Hasta La Gadget!

Look out, vulnerable televisions — your worst nightmare is already up for pre-order. The two- and four-pound Riiflex Wiimote weights have escaped the “yeah right” stage and are now just months away from piercing all manners of living room fixtures. The pair (one for your Wiimote, one for your nunchuck) of two pounders will set you back $34.95, while the heftier ones run $5 more pet set. Wait, are you seriously considering these? Be honest.

[Thanks, Jon]

Update: Riiflex pinged us to say that pre-orders will get 30 percent off.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Riiflex Wiimote weights up for pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This obviously isn’t the sort of thing that Nintendo is going to come out and confirm itself, but analyst Koya Tabata of Credit Suisse has apparently determined, or at least guessed, that Nintendo has managed to drastically reduce the manufacturing costs of the Wii since its launch. Specifically, Tabata says that manufacturing costs are down a full 45%, which would of course also mean that Nintendo’s margins on the console have increased proportionally, and that the chances for a price cut are now better than ever, especially in light of the newly cheapened PS2. According to Tabata, however, any price cut would likely first arise in emerging markets, with a drop ’round these parts anything but a sure thing.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Analyst suspects Wii manufacturing costs are down 45% originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The jury’s still out on whether or not Nintendo follows our logic and is gonna release the Wii MotionPlus attachment before June 18th, the day Electronic Arts debuts the first compatible game Grand Slam Tennis. Regardless, the developers of that game want you to know that they had to actually to tone down the touted 1:1 responsiveness to make the game playable. We can’t say that we blame them — after all, the air resistance of a Wii remote is slightly different than that of a full tennis racket — but we’d love to have the option to crank up that sensitivity and see just how unstable it really is. So when do we a chance to find out for ourselves, eh Nintendo?

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Wii MotionPlus can be oversensitive to your needs, say EA devs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you thought your flying Wiimotes weren’t harmful enough stock, perhaps you’d like to add a little more inertia into the mix? Additional danger is probably not the idea behind Riiflex, snap-on weights for your controller that will come in 2- and 5-pound increments, but we think that will probably be the net result in many cases. After all, if a flimsy plastic Wiimote can pierce a television or mortally wound a small dog, what kind of damage could a 5-pound version inflict? We look forward to seeing pictures of the aftermath if and when these ever ship.

Filed under: Gaming

Riiflex Wiimote weights add extra mass, extra momentum originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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