The Snakebyte Wii Motion plus controller is one of the latest 3rd party controllers to be released in the wake of Wii Motion Plus. I don’t have any experience with any other products from Snakebyte, and really hadn’t heard of them before this product, but I have to admit that they have won me over with a very impressive and very competent product that certainly got the job done and did it a heckuva lot better than I initially expected. Read on to see my impressions with a review copy of the remote.
Now the controller gives a mixed first impression. I really like the design of the controller and I think it certainly is an appreciable device to look at. The extra lights on the device help differentiate it from seeming like a cheap imitation of the Nintendo controller. It has a smooth finish and doesn’t feel “cheap” when holding the controller in hand and in actual use. It actually feels a little slippery which convinced me to make sure I had my strap secured around my wrist during play.
Something else that’s easy to appreciate is the synch button on the front face of the controller rather than being hidden in the behind the battery cover on the back. I found it as a welcome surprise as it appreciably made synching the controller with my Wii a heckuva lot easier and hope this becomes something of a trend.
Using the controller is as transparent a process as imaginable as it seems to be indistinguishable from the Nintendo product when used. I really forgot that I was using a 3rd party controller while playing through Red Steel 2 and my daily Wii Fit exercises which is another testament to the design and feel of the controller.
Another interesting surprise was the inclusion of a USB port right at the bottom of the controller. My controller came with rechargeable batteries and using the USB to charge was an appreciably smart decision on the designers’ part. I think homebrew enthusiasts can certainly appreciate a new way to connect their controllers to their PC’s and I look forward to any developments that trickle their way online.
Now there are a few things about the controller that I’m not happy with. First thing that I immediately noticed with my review controller is that there was a screw holding the batter cover in place rather than a clip. The device actually came packaged with a mini screwdriver so that I could insert the batteries in order to get started. I really thought twice about the device when seeing this on the back of the remote and became a huge detriment in my mind. I really think this is a huge oversite with the design group in charge of this controller as I haven’t needed a screwdriver to work my controller since I broke the “L” and “R” buttons on my SNES controller after too much Street Fighter 2.
The other negative aspect of the controller is the sound quality of the speakers. They’re not quite up to par with the Nintendo controllers, and would be easily missed as most games don’t use them but when they are used they’re noticeably bad and a little crackly. The other thing is that it felt like the speaker may have been a rattling a little whenever the vibration kicks in, but this may just be a result of the controller being damaged during shipping.
If you’re shopping around for an additional controller and don’t feel like forking over $40 for a Nintendo branded Wiimote than I would suggest taking a look at the Snakebyte XL. It’s a certainly usable controller that can fit in with your collection easily and seems to be on sale from $20-$30 online.
