GameCyte

Not content to merely show us their new controller in paper form, Nyko invited us to come get some hands-on time with the Wing, their wireless solution to the Wii’s Classic Controller. So, we headed down to Nyko’s “Retrocade” event, where we got to use the classic competitor with some classic titles like Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts, and Street Fighter II. We also got to try out the Wing on Capcom’s upcoming old/new-school sequel, Mega Man 9, a new entry in the Mega Man series developed to look and play like the original NES titles. Join us for our impressions, and Sean Hollister’s many, many defeats at Street Fighter II, after the jump.

The Wing controller is still at least a month away, scheduled for release in October. As such, the controllers we got to try out at the Retrocade were hastily-assembled prototypes which Nyko had put together just for this event, and they repeatedly stressed to us that we were not playing with the final version. They also assured us that the controller’s flaws — which, unfortunately, were fairly major — would be ironed out in the final release hardware. These flaws included a fairly sticky D-pad, and a nasty habit of losing sync with the console at critical moments, leading to a number of frustrating deaths. Nyko promised us up and down that they were fully aware of these problems with the prototype, and that such issues would not occur with the final controller — “This isn’t our first wireless controller,” we were reminded. We certainly hope the promises are true; we’ll have to wait and see.

The look and feel of the Wing, however, was ready to be judged. Our greatest concern, naturally, was how well the controller stood up to the paper peripheral we had assembled ourselves. For reference, here is our initial version:

And, here is the sleek new plastic model with actual chips and stuff inside:

The upgrade seems fairly thorough. In all seriousness, however, the Wing felt good in our hands: Light and unimposing without feeling too insubstantial (roughly lighter than a wireless Xbox 360 controller), good size, proper button placement for easy access without scrambling or searching. The location of the Z buttons — now located next to the shoulder triggers, rather than in front of them, as with a GameCube controller — seemed a little odd at first, but was easy to get used to. On the whole, playing with the Wing felt like playing with a Dual Shock or a 360 controller; an intuitive and familiar process for any contemporary gamer which didn’t distract from the gameplay.

Apart from the wirelessness, which is obviously the Wing’s main attraction, Nyko pointed out another handy feature to us: the controller contains a small USB port, which will act as a built-in charging station if a gamer uses rechargeable batteries in the controller. The Wing will recharge said batteries when connected to any powered USB port, including the Wii, or a PC, or even another console.

The Wing’s similarity to other modern controllers was a conscious choice made by Nyko’s design team when work began 6-8 months ago. Amir Navid, Nyko’s VP of Product Development, cited the Dual Shock as his favorite controller. He told us, “It had some basis in popular controllers, obviously… but it is a very unique shape; I don’t think there’s been a controller that looks like that.” He want on to describe the impetus for the Wing’s major differences from the original Classic Controller: “I’m a big fan of Nintendo, but, definitely, I think the Classic Controller has a lot of problems as far as how comfortable it is to hold, how it sits in your hands. There were definitely certain things that I wanted to correct, as far as the company motto — we try to solve problems. I wanted to make something that’s really ergonomic, that sits well in the hand, that’s not oversized… any time you do a controller, there’s a lot of different issues that you have to take under consideration.”

On the whole, Nyko seems to have succeeded in putting together a comfortable controller, and as promised, there were no wires to be found — the Wing attaches to the Wiimote using one of Nyko’s instantly recognizable dongles. Still, the question remained — of all the things to remove wires from, why the Classic Controller? Are gamers going to rally around a new version of one of the Wii’s less popular peripherals, especially considering the increased price? We asked Michael Quiroz and Bernard Hoang, Marketing Associates at Nyko, just that question, and they had quite an explanation for us.

“It’s because people have been requesting it,” said Quiroz, “People have been asking for the wire to be cut, just like with the Nunchuk. We have, on our website, the ‘Submit a Product Idea’ form. Some companies won’t read that; we do. We send out a weekly product report of all those ideas to all of marketing, all of product development — we like to keep a pulse on what people are thinking. The idea of a wireless Classic Controller, a wireless Nunchuk, we thought of immediately when we saw that everything was going to be wired to that remote. And if we have an idea, and a lot of people are asking for that idea, we want to come out and make it. We want to be able to meet what the consumer wants, and we pride ourselves on trying to solve problems.”

As to the increased price, Nyko feels that the Wing qualifies as a “luxury item,” a controller that not only meets the wireless needs of gamers, but adds to the abilities and playability of the original Classic Controller. Quiroz remarked, “It is a little bit more expensive, but it’s a nice piece. We don’t want to make it cheap, we don’t want to make it lower quality. We want to make sure it meets and exceeds the standards that have been set by the first party.”

With more knowledge of the Wing than we knew what to do with, we were able to enjoy the classic titles on hand. The Wing lent some quick, responsive controls to Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts, thought the game remained as painfully difficult as always. I have to wonder how the lightweight Wing will hold up to being thrown against a wall. It also allowed for fireball-friendly controls at Street Fighter II, allowing me to mop the floor with my fellow editor in nine straight matches. I can say for sure that the Wing works just fine for controlling Ryu — I’m not sure about other characters, since I wasn’t able to change until Mr. Hollister finally beat me by resorting to using Bison (at which point I counter-cheaped him with Vega and won again).

Finally, we concluded our visit with a hands-on preview of Mega Man 9, the upcoming new entry in one of Capcom’s hardest franchises. A retro-styled text-and-still-graphics cutscene tells the new tale: Robot Masters are once again running rampant, only this time, they appear to be the creations of Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily claims he can save the world from these newly-evil machines if the citizens wire enough money to his bank account. Needless to say, it’s up to Mega Man to clean up the mess — again.

The game looks and plays just how an experienced old-school gamer should expect: deceptively cartoonish enemies will completely ravage you, and every pit in the game has a cruelly-placed baddie just waiting to ruin your jump and cause instant death. The look of the original NES titles has been replicated down to the last pixel, with all of the original sound effects and animations in place, accompanied by a new set of Mega Man’s iconic, catchy chiptunes. Mega Man fans are in for a major treat and a lot of swearing at the TV — I couldn’t even get past the first screen.

The Nyko Wing is scheduled to launch in October at a suggested price of $29.99. Mega Man 9 is scheduled to launch later this month for WiiWare, PSN, and XBLA.

Full disclosure: At time of publication, Nyko was a client of TriplePoint PR, a firm managed by Richard Kain — owner of our parent company Pantheon Labs. A TriplePoint representative invited us to the above event.

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