Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Yes, pointless.

As much as we love our Wii, it's not exactly creaking under the weight of great racing titles. There's Game Night favorite Mario Kart Wii, which is really fun, but that already comes with its own wheel, which works surprisingly well. And after that, we have (in order of GameRankings.com score) Excite Truck, MX vs. ATV Untamed, Speed Racer, and Cars, followed by fourteen other depressing drives.

None of which is intended as a slur on Logitech's new force feedback wheel for the Wii, which actually looks and sounds excellent. Releasing in November for $99.99 (!), the Logitech Speed Force Wireless features built-in gas and brake controls, a comfy-looking expandable lap rest, a wireless USB receiver and, naturally, full force feedback.

It is almost certainly the best possible way to play Cruis'n, GT Pro Series, and Wacky Races: Crash & Dash.


[Via press release]

Surfing the 'net on Nintendo's white box 'o joy just got a whole lot easier. Logitech has whipped the covers off of this sleek beast: a cordless Wii keyboard. This bad boy works from up to 30 feet (10 meters) from the console, and comes with dedicated buttons for "Zoom In" and "Zoom Out," "Forward" and "Back", "Quit," and "OK."

So there you go: no more painstakingly entering text with the Wiimote. Now, aside from surfing the 'net, what else do we think this might be used for? We'll find out soon enough!

[Thanks, Chris!]

Yesterday, after the update enabling USB keyboards in the web browser was released, Logitech mentioned that they'd be releasing a special Wii keyboard. We immediately got the crazy idea of a keyboard with a Wii pointer built in, so you can point and click by waving the keyboard around. It was a weirdly practical, and fun, idea.

But as always, reality is less awesome than our controller fantasies. Logitech announced that their "new" USB keyboard will be ... the Classic Keyboard 200. (pictured above). They added a blurb to the Japanese product page that mentions that it's been tested with the Wii browser and found to work. Which means that you can get the new Wii peripheral right now, because it's just their basic USB keyboard. It only seems to be available in white in Japan, however. Importing might be worth it for you, because in addition to the color, the logo will say "Logicool" (Logitech's Japanese name) which we find hilarious.

Peripherals company Logitech has hit on a capital idea: combine motion-sensing and rumble in a single controller. At least, that's what Chris Spearing, UK and Ireland manager for Logitech, seemed to think. His company still has yet to formally announce the identity of their first Wii product, but the discussion seems to be turning towards a Wiimote substitute.

Speaking about the issue of rumble versus motion controls, Spearing said "Having the motion-sensing in the Sixaxis, that really works for some games. And for the Wii – you've seen people rush out and buy the Wii for that realism, if you're swinging a tennis racket, you know how to do it." He then went on to mention that "Hopefully we'll be at the forefront of pushing that further, combining some of the two."

We'd assume that Spearing was talking about a PS3 controller design if not for the title of the GamesIndustry.biz story: "Logitech to create Wiimote rival?" If he is indeed talking about the Wii, he should check it out sometime-- he may be impressed with the controller.

Once they get their technological issues straightened out (i.e. figure out what technology is in the controller), we'd love to see Logitech's take on the Wii controller. Their hardware is top-notch, and often outclasses standard controllers.

With the incredible success of the Wii, many companies are shifting their focus to capitalize on the system's popularity. Companies such as Ubisoft, EA and now Logitech, are shifting their focus to Nintendo's latest console, offering more unique products for that console than they would the competition. Ubisoft and EA are bringing the games, but what about some nice peripheral action?

That's where Logitech comes in, as they have revealed they've got some stuff in the works for the Wii. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but we know what you guys want: USB keyboard, right? We'd love one too, so let's hope that Logitech, who is wide known for some of the best wireless keyboards and mice in the PC game, can at least hook it up with a USB keyboard.

We'd say wireless for the Wii, but that might be asking too much ...