GameCube Wavebird Wireless Controller

The first and foemost point about the Wavebird controllers sounds obvious but really must be emphasised. WIRELESS. No more, will you spend your time un-tangling controller wires before you can even play. Or once once your playing no more pulling the controller out of its socket at the crucial moment in the game or even worse pulling the GC out with it.

The 0.1 star is removed because of the lack of a built-in rumble feature. Although rumble had to be forefitted in order to increase the battery life. On the upside the battery life is very good. I have had mine for a month now and according to NGC magazine (January edition) they have had an imported one for 6 months and no problems yet.

The controller uses superior RF technology, not IrDa (most commonly seen in TV remote controls). This means you do not need to be in a STRAIGHT LINE with the console in order for it to work. It has good distance of atleast 6 metres (thats as far as i've tried it.

Overall I think if you do not have 4 wired controllers fill up the remaining controller ports with Wavebirds. Happy WIRELESS gaming and happy Christmas.

The build is of good quality, feels solid, yet is still light and durable.

I am still using the original batteries after hours of play (it is often a problem with wireless devices that the bateries need constant changing). A recharge facitlity would've been nice but with the longevity of the batteries it isn't a problem. Also the on/off switch allows you to save a lot of the battery life.

I have had no problems with the kit, apart from a few mix ups with the channels between controller and reciever. But this was soon corrected and didn't disrupt the gameplay.

The devices uses radio waves as opposed to infra-red so you don't have to keep a direct line of sight all of the time, and can even operate it from another room. The range is quite good and i have had it working from a few rooms away (not that theres much point to that!)

The ability to change radio channels is another good feature so you can have multiple wavebirds in a vicinity without mixups.

The wireless feature however comes with a price; their is no rumble feature as this would put too much demand on the batteries. But i find this is insignificant compared to the extra mobility.

Overall a great product which performs well, is built solidly, is light and good battery life.

The Wavebird has the same level of precision analogue control on the C-stick, control stick and shoulder buttons as its wired bretheren, and as previous reviewers have noted there is no lag between pressing a button and the action being executed onscreen. Battery life is absolutely outstanding - I have been playing with my Wavebird imported from Canada since June quite heavily, and I am still on the first pair of AA's! (included in the box incidentally, how generous of Nintendo) It even works through doors, walls, people, cats, dogs, duvets, take your pick the Wavebird will transmit through it, and at much more than the stated 20-30 feet. There's no rumble, but quite frankly who cares? It saves on the batteries and since the Wavebird can transmit only and the reciever which plugs into a Gamecube controller port can only recieve, it would not be possible to add rumble as the signal is one-way only.

A worthy purchase indeed.