You know when it tells you to "point the wiimote at the screen"? FALSE. You gotta point it at the Sensor bar not the screen. I know it's just assuming that you placed the Sensor bar above/below the screen but why? Please discuss.
But still, It doesn't work like a NES Zapper. People might point it at the screen and say "The cursor isn't where it's supposed to be" There is no problem. It's just a rant.
I understand your point. For games like Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword (LOZ- SS), I hack the game and replace the text ("screen") with ("Sensor bar"). Problem solved. You will have to do the same since Nintendo will never bother to fix it themselves. Moreover, the MotionPlus facility will probably not be reintroduced on the Wii U until much later; thus, you do not have to worry about this "rant" for the newer Nintendo consoles.
Plus, It says in the manual that you don't put any light-emitting devices near the sensor bar so as to not interfere with the signal. Light-emitting devices like THE TV SCREEN FOR EXAMPLE ???
The TV is emitting visible light into a narrow conical region in front of it. The sensor bar is in approximately the same location as the TV and facing the same direction, therefore the light traveling away from the TV is also traveling away from from the sensor bar, therefore it is not getting picked up by the sensor bar, which does not use visible light anyway. If there was a mirror in front of the tv/sensor bar that would change things.
The sensor bar doesn't pick up signals. It emits infrared rays and the wiimote picks 'em up. The sensor bar is misnamed. They're the other way around. Actually, if you turn the sensor bar to face the screen nothing would happen. It's the wiimote that does the receiving. Lamps do, which the manual says don't put 'em near it. So why not the TV? That wouldn't change anything actually since the sensor bar doesn't pick up anything. There would just be no cursor. The only thing that would do is block the wiimote from the sensor bar if you put it in between them.
saher1175, infrared radiation is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which releases hyper-red colored light such that it is invisible. In our common language, we refer to such type of radiation as "heat radiation". Technically, all non-absolute zero temperature objects release infrared radiation. However, the Wii Remote (Wiimote) and Sensor Bar system is manufactured in a specific way that it detects and interprets certain discrete packages of this type of invisible light. The television, your Wii, and even your body does not release sufficient infrared rays at the Sensor Bar to perturb the signals. On the other hand, a lamp typically releases large quantities of heat (lamps being referred to inefficient lamps which emit high infrared radiation). These invisible lights are adequate to interfere with proper Wiimote functioning. Thus, lamps must not be located near the Wiimote to interfere with signals.