Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Wii Remotes eat batteries. It's a fact we've long granted as simple, stark truth -- but what to do about it? Wii owners have a lot of solutions at hand, from simply sucking it up to elaborate rituals with charge stations, rechargeables, and even voodoo rituals (or so we heard). Got a Balance Board? There's a whole new battery dilemma for you ... and with Wii MotionPlus on the horizon, and its battery-destroying potential, if you don't already have a plan in place for handling the coming battery power crisis, it might be time to consider some options.

Don't worry -- we're here to help. We've explored several solutions in the past, and now we're back with a look at an all new charging apparatus: Penguin United's 4X Quad Charge Station. PU is so proud of being able to charge four remotes at once that they boasted of the ability twice in its name!

Jokes aside, it's a solid option that comes at a price some might consider hefty. But hey! It charges four remotes at once.

Update: Sorry, got our dates confused. The post has been fixed.

Nyko wants you to know they've come up with a solution for the Balance Board's power consumption, making sure they get in on the cash cow others think it will be. It's a rechargeable battery pack that will release on May 19th, for a MSRP of $19.99. The cool thing about this rechargeable battery pack is that, in order to recharge it, you won't even need to unplug it from the Balance Board. You can charge and play at the same time.

Hit up the gallery below for some screens of the accessory at work.



[Via press release]

Fire Bird's rechargeable grip combines the functions of a Wii remote charging dock and a controller frame accessory. The product seemed silly to us at first, but we suppose that something like this could be useful when we're playing Virtual Console releases or games that require us to hold the remote sideways like Excite Truck. Having a convenient way to recharge the battery via USB will also come in handy for future marathon sessions with Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn when Nintendo brings the time-consuming SRPG stateside.

SuccessHK no longer has the rechargeable controller grip in stock, but there are still a few listed on eBay for about $9.99 ($8.00 shipping). One strange thing to note about the packaging is its Wii Sports branding. Having your remote locked into the plastic frame would make playing any of the Wii Sports' games awkward. Check out that Wii logo too! The last two letters look more like a u-umlaut than lowercase i's. Head past the post break for a larger shot of the grip!

[Via DCEmu]

If you're like us, you've essentially forestalled any and all social responsibilities as of November 19th, 2006. That also means that, if you're like us, you've spent an additional bazillion dollars on those accursed double-A alkaline batteries. Where, Nintendo, are our rechargeables?

Well, it seems as if Nintendo won't man up and get the job done, another company is gonna step up to the plate. Joytech, perpetual manufacturer of all things accessory, will release a recharging/docking station for two Wiimotes sometime early next year. Just insert the included rechargeable pack into the Wiimote, and place them into the vertical dock ... we prefer to think of them as thrones of power ... and you'll be ready for another 25ish hours of gaming.

It's about time.