Thanks to the wonder of eBay, I have now obtained a Wii Cooling Fan. This USB powered unit sits nicely on the back of your Wii, and according to the packaging, Cooling the Console off and prolonging console life, is what its designed to do. That sounds fair enough perhaps, but wait, it also claims that it will Lower the controller temperature effectively, so then you can play games smoothly. Well does it make games play smoothly? To check out this “”unbelievable”" technical breakthrough, read on.
Full Review inside First off, the Wii probably doesnt even need one of these. While the console can get a little warm, it never reaches a level anywhere near over heating. In standby mode, the heat that you feel from the console is caused by the Wifi running which wont really benefit from a fan of any sorts.
The fan operates simply enough, it comes with two USB ports on the back and sits above your cables, flushed with the outline of the Wii and only protruding about 1 centre meters from the back. While it does take up two USB spots, it does give one back with a pass through on the side.
So enough about what it looks like; does it actually work? Well, actually yes it does! Sitting right over the back fan, the Wii Cooling Fan sucks out the air rather well. When the Wii is left on for a while without the Wii Cooling Fan the air comes out warm, however, 20 minutes after the fan goes back on, the expelled air is coming out a little cooler once more.
So the fan works, it looks alright and you can still use the USB, so whats bad about it? Well for one its noisy, producing about the same amount of noise as an Xbox 360 at full tilt, which to be honest is quite distracting. The Wii is a pretty quiet console, (except when reading the disk constantly) however the fan makes the console very loud and to not notice it you would have to put it in your entertainment unit and firmly shut the door. The funny thing is that it also stays on even when the unit is in standby. If you want to turn it off, you will need to unplug it or turn off the Wii completely, meaning you would have to turn off Wifi.
The other negative point is just the concept of it. Ever since the 360 came out and began to overheat, the whole idea of the cooling fan took off. The availability of these products causes panic and a sense of impending doom such that people think, Oh I need one so I dont blow up my console. In the case of the Wii however, unless you live in a desert or have the Wii tucked up in a hot entertainment unit, we really cant recommend this.
If you want one of these head over to Ebay and type in “”Wii Cooling Fan”" there is plenty of them for reasonable prices.
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