GAMEware Nintendo Wii Remote Rechargable Battery and Charging Station

Our house has been a very happy place since we bought a Nintendo Wii, hours of fun have been spent and we have only had one real problem. Well not a problem, more a niggle, but a niggle none the less.

Let me explain

When you first purchase a Nintendo Wii, you are supplied with a controller that is called a Wii remote. This is one of the integral parts of the whole Nintendo Wii experience. The Wii remote takes 2 AA batteries. ...
...up to 60hrs of use from one set of batteries. I have found that depending on the type of batteries, this can be seriously reduced. In one case I got less than 2hrs from a battery change (ok they were cheap batteries that I had bought from a pound shop).

We have two add on controllers that plug directly into the back of the Wii remote, neither of these have their own power supply, so they will obviously use some of the battery power ... more

Our house has been a very happy place since we bought a Nintendo Wii, hours of fun have been spent and we have only had one real problem. Well not a problem, more a niggle, but a niggle none the less.

Let me explain

When you first purchase a Nintendo Wii, you are supplied with a controller that is called a Wii remote. This is one of the integral parts of the whole Nintendo Wii experience. The Wii remote takes 2 AA batteries.

Nintendo have said you will get up to 60hrs of use from one set of batteries. I have found that depending on the type of batteries, this can be seriously reduced. In one case I got less than 2hrs from a battery change (ok they were cheap batteries that I had bought from a pound shop).

We have two add on controllers that plug directly into the back of the Wii remote, neither of these have their own power supply, so they will obviously use some of the battery power in the Wii remote. These are;
The Nunchuk controller (this is a controller that is used in various ways in different games).
The Classic controller (this is a controller used for playing downloaded retro classic games).

Nintendo do not endorse using rechargeable batteries, which would therefore include a recharging unit for the Wii remote. Having said that a product that is made specifically for the Nintendo Wii remote (by Gameware) is hardly likely to damage the controller that was part of my reasoning for purchasing one. Well that as well as the added saving on the cost of batteries, oh and not forgetting that it was on offer at £14.99 from £19.99.

We purchased it from our local Game store, it is branded “Gameware” which is the own brand that Game uses. The retail price is £19.99 but I have only seen it on offer at £14.99, it is also available at the Game website.

What did we get in the Box?

One rechargeable battery (surprisingly enough it looks very similar to two “AA” batteries inside one case.
USB charging cable.
Charging stand
Wii remote battery cover.
A small instruction manual and a warranty.

How easy was it to set up?

It took a matter of minutes to set up, but 6 hours before we could use the Wii, as that is how long it took to charge.
It was simply a matter of removing the Battery cover, this is between the “B” button and the wrist strap on the back of the Wii remote.
Placing the rechargeable battery in the battery compartment that is normally occupied by two “AA” batteries.

Put the new Wii remote battery cover on in place of the existing one that has just been taken off.
You need to put this new cover on as it has two metal strips that connect to the charging stand, other than that it looks and feels no different to the original cover.

Next it was take the USB charging cable, put the USB end into a free USB socket on the Nintendo Wii and attach the small pint at the other end of the cable to the charging stand.

Then it was just a matter of placing the Wii remote into the charging stand and waiting for the six odd hours until the blue LED on the charging station began flashing to let us know the charging was complete.

What does it look like?

Well it is white and in keeping with the white colour/theme of all things Nintendo Wii, it has a thin cable that supplies the power to the charger from the Nintendo Wii and it the stand itself is round with and indent for the Wii remote to nestle in (upright) with two points that touch the two new metal strips on the Wii remote. It has a small blue LED at the front that flashes when the charge is complete.
In a nutshell it is unobtrusive in design.

How have we found using it?

It took only a few minutes to put together and is so much easier than changing batteries on a far too regular basis.
Being aware that rechargeable batteries have a tendency to go from a state charge to discharge faster than you can blink, we keep ours charged and will pop the Wii remote back in the charging station prior to it running out of charge. That will include any breaks we have between games playing.

Ups and Downs

On the plus side because it uses an existing USB port on the Wii, it means no hunting for an electrical socket for the charger and having to plug in a huge transformer.

Another major plus is no running out of batteries during an extended session of game playing in the middle of the night.

We did have a pink skin on one of the Wii remotes, unfortunately it is awkward to have this on now as whenever we charge the Wii remote it means pulling the skin back so it can be inserted in the charging stand. I am thinking of cutting the skin where the metal parts on the battery cover are, to see if it can be charged with the skin in place.

The one thing I would like to see Game do, is to bring out a package that contains just a rechargeable battery pack with a Wii remote battery cover. I simply cannot see anyone who has say four Wii remotes, needing four charging stands, when one or two would be enough. 

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