Customer Reviews

Nyko Wand Core Pak for Wii

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a nice sized, solidly built WiiMote and Nunchuk clone. The built in speaker is louder than the official WiiMote and the rumble effects feel stronger. The Kama Nunchuk rumbles when used with the Nyko Wand. It works with the Wii MotionPlus (but the Kama Nunchuk will not rumble with MotionPlus-- Nyko is working on a fix...read their product FAQ). In any case, the official Wii Nunchuk doesn't rumble at all so you're not losing anything at present with the Kama not rumbling with MotionPlus games. Wii MotionPlus jelly cover fits perfectly. Kama Nunchuk has rubberized grip and bigger buttons which give it a feeling of quality. This is not a cheaply thrown together product.

The battery cover is rubberized (nice touch there) and is the same size as the official Nintendo's WiiMote version so you should be able to use Wii batter packs. Speaking of batteries, seems like it might eat batteries quicker: When I first used the Wand I had switched out batteries from my official WiiMote and they read less juice left.

Just purchased this product, despite a recommendation from a store clerk that he had had returns stating that this product didn't work. But I checked online reviews and they were mostly favorable. But when we got this product home, the thing just doesn't work. We synced it twice and it registered as the second remote onscreen, but when you try to press the "A" or "B" buttons, nothing happens. And the directions do not mention what to do in the event that this happens (Troubleshooting). Cannot even start a game with this remote. Will be sending it back in the morning for a Wii remote

Ended up buying in desperation on Christmas eve as an extra one we ordered didn't come in in time for Xmas. I loved the feel of this remote. And I wanted to love it, but by the end of day 1, it was not working correctly, you couldn't get it to scroll around the screen with the pointer. It came back for a little while on day 2, but then just died a slow and painful death. Tried to change batteries and resync. Nada. Fortunately, was able to return it with no hassels. And our extra one arrived in the mail later that day.

We purchased this with a WII to give us a second set of controllers. Our initial decision was made based upon both budgetary concerns and reviews at Amazon.

The Good
For the most part the Wand unit works and feels almost exactly like a Wiimote. Button feel, pointing and motion sensing are reasonably on par with Nintendo's offering. My favorite part of this package is the Kama (Nyko's version of the Nunchuck). The Cord on the Kama (approximately double that of the Nunchuck) makes things much easier for the average height adults in our family, but may be a bit long for the kids. The locking mechanism is much easier to use than Nintendo's, however may be a bit hard to spot at first. Finally, the rubberized grip makes for an easier to hold controller. Performance is reasonably on par with the Nunchuck.

The Bad
My only complaints about the Wand are as follows: For some inexplicable reason, while the Wand can be used to turn on the WII, ours at least will not turn the WII off. The speaker on the Wand is far inferior to the Wiimotes, which can be annoying at times. It sucks up batteries noticeably more quickly than the Wiimote.

Overall
The Wand core pack is a competent and (at the time of this writing) 40% lower cost alternative to purchasing a Wiimote and Nunchuck. To be perfectly honest, I feel more comfortable giving the cheaper alternative to my 7 year old, knowing that he's a bit wild when he plays. If/When we purchase a third controller set for our WII, most likely we'll go for a Nintendo Wiimote and a Nyko Kama.

I can go pro & con like some other reviewers. There are some pros here:
1 - This is significantly less expensive than the Nintendo brand controller & nunchuck - for the price of the Nintendo remote ($40) - you get the remote and the nunchuck.
2 - this comes with a blue skin and a blue sparkly wrist strap - believe me, this is a serious pro in a household that contains an 11-year-old girl. She was so disappointed that I had to return it, and wanted to keep the skin - which, unfortunately is NOT worth $40.

The cons - and this is where you should actually pay attention to what I'm writing:
This came in the mail the same day I got my brand new Wii. I put the included batteries in, and the lights turned on - I followed all of the steps and synced it up with my wii - no problem there. However, as soon as I put in a game (Raving Rabbids TV Party - in case you're looking for serious details here) - the Wii didn't recognize the second wii-mote, just the one that came with the system.

I went back to the home screen, and after some wrist-wiggling, I was able to see controller 2 - so I thought I'd try a different game - this time I put in We Ski - and once again, controller 2 had disappeared. Then, the lights went completely off. I decided it must be cheap batteries - so I went to Walmart and bought a brand new 12-pack of duracells. Put them in - and Nada - no lights at all, I tried repeatedly to get it to sync, but nothing happened.

So - I put it back in the mail to Amazon this morning, and ordered a Nintendo brand controller and nunchuck. I'll get a full refund, so I'm not out any money or anything, but if I had known this would be so shoddy, I'd have just purchased the Nintendo one in the first place.

Finally - yes, there are two pros and only one con - but the pros are teeny tiny, and the con is a big old pile of useless plastic sitting on your coffee table while you wait for the eleven year old to finish her turn playing with YOUR new Wii.

I've bought the Nyko Wii Wand, with or without the nunchuk, for myself, my mother, and my nephew (4 wands in total). None of us has had any issues with it for the past 6-8 months. So far so good. Like the Nintendo remotes, the wand comes with a silicone sleeve (a lovely shade of blue). I don't like these sleeves, though, so I appreciate that the wand also has a rubber grip on the bottom. As far as game control goes, the wands are every bit as good as the more expensive Nintendo remotes. I haven't kept close track of it, but I think the batteries on the wands run out sooner though. I've got rechargable batteries and charge station, so that isn't a big issue for me. For anyone who's on a budget (college students, kids, etc.) the Nyko wands are a great alternative to the expensive name brand stuff. If you've got the money for it, go ahead and get the name brands instead, but these wands are a very good option if you don't want to spend that much money.

We bought this for our 4 and 6 year old figuring they would be hard on the controllers - they are - and that it made more sense to go with the cheaper option. I was a bit hesitant because I found a number of reviews claiming that this controller had sync problems with the Wii. Or that it would start off synced and then unsync itself.

We haven't had this problem at all. We got our Wii and this Nyko wand core pack in mid-March of 2010 for our kids for their birthdays. It synced without any problem on the first attempt - using the instructions which come with the Wii on how to sync new controllers to it - and it has remained synced through a lot of game play by both the kids and the adults. It has been working exactly like the official Nintendo controller and nunchuk which came with the system.

My kids prefer the Nyko wand and kama (their name for the nunchuk) because they find it less slippery and they find it easier to find the Z button on the kama as it has an extra little molded part which helps your finger rest against it easily. The C button is also bigger on the kama which they prefer. The wand is almost identical to the official Nintendo controller, except the buttons are square and the sound is a bit louder.

It also snaps, no problem, into the Mario Kart wheel we have.

I would highly recommend this and we will be purchasing more to get our collection up to four.

When I used this product I was surprised at how well they worked. I followed Nintendo's syncing instructions and everything has gone smooth. I feel that the Wand(Wiimote) is more comfortable that the Nintendo Wiimote because buttons are larger and it also has grip. If you are looking for a good alternative to the more expensive first party controllers you have found them.

I had a gift card for Amazon for Christmas and the family got a new Wii system so I thought I would try this non-Nintendo brand as they were much cheaper than the actual Nintendo item. They came in less than a week. And when we went to sync it up, it worked on the first try. We have been using it since and have not had one issue. Awesome product at an awesome price. Only one thing to know, if you by the Nerf game with guns, you need to remove the battery hold down on the back of the controller for it to fit as it has thick rubber on it and it a little too thick for the gun. Works great once removed and love the rubber when it's not in the gun.. Once again awesome product, will most like buy more to get us up to 4 controllers.

i got these from amazon because my kids r hard on thing and cant see my self sppending 70 dollars on a wii remote and nunchuck. we neede both for ea active and i have to say i feel like they work the same for us. the only thing i found is that all these thing including the brand name wii one work best with brand name duracell battaries. now that we play more because we have 2 sets of remotes i might get a charger fot the 2. i think because it has the bigger clear to read and different color buttons and is chunckier it is easier for my 3 year old and 5 year old to hold and use. so far it works on all the games we own wii sports ea active and ki lan sports day. i have it a month and it works great for us pluse we saved a bit of money.