Hey Nintendo, Where are the Wii Accessories?

The Wii’s been getting a fair amount of use since I picked it up nearly 2 weeks ago. Admittedly, a bit less recently since GRAW 2 has pretty much completely stolen the thunder. None the less, we’ve just about worn down the batteries in one of the Wiimotes. On my lunch break the other day I took a trip down to the local Best Buy to grab a couple rechargeable battery packs. To my surprise, aside from the Wifi USB adapter and the different controllers and cables, Nintendo has no accessories available. However, they were stocked with third party accessories covering everything from replacement wrist straps to battery packs and even a docking station for Wiimotes.

Most of the accessories were made by a company called ASiD Tech, who I had not heard of until now. I was disappointed as I normally prefer to stick to first party or “official” accessories as the quality is generally top notch, or at the very least, equal to that of the hardware. Since I didn’t have any options and wasn’t stoked on the idea of having to have an endless supply of batteries on hand, I grabbed a 2 pack of the ASiD Tech rechargeable battery packs.

Wiimotes

When I removed them from the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the shiny surface. The top of the Wiimote is indeed glossy, but the bottom is matte. I popped it in and barfed a little in my mouth. You know how you can spot a car that drives by that has a replacement door they picked up from the wrecker’s? Pretty same idea here. Not only does it have a different finish – it’s a completely different white and doesn’t match the Wiimote at all. Suddenly, my sleek and sexy Nintendo Wii looks like a mix-matched beater. Not impressed.

But to make matters worse, I held the remote in my hand as I would when playing and felt a couple nubby things against my middle finger. It seems someone thought it was a good idea to put the cable input and a little green light right under where your finger naturally lies. Perfect! I’m sure after a few hours of playing, the sharp edge of the input would cause a nice blister from rubbing.

Grip Comparison

Needless to say, I’m returning this garbage and getting my money back. I’m really disappointed and totally shocked that Nintendo doesn’t have a solution for recharging the Wiimotes at this point. In my opinion, they shouldn’t have launched without one. Hopefully they’ll clue in sooner than later and get some accessories out there. In the mean time, based on this experience, I’d advise those with a Wii to hold out until then. Not only are the third party accessories cheap looking and ugly, they have a pretty high price point. It cost me $30 CDN for the 2 battery packs.