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Nintendo WaveBird Preview (GC)
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posted by: Jason Frank
publisher: Nintendo
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date posted: 09:10 AM Sat Jun 1st, 2002


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By far the most coveted item of loot to score at E3 was the Nintendo WaveBird. People waited hours in line just for the hope that they might win the chance to win one of these smooth looking controllers. E3 patrons who walked home with a WaveBird in their bags walked a little taller than the rest of us. People wanted a WaveBird more than a new system, more than a picture with Lara Croft.

wavebird0503b.gif (9376 bytes)The most impressive thing about the WaveBird is how much it looks like a regular Gamecube controller--only without the cord of course. It has a range of about 20 feet, and because it has 16 different selectable frequencies, you'll have no problem hooking up four controllers at one. The WaveBird uses radio frequency signals so it will even play through walls-no worries about breaking line-of-sight. Nintendo boasts over a hundred hours of game play on a single pair of AA batteries-not bad at all. No rumble function is supported on the WaveBird, but it's a small price to pay for the freedom it promises. Retail on the unit is only going to be $34.95 and it will hit store shelves in less than two weeks (June 10th to be exact).

The dependable wireless controller has been the holy grail of console accessories, and leave it to Nintendo to be first to deliver. While a variety of other wireless controllers have been offered by 3rd party developers, the Wavebird is the first wireless controller developed 1st party. This is the rare video gaming accessory that even people who don't play video games will appreciate. When I told my wife about the WaveBird she said, \"You mean I won't have to wrap up your cords anymore?\" The abundant cord situation is even more of a problem if you own two or three systems with several controllers for each one. Nightmare cord knotting scenarios are born from this situation. The Nintendo WaveBird could be the future of controller design.