The Price

$US35, available now. Package includes charger and two compatible batteries.

The Verdict

As we said in the lead, the Charge Base IC (which stands for “inductive charging”) is the best solution for charging Wiimotes we’ve seen to date, if you can stand its two-controller limit.

Yes, the stand is a cacophony of various plastics and LED, but you’ll quickly disregard aesthetics the first time you hold the Wiimote up to the cradle and it just sticks. Attached through magnetism, it will be charged without the need for plugs or ports, without the need of pulling out the little stopper from the Wii MotionPlus adaptor and without even the need of removing the silicone case. (Should you be a non-case user such as myself, you’ll find the ridged rubber backs on the batteries quite comfortable.)

The stand even includes a USB charging port, should you need it, and the AC adaptor has an outlet plug on the back, meaning you won’t waste a power outlet to recharge your Wiimotes.

There’s room for improvement — an indicator that signalled the level of charge (even just empty vs full) would be very handy. I’m not really sure how long it takes to charge the batteries to full because, at the moment, the charger always just glows blue. The magnet could feel stronger through the silicone sleeve. And obviously you can buy a basic four-Wiimote charger for the price of this two-Wiimote charger. Though I have a feeling that Nyko will announce a four-controller unit if this first model is successful.

But for the ultra-lazy among us, the Charge Base IC is pretty great.

Contact charging is easy and practical

Works with real Wiimotes and generics

There’s simply not a better design we’ve seen

Through sleeve, magnet still works, but could feel stickier

Charging indicator doesn’t indicate much of anything

Nintendo sold 5.75 million Wiis over the past six months, versus 10.1 million a year ago. Which is why Nintendo finally got around to cutting the price of the Wii — to move more units, even though that sliced into profits. (Interestingly, it shows Wii sales finally dipped below a million a month, if barely, and just how insanely profitable the Wii is for Nintendo.) If it makes Nintendo feel any better, the Xbox 360 is the only console that’s actually seen growth this year (in the US, at least) thanks to its own price cut.

So, um, next stop: Wiis in multiple colours. Hey, it’s worked for Nintendo like a million times before. That, or you know, that Wii HD people are so fond of talking about. [WSJ

Of course, those pictures can’t be shared in order to protect their source, and what’s more, they’re hearing that “Nintendo originally planned to bring the Netflix service to the Wii before the end of this year” but they’re “also considering holding off on the Netflix service until they release their next generation Wii HD unit in early 2010″. So, uh, just keeping your breath on that one. [Streaming Media via Engadget]

“While we don’t have any concrete plans for what we’ll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient.”

And as for things like DVD playback without a homebrew hack? A glimmer of hope, though nothing definitive:

I think originally video-game systems were viewed as a toy, and they were something you played with…As time goes on, I think we’re going to see how the system of the video-game console and this interactive interface is going to gradually bleed in to other elements of, say, home electronics and daily life.

Check out the full interview at: [Popular Mechanics via TechRadar]

Perfect for your next Furry get-together, the mood cards will make the bushy tail wag about in pre-programmed ways. Alternatively, a Wii Nunchuck is used to shake things up with manual control.

Thank you, Wei-Chieh Tseng, I’m completely lost for words and that doesn’t happen often. [Nowhereelse via Engadget]

When you think about it, it’s amazing that the Wii has motored along for three years at $US250. But it’s clear that Nintendo has to do something. The 120GB PS3 Slim is $US300, the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite is $US250 with rebates, and 250GB bundles for both are strongly rumoured to be around the corner.

My Wii just kind of sits in the corner all lonely these days. If you don’t have one, is the new price enough to make you pick one up? Or will you just hold out until 2011 for the next-gen Wii with HD graphics? [Engadget]

The illustrations were done by John Foester for artist Angela Moramarco. More pics at her site. [Angela Moramarco via WiiNoob] Thanks Jamie!

The deal, according to ElectricPig, is as follows: If you never dropped those 500 Wii Points on access to the Internet Channel, you can now download it for free. If you for whatever reason had, you’re entitled to free access to “a Virtual Console NES title worth 500 points”, which, despite the vague phraseology, is pegged with an October release date. In other words, it’s a specific game, instead of a simple 500-point credit, or at least a range of titles.

To be fair, they didn’t have to give users anything, and no matter how marginally useful the browser is, whenever it was free, it felt like a nice value add. [ElectricPig]