Wii Wireless Remote

Review by H. Lam:

The purchase of additional Nintendo Wii Remote controllers are the basic requirement for multi-player games. Strongly consider buying a pair of high-capacity NiMH rechargeable AA batteries along with each additional controller. The Nintendo Wii Remote consumes a lot of power because of the many functions it performs -- the Wii Remote serves as a motion controller, provides power to controller attachments, and generates sound and vibration effects. The included set of disposable alkaline batteries will last less than a couple of weeks for active players (six days in my case). This compares to a battery life of a couple of months for the previous generation of Nintendo's wireless controller -- the Nintendo Wavebird controller for the GameCube.

Many games require the additional purchase of a controller attachment for multi-player mode -- the Wii Nunchuk Controller or Wii Classic Controller, both of which plug into the base of the Wii Remote. In multi-player mode, the Wii Nunchuk is used for two-handed Wii games, e.g., Red Steel or the boxing game in Wii Sports.

The Wii Classic Controller attachment is currently used to play games on the Wii Virtual Console. Held sideways, the Wii Remote can serve as a game controller for all current Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx 16, and Nintendo (NES) Wii Virtual Console games. A Wii Classic Controller or Nintendo GameCube controller is required to play Super Nintendo (SNES) or Nintendo 64 virtual console games.

You may want to purchase a Wii Classic Controller or Nintendo GameCube controller (this plugs directly into Wii Console itself) to play Virtual Console titles anyway. The Wii Remote is diminutive, and a Wii Classic Controller or GameCube controller both offer better handgrip and button placement. Of note, a Wii Classic controller can currently only be used for Wii Virtual Console games, while a GameCube controller can be used for Wii Virtual Console games and all Nintendo GameCube games.

Each "Wiimote" has a nice touch of interactivity, holding up to 10 Mii avatars per remote. You can take your Mii character along with you to play games like Wii Sports on other Wii consoles by taking your Wii Remote along with you.

The one improvement I would make to the Wii Remote Controller would be to add finger nubs. The Wiimote can get a little slippery during gameplay because of sweat. Third-party manufacturers offer latex rubber / silicone controller gloves that fit over the Wii Remote to improve hand grip. I find these gloves are more hassle than they are worth because they are time-consuming, both to put on and to peel back when changing the Wiimote's batteries.

Review by Lisa Shea:

The Wii Remote Controller is shaped like a standard TV remove, and has motion sensing ability. You wave it around, and your on-screen character waves their wand!

This isn't an add-on controller - this is the actual, standard controller that most if not all games on the Nintendo Wii use as their primary control unit. There is also a "nunchuck" that can be used in your off hand, but many games don't use the nunchuck.

The aim of the Wii was to make gaming as simple and intuitive as possible for the casual non gamer. Pretty much every person with a TV is comfortable using a TV remote. You point, you click. The Wii Remote Controller works in the same fashion. The motion sensors know what you are doing with the remote. If you're playing a baseball game, you swing at the ball. If you're playing a bowling game, you bring your arm back and swing it forward. Everything "makes sense". A sword swing? A light saber battle? Just move your arm and the character does the same thing.

There are only two buttons that really matter. There's an A button on the front that you push for most operations. There's also a trigger underneath that is the B button. Depending on the game, they will have you use one or the other button. There are also a few other buttons for more complex gaming. There's a D-pad. A "home" button lets you go instantly back to the main Wii menu if you're tired of playing. There's a plus and minus button, a 1 and 2 button. There's even a power button. You don't have to walk over to your Wii any more to turn it on or off. Just hit the power button on the remote and you're all set.

The remote runs on two AA batteries, so there's no USB plugging in or charging up, as with the other systems' remotes. You do get a wrist strap, though, so the Wii remote doesn't fly out of your hands while you're doing a super powerful golf swing.

There's even a speaker in the remote! This is great if you're playing a game against another player. Say I'm boxing my boyfriend and I am the winner. *My* remote says that I triumphed, to me. Neat!

I definitely love the Wii remote controller. It's light, it's super easy to use, it's intuitive and I can just pop batteries into it when it runs out, instead of having to wait for a recharge. Highly recommended. Just note that if you want to play a game that needs a nunchuck as well, that you have to buy that separately.

Review by Sebastian Garofalo:

Perfect for a HTPC the keys get some getting use to. The only bad feature is it falls asleep to fast. It takes a number of hits on a certain key to wake it up. better off shutting it off and on. To bad it does not have a motion sensor like some remotes.

Review by JRC:

This is a neat little device. I'm using it as a remote for my Mac Mini (which is employed as a media server) and it's perfect. If you're planning to use this for any normal data entry, forget it--it is WAAAAY too small. But for turning on iTunes, typing in web addresses, etc, it works like a champ.

It's probably even smaller than you think--maybe 1/3 wider than an iPhone. The touchpad works well, and no glitches with the keyboard noticed yet. Range appears good, but I haven't pushed the limits to see how far it will go (the couch-to-TV distance is well within its limits).

It is indeed Mac compatible, but it's like any other non-Mac USB keyboard in that it doesn't have the Apple command keys. That's a bit of a hassle, but certainly manageable (I'm not a `Mac person,' so there might be some trick commands that don't work as well, but I'm not aware of them). It took a few minutes to get it installed on the Mac Mini while the computer searched in vain for the keyboard type, but entering the generic `American' keyboard when that option finally came up worked fine.

Definitely recommend this product for similar, limited-use applications.

Review by Albert:

These screwdrivers don't cost much, but allow to inspect your Nintendo DS Lite or whatever savely. They save you sending in your DS for simple things as small dirt or bent switches.

TIP: goto youTube and search for DS repair videos. There are some instructional videos that help disassemble and assemble your DS without trying and without applying force, very important.

Review by Jeff:

Silverhill Nintendo Screwdriver Set for Wii, DS Lite, Wiimote, etc.

Toddler inserted a toy disc into the wii! :O Had to open the wii to remove it and these drivers worked perfectly. I almost didn't get this set because it had a Phillips head driver and I already had some but as it turned out, the Phillips included is the size i needed and did not have. If you need to get into your wii, etc, get this set!

and keep your wii away from toddlers!

Review by Hongster:

As of this writing the only place that sells this is online or gamestop (which is where I went to purchase this). With that said, unto the review.

For this review I will mention a few games since those games were used to test this product.

Synopsis:

First of all, I have to say I am glad NYKO has finally addressed the biggest complaint about the nunchuck, that is being attached to the remote and not being wireless. This product converts your existing nunchuck into a cord free unit. It is very easy to configure as all you need to do is get your nunchuck, slide it into place then coil the cord around until you finally connect it to the backside of the unit (just remember that when you are coiling to start from the bottom as it will bulge out a bit and you do not want it to bulge out on the top as you will need that space when you are connecting the unit, you won't understand what I am saying until you actually have the unit so keep this in mind). The unit itself is not heavy and it feels lighter than the remote. The power switch is located in the back and you put the batteries (2 AAA included) on the bottom of the unit.

Setup:

Turning on the unit is done by simply plugging in the small plug-in attachment to your Wii remote, power on the Wii remote then pressing the power button on the cord free attachment and that's all there's to it. Powering off is done by simply turning the remote power off (the cord free unit will blink a few times and then it will shut off altogether).

Testing the unit:

For this portion of the review I have used the following games:

Super Mario Galaxy: Though this isn't the best game to fully test the unit I tested it out to find out how easy it was to play this game. I found it very easy to use since the unit does stand up and I was simply resting the unit on my lap while playing the game and it was very comfortable.

Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles (With NYKO Perfect Shot): This was a big test since I wanted to know whether or not the plug-in fits the perfect shot. It fits the gun, though it's not a perfect fit when compared to how it fits the Wii remote but I can confidently say that the unit and gun fully works with the plug-in attached. I had a blast playing the game since I wasn't restricted with a cord attached to the gun.

Mario and Sonic Olympics: This was another huge test as this game involves a lot of games that requires shaking the nunchuck and I wanted to test how well the unit works with this game. First of all I have to say this is the best test for the unit since every time I play this game with the nunchuck, I usually have the cord hitting my chin and my hands, but with the cord finally gone this is no longer the case and I can enjoy every game without having to get hit with the cord. This test was what made me decide to score this unit the following:

4.5 Stars

The reason why I deducted .5 star is the price. If the unit was or under I would have no problem giving it 5 stars, but alas this isn't the case. If you do the math a regular nunchuck costs and this unit is bringing the total to . Also, NYKO will be releasing a separate Wireless Nunchuck called the Kama Wireless Nunchuck this May and will cost around which is another reason I had to deduct from the final score (watch for my review for the Kama Wireless Nunchuck in May). In conclusion this unit is very good and I highly recommend it for anyone who is tired of the nunchuck cord. Battery life is estimated 60 hours on 2 AAA batteries.

Review by R. Deluz:

This is an excellent wireless. I was able to use it with relative ease. I had no cord to tangle up on and that helped a lot. I was always getting wipped by the cord flinging around.

The NEGATIVE part, You will not be about to use this wireless nunchuk with games like; Mario & Sonic olympic games or any game that requires punching or quick movements. the controller will not work for that and has a slight delay that is quite noticeable. It really sucks because I like the hands free and it works great with CRASH.