the Wavebird (1 Viewer)

[RossTerry]

when is it released or available in stores?

 

[Eric Nees]

Should be hitting stores sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[Andre F]

Anyone try this yet? I'm very interested in it and am wondering if it works well...
-Andre F

 

[Masood Ali]

Every hands-on account I've heard about this controller, including PlanetGameCube's review, indicates the controller is nearly perfect.

Two minor flaws are that it doesn't support the rumble feature (which isn't a big deal, and can even be a plus for some people); and that it doesn't have a low-battery indicator. Fortunately, it does have excellent battery life.

 

[Paul Richardson]

No rumble feature? So much for my plan of carrying it around in my pants while not gaming.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The WaveBird uses an RF signal, so it can be used at longer distances than other infrared controllers and even through walls. I plan on getting a few of these eventually.

Imagine sending the TV signal to several rooms so the people playing are all separated, and then they all play the game without being by the console...

 

[Aaron Copeland]

Two minor flaws are that it doesn't support the rumble feature (which isn't a big deal, and can even be a plus for some people); and that it doesn't have a low-battery indicator. Fortunately, it does have excellent battery life.

Hmmm...those two flaws may kill the controller for me. Anyway, I've never been a fan of wireless controllers since I don't want to worry about batteries. I just wish Nintendo had made the cords on their standard controllers longer.

[EDIT] About the rumble feature, that is kind of a big deal to me. I used to think it was merely a novelty. Then one day a few years ago when I was playing GE with some friends my rumble pack batteries wore out. I was suddenly surprised to find how much I was actually using the rumble feature. Even though the life bar flashes on the screen when you get hit, I was reacting slower to getting shot than I was when the rumble feature was working. I've since found this to be true in many games, especially FPS games. Try starting a game that uses the rumble fairly well, play for a while, and then turn the feature off in the middle of the game. I think you will find that it makes a bigger difference than you thought.

Aaron

 

[Andre F]

No rumble feature? So much for my plan of carrying it around in my pants while not gaming.

I think I'm definately going to get one and try it out. I can't stand the cords and I ALWAYS have to make sure that I have controller extenders to reach my couch since I have a a big living room. I hope it works well.
-Andre F

 

[RossTerry]

so, has anyone found one in stores yet?

 

[Evelio Figueroa]

so, has anyone found one in stores yet?

I did!! The EB store had them in today. I bought 2.
You can see it them at my site. Click the house icon above.
I really like these Wavebirds. Game play feels so much different since there is no wire to get tangled in.
I'm not good in writing reviews. All I can say is it works as well as the wired controllers. When the light on the controller start to dim, its time for new batteries. The reason for no rumble is to extend the battery life. It comes with 2 batteries in the package. Its not alkaline. It has 16 channels. The 2 I have works well on different channels.

 

[Eric Nees]

EB is apparently running a pretty nice deal right now. If you turn in a regular Nintendo-brand controller, they'll knock 15 dollars off the Wavebird's price. They'll only let you trade in two controllers for that deal though That's much more tempting for someone like me who bought 4 controllers at the Cube's launch...

 

[Dave E H]

Depends on how well a game uses rumble, but it can really add alot to gameplay. For instance, Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast had this cool functionality where you find these little quest items - it would rumble stronger and stronger as you got near it. (forgot what those little things were...) At any rate, I'd probably miss it but would trade the long freaking cables for the convenience, I guess.

 

[DonRoeber]

Anyone using a Wavebird also have wireless networking at home? I'm curious to see if the Wavebirds screw up my network.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think that the WaveBird signals are different from the wirless ones used in networks (like 2.4 GHz). WBs are use RF signals.

 

[Brett G]

EB is apparently running a pretty nice deal right now. If you turn in a regular Nintendo-brand controller, they'll knock 15 dollars off the Wavebird's price.

Are they doing this at all EB's? That's a pretty good deal.

edit: I went to my local EB and they knew nothing of this. They called other EB's and they hadn't heard of this either. The manager was nice enough to honor it anyway, but I'm not sure if this is official, or maybe word just hasn't made it down the pipeline. Anyway, just FYI.

 

[Matt Birchall]

Tried one out today (and subsequently bought it). I'm not a very good judge of distance, but I was probably able to get at least a hundred feet away, and the thing was still working. It was a 20" TV, so I couldn't play it (I knew it was still working, though--the game was Super Smash Bros. Melee, and I was just moving the cursor around on the character select screen, and I could still see the cursor moving around).
No practical use in that at all (unless you're playing on one of those gigantic multi-screen displays, I guess), but still really cool that it could get that far regardless.

-mwb-

 

[Evelio Figueroa]

No practical use in that at all (unless you're playing on one of those gigantic multi-screen displays, I guess), but still really cool that it could get that far regardless.

I don't think they made the Wavebird to see how far you can go with it. If they did, it'll have the 2.4 Ghz technology.
I'm just glad I can play my game and not worry about someone tripping over the cord when they walk in front of the TV.

 

[DonRoeber]

Well, I picked one up today, just to try it out. It was set to Channel 1 by default, and I had no problems with it working with my wireless LAN. The LAN consists of a few Apple Airport cards, a Linksys 802.11b card, and an Apple Airport Base Station. It's set to use Channel 1 as wel. Absoultely no signal degredation. Very pleased. Now I'll buy three more controllers
Hopefully the Logitech wireless PS2 controllers due out later this summer will be just as good.

 

[Evelio Figueroa]

I noticed one thing about having more than one Wavebird. If you have one set at channel 1 and the other on 2, it'll work fine. But if you put the one on channel 1 to 2, during game play, it will not work with the receiver thats already set to the other controller. To me thats good. I'd hate to have a friend take control of my character from a distance.

 

[Eric Nees]

The EB $15 off deal is was mentioned in a story on IGN Tuesday night. Link Removed