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Wii Classic Controller Gets a GameCube Makeover
Posted by Mark Wilson at 12:30 AM on November 19, 2008
The Hori Classic Controller isn't just a Wavebird knockoff for the Wii. It's a strange amalgamation between the old and new, borrowing the iconic Wavebird formfactor while simultaneously swapping those ridiculous Wavebird controls for the more practical 4-button setup from the SNES/Classic Controller and a pair of dual analogue sticks reminiscent of the Xbox 360. In other words, it looks chunky and fantastic. The $US30 Hori Classic Controller will be available for import soon...but the baby blue finish is killing us. [Play-Asia via OhGizmo]
As a result of Nintendo's loss in court to a Texas-based company called Anascape, the judge ruled that all sales of the Wii Classic Controller and the GameCube controller need to be temporarily halted until funds can be placed into an escrow account. What's the impact on you, Joe or Dan Consumer? Starting today, July 23, all sales of those controllers AND GameCube systems will be placed on hold, meaning that you should really try and find a place to buy these accessories now if you need them soon. On the bright side, Nintendo's Nunchuck controller isn't affected by this ruling about analogue sticks, so you're safe if you just want to play Wii games. [
A federal jury has ordered Nintendo to pay Anascape US$21 million for infringing on patents, and almost ironically, all of this has nothing to do with the Wiimote. Instead, their violations were for the GameCube, WaveBird and Wii Classic controllers. The news doesn't come as any huge surprise, as during the last generation of consoles all three of the big manufacturers found themselves in hot 
Why Nintendo's releasing a new wired controller after they discontinued the wonderful 
Long before the Pixar movie hits the big screen this summer, a group of German modders have been inspired by Wall-E's cuteness to take an old and unloved Nintendo GameCube and some scraps of metal and acrylic, and put together a sweet mod that looks just like the little robot himself. It even has tank treads and a flip-down shutter, like Wall-E's, over the Gamecube's ports. Frankly, its so loveably "realistic" that we're pre-emptively sniffly, imagining what the movie will be like. [
If you're going to turn a Nintendo Gamecube into a handheld portable device, you should really spend a little more effort than this man here. Geekologie doesn't have any details on it, but as you can see, whoever did this just broke a regular GC controller in half, soldered some holes into a piece of plastic, lobotomised a portable DVD player and blended them all together. The result can only be described as something the OLPC's intended market would not want. [
Although the GameCube didn't really advance the gaming world in any giant steps on the software side, it did introduce to us the fact that a wireless controller cannot suck. The wireless Wavebird controller, which eliminated wires in living rooms everywhere (not really everywhere, since we know how well the GC sold) has now been itself eliminated, which means your only choice for new GC controllers is a standard wired controller. [
Showing both that they've learned their lesson and just how lousy GameCube sales were, the Wii has passed the latter's lifetime sales in just about a year's time. In the time period between November 27, 2006 and now, the Wii has sold about 4 million units while the GameCube has sold only about 3.9. And the GC came out on September 10, 2001. In comparison, the DS has sold just about the same amount of units as the Wii, with the GBA actually selling more than either of them. More fancy charts if you follow the link. [
