Funny Name, Seriously Great Controller, Highly Lame Review Title
Written: Jun 21 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Look down
Cons: Look up
The Bottom Line: Nothing like writing about a freakin' controller to show that you have no idea what else to write about.
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| awoolcott's Full Review: Nintendo GameCube Controller for GameCube, Game Bo... |
Before the Wavebird, wireless controllers sucked. I remember a day, when I was younger and playing on my NES, receiving a pair of wireless controllers, as the NES controller cord was extremely short. However, the thrill of playing on the couch quickly evaporated, as even I noticed that the controllers flat out stunk - if they even took heed of the action I asked to be done with the pad, it was a miracle. Since then, many have tried to create a wireless controller that replicates playing with a traditional corded one - and everyone has failed. Until now.
When I got my GameCube late last year, one of the things I KNEW I had to have was a Wavebird. It didn't hurt that Best Buy had a sweet deal that not only netted me one Wavebird, but 2 Wavebirds - free is always nice. Since then, I've added a 3rd Wavebird; a platinum imported version to match my platinum Cube. The best part is, all of them absolutely rock. I really don't need a wireless controller (as everything is close enough and controller lengths are better, on PS2 and Xbox anyway), but the joy of using a perfect wireless controller after numerous failures was strong enough to merit picking one up.
The Wavebird is that perfect wireless controller - after 5 minutes of using it, you'll forget it's even wireless, and will make that PS2 controller seem awfully dated. It has one teeny, tiny flaw that only can be judged by an individual, but the Wavebird is a brilliant piece of hardware and the best controller Nintendo has ever released.
The Wavebird gets its signal from RF, instead of infared, like many past wireless controllers. Both the controller and the receiver that goes into the controller slot have a channel they have to match up to to make work, like a cordless phone has different channels to use. This not only is to keep the Wavebird working properly, it's also so you can set 4 different Wavebirds to work independently in multiplayer games, so none of them get caught up and start controlling someone elses' actions. Setting up the controller to work is extremely simple, so you'll be gaming wirelessly within just a few minutes; especially since the Wavebird comes with 2 AA batteries as well, for instant gratification.
As mentioned before, the Wavebird is so good, you actually forget that you’re using a wireless controller. The response time is immediate, and you can actually control the game from different parts of your residence – including the bathroom if you so fit (why, though, I have no idea). No matter where you’re at, if you’re in range of the Cube, the Wavebird will work and progress you through the game. Of course, I highly recommend staying within sight of the TV, as it’s quite challenging to control a game you can’t see.
Battery use is very good – in 7 months of owning a Wavebird (the one I use the most, 1 is still in its packaging and one was used for about a week before I got my platinum one), I’ve had to change the batteries one time, with a fair amount of gameplay, including playing through all of Metroid Prime, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil Remake, 20 hours worth of Skies of Arcadia Legends and up to Wind Waker before it died there. If you’re a hardcore Cube player (which I’m not; tough to divide system use when you own all of the damn things), your mileage may vary, but I’m guessing about 50 hours of use before switching batteries.
There’s one small technical flaw that might annoy a few – lack of rumble. Obviously, this is to conserve battery life as making the motors hum and vibrate would suck the life out of the batteries in no time flat. There is a 3rd party wireless controller that has force feedback, but this pad is incredibly crappy and not even worth looking at. If you must have rumble, just stick with the regular corded pad – but remember, you spoiled brat kids, we didn’t have force feedback in our controllers in our day, and we had to walk in 20 feet of snow to get to the game store to pick up our games!
If you’ve ever used the standard Cube controller, you’ll immediately come to grips with the Wavebird, as it’s the exact same thing – only with a different look due to the slot in the back for batteries, and it weighs a tad more. However, once that’s adjusted to, the exact, great feel of the GCN controller is retained and still works. It’s still comfortable, and the buttons, while oddly placed, take little time to adjust to if you’ve not used the Cube pad before, but are responsive and intuitive. I prefer the PS2 pad personally (and I wish Sony would make a wireless pad, not that crazy Logitech stuff), but the Cube controller is great & comfortable, and the Wavebird makes it a 5 star device.
The Real Bottom Line
There’s not much to say describing the Wavebird controller besides “amazing.” For years, so many companies have tried and tried to make a wireless controller that worked. Leave it to Nintendo to put out the first actual good wireless pad, with the Wavebird. It might have a silly name, but the pad is far from silly – great responsiveness, button layout, and battery life along with a comfortable design equals a satisfying controller that makes you wonder how you managed to get along with corded controllers all this time. Unless you absolutely need rumble, anyone who owns a Cube should have one or three of these things.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
awoolcott
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Location: Arizona
Reviews written: 409
Trusted by: 401 members
About Me:
Okay, scratch that...Uncharted 2 - Game of the Year.
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