Nyko's Wand+ controller for the Nintendo Wii cuts down on the bulk by integrating MotionPlus technology...something Nintendo has yet to get around to doing.

Gaming peripheral maker Nyko is probably best known in the Nintendo Wii universe for its Action Pak peripherals, which offered a decent pistol-style grip for action games and enabled players to customize controls to an extent. Now, Nyko has lapped Nintendo itself a bit with the Wand+ controller, a replacement for the standard Wii controller that incorporates MotionPlus technology. The result is a svelte, lightweight controller with all the functionality of Nintendo’s bulky add-on.

Nyko Wand+ (black)

The Wand+ (which will be available in black, white, purple, and pink) has all the features of the standard Wiimote—including full motion control, vibratio, and an integrated speaker—and also rolls in Nyko’s Trans-Port Technologies that enables accessories (you know, like gun grips) to pass through key buttons. The Wand+ also faetures a rubberized trigger, what the company claims is a more comfortable d-pad, and larger 1 and 2 buttons.

The Nyko Wand+ should be available in March for around $30; however, maybe by then Nintendo will realize that rolling the MotionPlus technology into a single remote might not be a bad idea after all.

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  1. FirePowered at 6:36am 18th January 2010 I'm switching to all Nyko products in march. Wand+ will allow me to not worry about buying extra MotionPlus dongles. Look at price too, Nyko says it will cost $39.99. The WiiMote costs $50 buy it's self, then you add the Dongle for $20 and you wind up at $70 dollars. I think the Transport tech is worth an extra $5. So you get more features for just a little more than half the price of the WiiMote+MotionPlus.

    The Wand is favored by me, because of it's durability and grip. I don't feel the need to have it in the jacket at all. Unlike the WiiMote, that feels like if it's dropped it will break. Since I'm pretty tall (5.9 at 13, and still growing), I always bump the top of the WiiMote on the ceiling in my house. The MotionPlus adds another 3/4 inch which makes it worse. For some odd reason, I don't bump the Nyko Wand at all, I think it might be because of the grip and weight.

    I think this will be a great product and I will buy it the moment it comes out along with the IC quad charger.
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