“I gave the Wavebird and Pikmin a spin.”

I bought Nintendo’s new wireless controller a couple days ago, but I felt it was a shame to be trying this out without a new game to experience it with. I’d read so many good things about it and was so excited to try it out. I bought it at Wal-Mart for $32.02 and took it straight home to try it out with Resident Evil and Super Smash Bros.

The controller performed flawlessly. Never did my character’s actions lag behind my button presses. It truly is amazing. The lack of force-feedback (rumble) was a little odd at first because I’m used to it, but I can definitly live without it.

Like I said, I really wanted to experience this controller with a game I’ve never played before, so I went and rented Pikmin. I’ve always wanted to play it, so I gave it a try.

I can honestly say that I love this game. And playing it with the Wavebird somehow made the experience that much better. I was up all night playing, ordering my Pikmin this way and that. The button lay-out on the controller is completely identical to the original pad, so I had no problems finding them. It also feels so light in my hands. I can hardly believe how light it is.

I know one of the best characteristic’s of this controller is the fact that you can take it great distances from your Gamecube, but my rooms are small. They are large enough that the wireless"ness" of the controller is beneficial, but not large enough to truly test it’s capabilities. I have read that the controller can work about 100 feet from the console, which is truly amazing and well over the original length of 20 feet that Nintendo had boasted.

The Wavebird is definitly worth picking up, however you’ll still want to keep hold of one or two of your original controllers for games which require some sort of force-feedback. With a battery life of about 100 hours and the ability to be almost 100 feet from your Gamecube, the Wavebird is 100 percent amazing!!!

Also, if you’ve never played Pikmin, go rent it. It’s a great game.