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

What we didn’t know before was the price…it’ll be $US25. But, uh…the DSi only has a 0.3MP camera, so this still just seems silly to me. [Nyko via Kotaku]

Holding two Wiimotes through the power of magnetism, the Charge Station can top off controllers via induction, whether they are wearing silicon sleeves or loaded with Wii Motion Plus add-ons (or whatever other crazy extensions Nintendo could add to the Wiimote). You’ll also find an extra USB port in the back, should you want to charge anything else the old fashioned way.

There’s no word on price/availability. But I’m gonna guess you’ll see it for $US30-40, like most smaller Wiimote charging stands. [Nyko]

The Products
Nyko Wand: $US35
Mad Catz “Wireless Remote”: $US30
Nintendo Wiimote: $US40

Testing Infrared
The Wiimote’s pointer effect works for one reason: IR tracking. The Sensor Bar is really an infrared LED matrix, and the Wiimote reads its position relative to this bar. So to test IR tracking, I loaded the Home Menu and then House of the Dead Overkill.

In a light-challenging environment including open windows and artificial lighting, IR tracking was clearly superior on the Wiimote—pretty much perfect, actually. The cursor was simply more fluid and appeared onscreen with a more even frame rate than it did on either generic controller.

It wasn’t that the Wii ever misread the position of either the Nyko Wand or the Mad Catz controller, it’s that dragging the cursor with these remotes met occasional drops in frames. I’m nitpicking, but you can notice a real difference, side by side, in the menus. The Wiimote was the smoothest, then the Mad Catz, then the Nyko (though the generics were honestly pretty close). This principle proved consistent when playing HOTD later, as tracking the gun around with the Nyko or Mad Catz proved an ever so rougher experience than with the Wiimote. The game was still completely playable, the menus completely navigable. But the control went from an A to an A- on the non-Nintendo Wiimotes.

Then, after about an hour of play, the Mad Catz cursor failed to show on the screen—as if the remote could not track its position relative to the Sensor Bar. The accelerometer tracking was still working, however, which indicated that it wasn’t a Bluetooth communication problem. And the other Wiimotes were functioning without problems. Reloading the Wii and swapping batteries could not fix this issue. Weird.

Winner: Wiimote
Testing Accelerometer
The Wiimote’s 3-axis accelerometer is responsible for the other half of the Wiimote’s motion tracking. It detects the general orientation of the controller, along with shakes, etc.

While I could tell in HOTD that the third party controllers were fine for sensing sudden motion (shaking to reload), I doubted their ability to track the subtle intricacies of pitch, yaw and roll. So for this test, I dusted off Super Monkey Ball in which slight movements to the Wiimote tilt the entire level. What did I find?

There was no discernible difference in motion control among the three controllers. I mean, maybe a computer strapped to a mechanical arm could detect minute subtleties, but I was able to play several levels on each remote without ever cursing a wonky controller. Maybe a Wii Sports addict would find their average bowling score to be ever so slightly different over 1000 games with a generic controller, but I’ll hand it to Nyko and Mad Catz, I’d never have known I wasn’t using a real Wiimote from gameplay alone. Then again, the Wiimote is pretty much only 85% accurate at any task to begin with.

Winner: 3-Way Tie

The Little Stuff
When I purchased a Mad Catz controller for PlayStation (original) years ago, I regretted the decision almost immediately. Doomed by my cheapness to wielding the bulky, awkward controller, I vowed to never go generic again. Times have changed. Both Wiimote alternatives feel perfect in your hand, and the vibration on each is remarkably close to the real thing. The Nyko Wand’s speaker is a bit on the quiet side—probably about half the loudness of the Wiimote and Mad Catz controllers. Maybe this decibel difference matters in audio-heavy games. I dunno.

I wasn’t able to test the remotes with Wii MotionPlus, but Mad Catz, with their 1:1 duplication of the Wiimote body, promises me that there are no possible compatibility issues. Nyko, with body dimensions ever so slightly different than the Nintendo Wiimote (something you’d never notice in your hand), has found that while sizing wasn’t an issue Nintendo’s final firmware caused some “minor issues.” Nyko will be updating the Wand with Wii MotionPlus compatible firmware in “all future shipments” and offering consumers who’ve already purchased the device a free firmware upgrade option.
Nyko and Mad Catz are a virtual tie when it comes to buttons. As different as the buttons may look, neither set feels all that different from the Wiimote during play. I will say, I prefer the B button (triggers) on both third party remotes to the Wiimote’s. There is a little more pull in each that feels just right for gun games like HOTD.

As for special tricks, Mad Catz includes none, but Nyko’s Trans-Port technology allows their Wand to communicate with peripherals electronically. I’ve used their version of the Zapper, and without a mechanical link between peripheral and remote buttons, it feels better than Nintendo’s official version. But we don’t know how many peripherals will take advantage of Trans-Port, and besides, only Nyko will support the system.

Winner: Wiimote, Runner Up: Nyko Wand

After years without a proper fake Wiimote to suck some cash away from Nintendo, two titans of third party peripherals have produced their own respectable knockoffs. And I’m really glad this development has happened. Even if neither is cheap (the Nyko Wand is $US35 while the Mad Catz Wireless Remote is $US30), they do put at least a little pressure on Nintendo, who charges a straight up insulting $US60 for their Wiimote/Nunchuk combo.

But given Mad Catz’ sudden dealbreaker issue with the IR and Nyko’s ever-so-less fluid IR experience and initial issues with Wii MotionPlus, we’re still going to recommend the good old Nintendo Wiimote—that is, unless Mad Catz and Nyko get a little more price-competitive.

And who woulda thunk, our verdict had nothing to do with accelerometers?

Nyko Wand

Feels/Works Like the Wiimote

Quiet Speaker

Trans-Port Tech Is Promising But Underutilized

A Tad Ugly

Slightly Imperfect IR

Mad Catz Wireless Remote

Feels/Works Like the Wiimote

Looks Like the Wiimote

Very Troubling IR Issue During Testing, Probably Anomalous to Unit…But Still!

The thing is, as ridiculous as the peripheral may be, it felt pretty great in my hands. The back is shaped similar to an Xbox 360 controller (complete with triggers for the Wii’s A & B buttons), so you can type on the large, split QWERTY with relative ease. I’m not sure the I’d use it to browse the web on the Wii, but then again, I’d probably never browse the web on the Wii in the first place. No word yet on pricing or availability.

Nintendo, the ball is in your court. But unless Wii MotionPlus floats in a pool, it’s back to the the drawing board. [E3@Giz]

Essentially a mic/headphone configuration like you find in the mobile phone market, the SpeakerCom 360 offers the option of hearing your friends through earbuds or a cord-mounted speaker. Connecting through the standard 360 controller, a huge, locking, spacebar-esque MUTE button allows for quick line silencing when your mum walks in and yells about your substantial failures in life.

The demo unit was just a mockup for size, so we weren’t able to assess the quality of the speaker, headphones, mic, or MUTE button. But, you know, it looks alright. It’ll hit the market later this year for an unannounced price. [Nyko]

Bear in mind, I didn’t play a game with the controller, but I did push the buttons, etc. The A button feels perfect, just like the Wiimote. The B button trigger is a bit digital for my taste, lacking the Wiimote’s fulfilling trigger pull. The other buttons? They definitely feel one tier cheaper than the Wiimote. But how often are you using 1 or 2 in gameplay anyway?

Configured with the exact dimensions of Nintendo’s Wiimote (the Nyko Wand is ever so slightly fudged), Mad Catz’ “Remote For Nintendo Wii” feels indistinguishable in size and weight from the real Wiimote. It’s also all white (or clad in a few other colours), making it a bit less patriotic than Nyko’s red, white and blue Wand.

I’ll save final judgment for a gaming hands-on, but what Mad Catz’ Wiimote lacks in fancy tech (like Nyko’s Trans-Port button mapping), it makes up for in compatibility. Mad Catz guarantees that their Wiimote will fit in the sleeves of normal Wiimotes. And it should be ready for Wii MotionPlus, too. Look for them this June at the price of $US30. Matching “Z-Chuks” will run $US15 a pop. [Mad Catz]

Nicking a bright idea from Brando, Nyko’s Zoom Case utterly obliterates portability and reason in exchange for 8x of zoomglory—because we all know zoom is what’s missing from the DSi’s 640×460 camera.

You can detach the lens from the Zoom Case. You know, if for some reason you wanted to. Sadly, Nyko hasn’t given us a price or date for this marvelous kit of awesome, but whenever it comes out, it’s not soon enough—there are celebrities to be stalked, upskirts to be snapped, out there, waiting. [Nyko]

Attaching to the Nyko Wand (the Wiimote is semi-incompatible because it lacks Nyko’s proprietary Trans-Port Technology), the Type Pad Pro transforms an ordinary Nintendo controller into a testicularly spaceshippy full QWERTY keyboard. Through Trans-Port communication, the A and B buttons on the Wand are relocated to the Type Pad while the pad itself integrates with the Wii through a wireless USB dongle. (Yeah, it’s a tad confusing. Basically, the pad is incapable of piggybacking its signal onto the Wand’s.)

The result is a QWERTY keyboard capable of surfing the internet on the Wii. The other result is the zaniest but most ambitious Wii peripheral we’ve seen this side of Nyko’s unreleased Party Station.

There’s a mad, mad man at the helm of Nyko’s design team. And we really want to go drinking with him.