Last year at CES, Nyko unveiled their Wand controller for the Wii and we were very impressed. The changes to button layout were great as was the Trans-Port tech which allows other peripherals to remap buttons for the most appropriate use.
New year, new Wand, I guess. In our meeting with Nyko, we were shown the Wand+. It has all of the features of the original Wand, but throws in its own version of MotionPlus (called FullMotion). Once again, the third-party peripheral manufacturer has one-upped Nintendo at their own game by building the new functionality without increasing the size of the wand. It’s the same size as the standard Wii remote.
I played with it a bit and, were it not for the shape of the buttons, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Except, of course, there’s no ugly block sticking off the end of the controller. Very impressive.
The Wand+ will be available later this year. I’m thinking I might pick one up for my father who received a Wii for Christmas just because it’s one less bit of accessory that he can break or be confused by.
