Wireless controller freedom
Written: Dec 31 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: great wireless controller
Cons: no rumbel feature, i have to readjust the frequency sometimes.
The Bottom Line: it's a great wireless controller.
|
|
|
| tommy_lop's Full Review: Nintendo GameCube Controller for GameCube, Game Bo... |
I asked my sister to get me a new controller for my gamecube for chirsmas. I didn’t expect that she would buy me this wireless one. I was a little bit worry though because in the past most wireless controllers suck. They used a remote controller get up where they used inferred signals, which means you had to aim it right at the receiver in the console or else your character wouldn’t move, giving up all the point of the freedom of wireless. Well the wavebird acts a bit like a radio with radio waves, has long has your close to the receiver (Nintendo says 20 feet) it will work.
Size and shape.
The Wavebird is shaped pretty much like a gamecube controller. Except that it’s a bit bigger, and it’s filled in the center. The controller still feels comfortable and because it’s wireless it actually feels a bit lighter. Like the cube controller the control stick is on the top left, the control pad is on the bottom of that. On the right you get the huge A button, followed by the small X, Y, and B buttons. Below them is the yellow C stick. L and R buttons are huge and are on top, and then the small Z button is just above them. Like the regular controller the control stick is comfortable and once you get used to the small size the X, Y, and B the controller feels natural. The problem is the small D pad when playing on the Gameboy player, and on all the NES games that Nintendo has released is a problem because of the small D pad.
Reciever.
Since it’s wireless the wavebird uses a receiver instead of a wire. You plug this into the side of the cube and then comes the fun part. Twisting both wheels on the bottom of the receiver and the controller around until they match. See the wavebird has more then one frequency so more then one player can use a wavebird controller. But it’s a bit of a pain when the wheel gets turn on the controller and the frequency gets out of whack then you have to turn the control pad until you get a signal from the controller. This never happens when I play though because Nintendo put the wheel in at the bottom of the controller and the wheel is fairly stiff so it only turns when you want it. The problem usually pops up when you change controller ports for the receivers my hands always bump it enough to change it and I have to go through a minute or two of turning the wheels to get the wireless controller to go again.
Like I said because it’s a radio receiver you can play up to 20 feet away. Of course since I am using a 1970 13 inch tv set to play my cube this is a bit ridcusley. In face if you have a tv set that you can see perfectly enough from 20 or more feet all I have to say is “sheesh Mr. Gates I thought you own an Xbox”.
Rumbel features.
Ok here is the down side of the wave bird controller is the rumble feature. Or I should say the lack of a rumbel feature. To save batteries, weight, and space they took out the rumble feature. Which is just fine with me and most cases, games like Sonic and Mario don’t really need the rumble feature. But Zelda and Rogue Squadron are more fun to play with so I always switch controllers when playing these.
Batteries.
I have been playing with it for a week now and I and my little brother have forgotten to turn it off more then once before going to bed, and it still works. My cousin says he’s own one for several months and hasn’t changed the batteries in his yet. The wave bird has long battery life to.
Final Recommendation
If your going wireless then the wavebird is for you. The controller is reliable and will work anywhere up to 20 feet. While it does require a little bit of refrequency every once and a while and has no rumble you can play it anywhere in the room so it makes it worthwhile.
Check out my review on a regular gamecube controller.
http://www.epinions.com/content_97789906564
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
tommy_lop
|
 - Top 200 |
|
Member: tommy
Reviews written: 962
Trusted by: 119 members
About Me:
Ran over a grandma, punched a kid, and still diden't get a PS3. (just kidding.)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.