Nintendo's "final" Wii controller -- what we know

May 10th, 2006, 17:34 Posted By: wraggster

Via Engadget

They've always said that the previous iteration of the "Revolution" controller wasn't quite final, but now that Nintendo has unvieled what is presumably the final controller design for the Wii (though Nintendo is still calling it a prototype, and might tweak a few things), we thought we'd lay out what exactly this Wiimote is, and why it makes Nintendo so darn smarmy all the time. First off, the new version unvieled by Nintendo on Tuesday includes a built-in speaker -- the addition of which lengthened the controller slightly -- along with minor interface tweaks like swapping out "a" and "b" for "1" and "2" buttons and other icon changes. GameSpot is also reporting that this Bluetooth wireless version is quite a bit heavier than the feather-light wired prototypes, and that the nunchaku attachment is tweaked slightly in shape and button design. As for the actual operation of the controller, that is managed by sensors within the Wiimote, in tandem with a sensor bar located on your TV, which can watch for movement in full 3D space. A better equivilant to Sony's new PS3 controller design unveiled on monday would actually be the Wiimote's nunchucka attachment, which also includes an accelerometer. While all of this motion sensing might provide an easy learning curve in some instances, the number of buttons available to the user, including dual trigger buttons ("c" and "z") on the nunchucka, a trigger and face button ("b" and "a") on the Wiimote, along a bunch of other face buttons, could make things a bit more complicated than anticipated. With that said, we'll be playing with the Wii on the E3 show floor tomorrow so we're sure it won't take long to find out if our fears come to fruition.

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