Third-party Nunchuck trades stick for d-pad?

Our friend badam ran into this earlier and asked if we could check it out. According to the GoNext blog post he found, BigBen Interactive, makers of a wide range of accessories for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, are planning to retail their own third-party Nunchuck for the Wii. That thing you’re looking at in the picture to the left.

Biggest difference off the bat: the analog stick has been traded for a d-pad. Interesting. The GoNext post mentions that it’s going to be quite iffy to play games like Twilight Princess off a d-pad when there’s supposed to be an analog stick there. True. On the other hand, maybe that d-pad could be pressure sensitive and sensitive across the entire 360 degrees of input. Call it an analog nub, or something.

Something else to notice: where’s the connect-to-Wiimote wire? The GoNext post noticed the “On/Off” switch to the side – probably because it communicates with the Wiimote and/or the Wii wirelessly, the theory is.

A member of the official Nintendo forums also found this, and started asking his fellows how much would the expected retail price for the puppy would be. Estimates range in the US$15- US$ 20 range, as well as more than a few instances of “Don’t bet on it (making the market).” The GoNext post (in a later Edit) agreed with the price range estimate. No idea of when it’s coming out or if it will retail in the US. Anyway, we’re leaving this under Rumors for now – until we get official confirmation from BigBen or something.

Our friend badam ran into this earlier and asked if we could check it out. According to the GoNext blog post he found, BigBen Interactive, makers of a wide range of accessories for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, are planning to retail their own third-party Nunchuck for the Wii. That thing you’re looking at in the picture to the left.

Biggest difference off the bat: the analog stick has been traded for a d-pad. Interesting. The GoNext post mentions that it’s going to be quite iffy to play games like Twilight Princess off a d-pad when there’s supposed to be an analog stick there. True. On the other hand, maybe that d-pad could be pressure sensitive and sensitive across the entire 360 degrees of input. Call it an analog nub, or something.

Something else to notice: where’s the connect-to-Wiimote wire? The GoNext post noticed the “On/Off” switch to the side – probably because it communicates with the Wiimote and/or the Wii wirelessly, the theory is.

A member of the official Nintendo forums also found this, and started asking his fellows how much would the expected retail price for the puppy would be. Estimates range in the US$15- US$ 20 range, as well as more than a few instances of “Don’t bet on it (making the market).” The GoNext post (in a later Edit) agreed with the price range estimate. No idea of when it’s coming out or if it will retail in the US. Anyway, we’re leaving this under Rumors for now – until we get official confirmation from BigBen or something.