How to Turn Your Steam Deck into a Wii

I've never owned a Wii. I moved to the Xbox side and played Call of Duty and NCAA Football with my mates, thus missing the excitement of it. If you'd like, you can learn more about my gaming history here. In 2020, I decided to purchase a Wii to mod. After the excitement of seeing all the games subsided, I sold it after playing it for a short while. After all these years, I was still missing it somehow.

The Steam Deck does a great job of playing the Wii collection, and occasionally, you can locate community profiles or map the controls yourself to get a good Wii mote simulation. But let's face it, the experience isn't the same. As a fun docked experience, I wanted to see if it was possible to map the Wii Mote to the Steam Deck. And guess what? Yes, you can! I'll provide instructions on how to accomplish this independently and share my personal experience. I can create a Steam Wii if Andrew can make a Steam DS.

Setting It Up

Dolphin is already configured on your Steam Deck. If not, you can download Dolphin from the Discovery shop or investigate EmuDeck. We are concentrating on the Wiimotes today, so that guide is for another time.

I first switched to desktop mode (steam button, power, switch to desktop mode) for my sanity. Because of this, using the trackpads rather than the touch screen is more convenient. If you'd like, you can also connect a keyboard and mouse. I opened Dolphin after this was loaded. Once you're in Dolphin, select Options from the top menu. You must then select Controller Settings under Options.

Once you're on this screen, scroll down to the "Wii Remotes" section in the second part of the selections. You can choose how many Wii Remotes to set up here. Go ahead and put up four if you have four! I only selected one for my purposes. Choose the Real Wii Remote option from the drop-down menu where it says Wii Remote. Additionally, I chose to enable continuous scan and speaker data.

Make sure your Steam Deck's Bluetooth is turned on now. Holding down the 1 and 2 buttons on your Wii Remote until it begins to flash will put it in pairing mode. It will only illuminate under the controller with which it is paired when it has read your Steam Deck. Try pressing the sync button on the rear if this troubles you. Additionally, I could pair it using the Gaming Mode Bluetooth options.

Setting Up a Sensor Bar

Consider a Motion Bar now. The Wiimote controller contains an infrared sensor, and the sensor bar consists of two infrared LEDs that the Wiimote can detect. I made a low-cost USB variant, which you may get at the URL below. To begin the procedure, you only need to connect it to a power source. There is no need for setup or configuration.

Suppose you want to use motion in your games but don't have a sensor bar. Now, allow me to present a rather impractical solution. Instead, use two little candles! Since tea candles were cheap, I utilized them. The Wiimote can read the infrared lights from the candles if you position them around the same distance away as a sensor bar. This might be a fun party trick, but I wouldn't recommend it as a long-term fix.

Setting Up Wii Menu and Mii

If you want the authentic Wii experience, you can create your own Miis and configure the Wii menu! Go to Tools in Dolphin and choose Perform Online System Update to accomplish this. To finish, select the region you are in. Return to Tools after the update, then choose Load Wii System Menu 4.3U.

Once this is open, you must configure the device as though it were a real Wii when it first turned on. You can select the Mii Creation option after the setup is complete. You can create as many Mii characters as you like here, and they will be kept for usage on your smartphone!

Testing

Mario Galaxy was the first game I tested. At the first prompt that appeared on the screen, I was instructed to attach a nunchuk to the Wiimote. Now, it was fate's turn to check if it would hold up. The Nunchuk was identified as soon as I plugged it in. After the game started, I could control Mario with the nunchuck and even gather star bits with the Wiimote movements. It went smoothly and was effective!

I then chose Wario Land: Shake It to experiment with more motion choices. Even though the Wiimote is sideways in this game, you still need to try utilizing motion to aim while grabbing characters to toss. It worked flawlessly again! The controls were excellent, and the game was flawless to play.

I also had to play a game that is all motion. I decided to play Dragon Quest Swords: The Tower of Mirrors and the Masked Queen. You must swing your sword to play this first-person Dragon Quest game. This game also ran smoothly on the Steam Wii. The game was fully playable, and every gesture was precise.

To play Wii Sports Bowling with my wife, I finally decided to attach a second Wiimote. I paired another controller by returning to the Dolphin menu, and it connected without any issues. My wife and I had a great time bowling, and the game brought back fond memories. Seeing our Miis, which we made, compete was entertaining.

Overall

This was a fantastic experience. As if I needed another excuse to utilize my Steam Deck, I am thrilled to have another one. What better way to play the Wii? HDMI and upscaling eliminate the need for another system to clog your entertainment centre! I'm eager to continue exploring and playing more games I could never play. Additionally, it functions flawlessly when docked.

According to reviews, the third-party Wiimotes on Amazon aren't too awful if you need one. One is available below. Additionally, you can look at eBay or your neighbourhood gaming store. Because of its widespread popularity, it shouldn't be too hard to locate a Wii.