When the Nintendo Wii came out in 2006, the little black bar that sat on top of your TV didn’t look like much.
Featured VideoBut without it, the Wii Remote’s motion controls didn’t work properly, which meant no bowling strikes or Mario Kart shortcuts.
Turns out, though, the bar is a lot simpler than people think—and one TikTok shows you don’t even need it.
TikTok creator James Elliot (@jamescastiglione) posted a clip of his son discovering that a pair of candles works just as well as the real sensor bar. The video has been viewed over 2.4 million times.
AdvertisementKid discovers way to use candles as Wii sensor bar
“Explain to me what you just made,” James asks his son at the start of the video.
“Okay, so on the Wii, they usually have a sensor bar that… all it does is it radiates infrared light,” the boy explains. “And the Wii Remote detects infrared light. Candles also let out infrared light. So what we did is we set two candles perfectly away from each other, basically emulating what a sensor bar… official 1 would do.”
He points his Wii Remote at the TV to demonstrate. “Because it’s radiating infrared light, I can point it, I can select which character. Mario, go here.”
Advertisement“You made your own sensor bar,” James says.
@jamescastiglione #iwastodayyearsold #infraredlight #scienceexperiments #scienceiscool #wiiremote #wiihacker #dolphin #wii #mariocartwii #nintendo ♬ original sound – JamesElliot
“Basically made my own sensor bar,” the boy confirms. “Yep. Out of candles.”
By the end of the clip, he’s clicking through menus without any problem. “So now I can play,” he says, clearly pleased. His dad laughs: “That is so awesome.”
AdvertisementThis has been around a while
While the video feels like a brand-new hack, longtime Nintendo fans know this trick has been floating around for years. A Reddit post from nine years ago describes the exact same candle method, noting that the Wii Remote only needs infrared light to lock on.
In the comments, people were both impressed and amused.
“This kid is using ancient technology with modern technology,” one person wrote.
Another joked, “So they’ve been selling us a fancy set of candles.”
Others admitted they were blown away by the simplicity: “I don’t think I’m smart enough to comprehend how smart this is.”
But a few called it old news: “Like, ancient news. People were doing this when the Wii came out.”
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