Gamertell

Today’s (November 20, 2008) Amazon Black Friday countdown sale in the video game department isn’t nearly as sweet as yesterday’s deal where you could get $25 or $50 credit on a future Amazon video game purchase by purchasing two or three of the selected games. It is still pretty good - especially if you’re shopping for a gift. If you buy the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or Guitar Hero Aerosmith games, you can get two frontman guitar controllers for $20.

What you do is add one of those two Wii games to your cart and also add in two of the Nyko guitar controllers. Then, at the checkout you’ll see the two guitars cost only $20. Normally, the Nyko Frontman guitar controllers cost $19.96 at Amazon, so its pretty nice to get two for the price of one…

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Product: 4x Quad Charge Station for WiiMotes
Price: $44.99
Rating: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of five.
Pros: Charges four WiiMotes at once, removable power cable, looks pretty cool and works well.
Cons: No wrist strap slots, difficult to read charge status LEDs and sometimes hard to properly seat the WiiMotes.
Overall: A good option for those who like to have four charged WiiMotes at the ready. Not for finicky, power-conscious gamers.

Keeping your wireless controllers ready and charged can be a problem for some gamers. You have the odd controller sitting around that invariably loses its charge mid game and you have to either plug it in and wait (and usually watch everyone else continue with the fun) or scurry around the house like a squirrel in the Spring unearthing scattered batteries.

Accessory and peripheral maker Penguin United has attempted to solve the problem for Wii owners with the 4x Quad Charge Station. It charges four WiiMotes at once, which is nice, but the setup does have a few flaws…

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Nyko’s shown that it is interested in developing peripherals for the Wii (previous examples being the Cord-Free for Wii Nunchuk and the Kama Nunchuk), so it should come as no surprise that it has created a new, wireless Classic Controller alternative. The Nyko Wing comes with a wireless remote adapter that plugs into the bottom of the Wii remote.

The Wing has the same basic layout as the Classic Controller attachment from Nintendo, with a shape that is reminiscent of a PS1 or PS2 controller. It can be used 10 feet away from the Wiimote and its adapter. It uses two AAA batteries which last 30 hours, and has a USB port and cable for charging rechargable batteries. It is a bit pricey though - a normal Classic Controller is $19.99, and the Nyko Wing is going to be $29.99 when its released in October 2008…

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Nyko is known for its video game peripherals, and it has shown with the Cord-Free at E3 2008 that it is still thinking of gamers best interest. The Cord Free is a Nintendo Wii accessory - a small device that attaches to the base of the wiimote and nunchuk to make the nunchuk wireless. It’s normal retail price is $19.99, but if you stop by Amazon you can get it for $14.99.

The Cord-Free consists of two parts. There is a small box that attaches to the base of the wiimote, and a small box/sleeve that connects to the base of the nunchuk. Once connected, and loaded up with 2 AAA batteries, the device lets players experience cordless gaming for almost 6- hours.

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Nintendo has been riding high on Wii’s success but every now and then it has to worry about things like piracy and trademark infringement to protect its position. Currently on its radar is leading Wii-peripheral manufacturer Nyko, which has also benefited from Wii’s success. Nintendo has nary an issue with Nyko cashing in on Wii-mania but it does have issue with the manner that it does so.

The Big N is suing Nyko over its third party Kama Nunchuk. Nintendo has alleged that the Kama Nunchuk bears a striking resemblance to the…

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CNet begins its CES gaming wrapup by stating, “CES 2008 wasn’t a very big show for gamers.“ Screw that and your anemic wrapup. I wasn’t even there and I know there were plenty of game related goodies to be viewed this year. Big deal if there weren’t a lot of game developers. This isn’t even their expo.

For my CiN Weekly magazine column that printed this past week (January 16, 2008), I listed many of the more noteworthy game-related announcements from CES 2008. Like most, I included Nyko’s wireless Nunchuck attachment for the Wii (though it was not my top item, like every other friggin’ wrapup), a laptop or two and a monitor mention, but there was much more than that…

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One of the most intuitive new accessories being shown at CES is Nyko’s Wireless Nunchuck attachment. The Nunchuck comes with a 2.4 Ghz wireless adapter that fits into the bottom of a Wii-mote and frees the user from the annoyance of that short little wire between the two components. According to a Cnet video, the product has approximately 3 meters of wireless range (which is more than enough, considering that the Wii-mote and nunchuck are always used in tandem). In fact, the Cnet editors were so impressed that the accessory made their “Best of CES” list in the gaming category.

The Nyko Wireless Nunchuck will be available in late January for an MSRP of $29.99. The device runs on 2 “AA” batteries, which reportedly last about 30 hours.

Watch [Cnet TV] Read [Cnet]

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My WiiMotes suck batteries dry like a pair of friggin’ starved vampires. Part of the problem is that the motion sensors in the controllers are actually buttons, so when you pick up or even jostle the WiiMotes, the batteries lose a little more charge. I see the little blue lights flicker and I know that’s a few more seconds have been sucked from my game time.

Although I switched over to rechargeable AA batteries a while ago to help save costs, the battery life just doesn’t seem to last very long, even after I moved the WiiMotes to another part of the room.

Nyko’s Charge Station solves both of those problems, one directly and the other quite indirectly ...

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Product: Wireless Sensor Bar (aka Cordless Infrared Emitter) for the Nintendogs Wii
    Price: $19.99
    Rating: 95/100
    Pros: Slightly wider area of sensitivity, increased distance, easy to install and portable.
    Cons: Batteries eventually run out.
    Overall: A well-priced, easy to use product that Nintendo should seriously consider shipping with every Wii console.

When I first connected my Nintendo Wii, the biggest annoyance (OK, only annoyance) was the sensor bar. It has a long, very thin wire that I had to run behind all of my already messy conglomeration of wires.

With that single annoyance quickly over once installed, I later found another problem - depending on the time of day I was playing, I had to move my sensor bar to get optimum performance. During the day it works pretty well if I move the bar a little to compensate for the daylight reflecting off the sensor bar and knocking out some region of the screen. (In other words, the cursor would disappear in certain areas). At night, however, the lights on top of the TV reflect from the WiiMotes, making it nearly impossible to get accurate control. To fix it I either have to make my room completely dark - which is a strain on my eyes and results in plenty of bumped knees - or majorly reposition the bar.

This wireless device by Nyko, however, makes it all very easy, untethering the sensor bar so I can put it on my coffee table when I am playing alone (sad, I know), or back on top of the TV and tilted at just the right angle when more gamers are in the room. As you might have noticed, I decided not to use the sticky tabs and adhere it to a single spot (and I suggest you don’t either).

For the price, this is clearly a worthwhile purchase. Not only did it sole a few problems but also helps to make the Wii a more wireless device (we’ll never really get around that power cable). At only $20, this is a no brainer purchase. In fact, Nintendo should seriously consider shipping this with the Wii from now on.

Design – Weighs 6.2 oz (175 g) with a matte silver body and shiny black front that looks pretty dern similar to the wired Nintendo version except for the increased height and Nyko logo. It is slightly longer than the Nintendo sensor bar. It also requires four AA batteries to operate.

Features – Blue LED on the front indicates the unit is powered on. A small speaker on the top emits a tone when on and can be set to a one-hour, two-hour or no audio alert. It will also auto shutoff when on for too long to save power. Installation involves simply unplugging the Nintendo sensor bar and turning on the wireless bar. Two sticky tabs are on the bottom in case you want to adhere it to a surface.

Performance – For gaming performance, it works just as well as Nintendo sensor bar. As for distance, it offers a slightly wider sensor region but much further distance (up to 25 feet). It has worked well for me for approximately ten hours of play and claims to work up to 30 with new batteries.

Overall – This was so easy to install I thought I had done something wrong. I like it so much better than having to run that tiny wire around my entertainment components and really appreciate the mobility of the device. I highly recommend that you get this if you have a Wii. If you have any lighting/reflection issues that impede your controller precision, simply move or change the angle of the wireless sensor bar and it’ll solve all your problems. As with any wireless gaming device, I recommend getting twice as many rechargeable batteries so you have one at the ready when the others wear out.

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If you’re like me, you have a good number of Playstation and PS2 favorites you’re not willing to give up on just yet. So where does the PS3 stand with backward compatibility for such games? To date, there is a fair amount of popular titles that have no major problems working on the PS3. God of War I & II, the entire GTA series, the Medal of Honor series, Crash Bandicoot titles, and the various Splinter Cell games all pass the test with flying colors.

There are a few noteworthy issues with the Metal Gear series. According to the official PS3 Web site, all versions of Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence (including the limited edition) has problems with the network play aspect of the game. Sony reports that with these titles, hosting Team Deathmatch games with 5 client users results in the host becoming disconnected at random, also making reconnection impossible. Aside from online play, gamers with PS3 systems using software version 1.10 may also notice that use of the HDMI output will result in a horizontally divided screen in which both sections of the screen display out of sync with each other. This problem should be minimal for most users as it can be resolved by updating the software to version 1.31 or higher.

Sony does claim that both Guitar Hero games work fine on the PS3, but I would point out that the SG guitar controller is not readily compatible with the PS3 controller input. Several companies, such as Nyko and Pelican, are working on adapters that will allow gamers to use the SG controller with the PS3, but there are still some interfacing quirks that must be worked out. Pelican asserts that the SG controller now works with their controller adapter but this has yet to be confirmed on a widely accepted basis. Coincidentally, both games will work fine for those willing to play the game with the traditional PS3 controller using the shoulder buttons.

Obviously, the limited confines of this post does not allow for a comprehensive list of every Playstation and PS2 game but the initial reports for some of the more popular games still in circulation would seem to indicate that the PS3’s backward compatibility is holding its own thus far. If you’re curious about some of your own favorites, Sony’s backward compatibility search engine is one of the most convenient ways to confirm the status of nearly every game on the market.

Site [Status Search Engine] Site [European Game Compatibility] via [ThreeSpeech]

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