw]

Did you see a red sticker on any of the components? About the size of a small coin. When I removed a disc from the slot a small red sticker was sitting in the rubber slot.

[dazzi]

Wii uses
64mb "External" DDR 3 ram by samsung smae type of ram used in the Xbox 360.
It has another 24mb "Internal" 1T-Sram Bult into Hollywood GPU
3mb Texture ram
N I think It was 3mb for controling the Audio and Disc Drive.

[ILikeXbox360]

I do like the Wii console, but I personally like Xbox 360 better. PS3 can go to hell and suck ass!

[el granto magnifico]

if you want to waste money better and easier i suggest investing in the stock market while selling much lower than you bought in at.
you can also give it to me so I can spend it on lots and lots of bubblegum. mmmmmm bubblegum and corn.

[future gadgets]

I have xbox, but after try wii, I don't even bother to play my xbox again. what did you do with those piece of wii anyway ?

[ROSE, IWH]

nice pictures, will help me when i chip mine.. ;)
Rose, I Was Here Crew!!

[Matthew Corgan]

It doesn't look too bad in the picture.

I can't believe they spent 2 million on the plastic sleeves for the wii remotes. You can get it by phone request with product number.

I have an original nintendo blog that might interest you at http://classicvideogamereviews.blogspot.com/
Just wanted to say enjoyed your post though.

[John]

This might come off as spam, but it is not intended to do so. I was just having some trouble finding a wii for my son and well me as well lol. And I found a site which displaysall available wii's and other gaming systems.
http://www.wiihaveconsoles.com

[liza]

My child saw the picture of the broken wii and started crying. Please take it down.

[Some dude]

"We point out faults in people not because they have faults, but because their faults are different from ours." That's a quote from somebody, can't really remember who...

['BB]

We love our Wii. It was in the shop for over two weeks with shipping times and we are so glad it finally got home today. I can't imagine deliberately breaking one but it was interesting to see the innards. We never heard what needed to be repaired on ours, we just know there were vertical lines throughout the screen in most Wii disk games like Twilight Princess and Tiger Woods '08, making game play a challenge at times. It's a shame you didn't have the right screwdriver, guys.

[Steve Smith]

I think I would cry if I saw my Wii like that, although it is good to see what makes up the wii.

The question is can you put it back together again?! :)

[Jebs House]

I'm not sure what the hold-up is... maybe they have re-thought their stance on how this is going to actually make the company any money. Or perhaps their lawyers pointed out the liability of providing agents a platform to stick their feet in their mouth. Whatever it is, it's hardly something I'd claim as being "Well done".
www.jebshouse.com

[Online Penny Slots]

Great blog with good advice, useful information and superb commentary! Thanks for sharing.