Nyko has created many different products for Nintendo's Wii console, and now it's the first peripherals maker to create an alternative to the Wii Remote. While identical in layout and function to the first party Nintendo Wii Remote, there are a few differences that separate the two.
Visually, it will not be possible to confuse Nyko's version with Nintendo's original. Much like its Wing classic controller, Nyko's Wand is a very colorful version of the Wii Remote. The buttons have all been squared off and are visually differentiated with different colors. The "A" button is now red and the 1 & 2 buttons are blue; they have also been enlarged slightly. The "B" button has been rubberized and is grooved to give a more comfortable feel and reduce any possible slippage. The D-pad has been changed to include a small point for the diagonals. The home button has also been enlarged slightly, made square and is offset just slightly above the plus and minus buttons, and the power button has been made square and moved to the upper right corner of the controller.
In general, Nyko's Wand feels good and is as responsive as you would expect, though the D-pad does not have as much give as the Wii Remote and this can lead to some situations where you don't get as much movement as you would like or expect. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to happen often. Also, making the buttons slightly bigger has given the controller a little more comfort when used for extended periods of time. The pointer function is advertised to be useful up to twenty feet, but in tests worked as well as the Wii Remote: up to thirty feet.
There were a few issues with the Wand, though. One serious problem occurs, ironically, when connected to Nyko's nunchuck. There is some trouble getting the Wand to recognize the Nyko nunchuck; the few times it did recognize it, the peripherals would later disconnect and need to be reconnected, but a first party nunchuck would stay connected at all times. Also, when starting up games that use a classic controller, the Wand would turn off, and if the user didn't continually press the A button while it was loading, the game would not recognize the controller and boot back to the Wii Menu.
The Nyko Wand is a good alternative to the first party offering, particularly if you don't like the Wii Remote's smaller buttons. The few issues with the controller are easy to work around, and it connects to any of the peripherals that use a Wii Remote just as well as the Nintendo version. The Wand also retails for five dollars less than the first party Wii Remote, so if you're looking for a bit of a value option, Nyko has created a quality replacement.
Final Score: 4/5
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