But games aren’t the only things to think about when people start amassing merchandise for a particular console– there are also accessories. And boy oh boy, did the Wii have accessories. Unfortunately, a lot of them were cheap, gimmicky junk made to cash in on the Wii’s massive success with casual audiences, and we’ll definitely be highlighting some of that here. But we also want to bring attention to the Wii accessories that weren’t garbage and should definitely be on any Wii collector’s wish list.
10 Best: Wii Motion Plus
When Nintendo first showed off the Wii Remote, the company inferred a lot more accuracy with the motion control capabilities than the controller was actually capable of.
Luckily, they continued R&D on motion control even after the Wii was released, and they eventually came up with the Motion Plus add-on which finally fulfilled the promise of (mostly) 1:1 control between the controller and the action on-screen. As it is required by some of the Wii’s best games– like Skyward Sword and Red Steel 2– every Wii owner should have it.
9 Avoid: Steering Wheel
The idea of turning a Wii Remote sideways and having it transform into a steering wheel was definitely an exciting prospect, finally letting gamers have steering wheels for racing games that didn’t cost an arm and a leg (and often only worked for a few select games).
But the motion sensing of original Wii Remotes wasn’t suited to super-accurate racing, so most gamers quickly found themselves going back to traditional controls for Mario Kart and other Wii racing games forcing them to find a place to store all those wheels Nintendo kept packaging with its Wii racing games.
8 Best: Classic Controller Pro
There were definitely some games that made great use of the Wii Remote’s motion control, but for everything else– especially the many Wii games that didn’t even bother implementing motion control at all– having to play for long play sessions with the awkward Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo was a chore.
Enter the Classic Controller Pro, which is a must for playing any games that don’t have motion control options (and even the ones that feature motion control but don’t require it). Why was it called the Classic Controller Pro? Well…
7 Avoid: Classic Controller (Original)
One of the selling points of the Wii was that it allowed for downloading classic NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games (with more consoles added over time). The problem was that the Wii Remote didn’t have enough buttons to handle any classic console’s games other than the NES, so Nintendo had to release a controller that had the extra buttons that SNES, N64, et al games needed.
Too bad the original Classic Controller seemed thrown-together and wasn’t really all that comfortable, arguably one of the worst controllers Nintendo has ever made in that regard.
6 Best: Wii Fit Balance Board
By the end of the 2000s, many people joked about their closets, basements, and attics that were full of Guitar Hero/Rock Band instruments and Wii Fit Balance Board. One of the best-selling video game accessories of all time, over 100 million people owned a balance board but quickly grew tired of it.
But don’t sleep on the Balance Board– not only are some of the minigames in Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus still fun, but it can also be used for other games, including the uproarious (and underrated) Rabbids TV Party.
5 Avoid: Any Third-Party Wii Remote Or Nunchuk
For over a year after its release, the Wii was very hard to find, with websites dedicated specifically to alerting people when specific stores re-stocked the console. Even for those lucky enough to get one early on, standalone Wii Remotes were also difficult to get a hold of, opening the door to third parties releasing their own versions for desperate Wii owners who wanted to play multiplayer.
These days, Wii Remotes are a dime a dozen, so there’s no reason to bother with third-party ones when the originals work the best and are the most reliable.
4 Best: Wii Zapper
The Wii Zapper got a bad rap when it was first released, with people specifically pointing to how silly it looked to play with one. Well, if looking silly while playing is an issue for you, you probably shouldn’t be playing Wii in the first place.
It might have looked goofy, but the Zapper turned a Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo into a pretty nifty light gun, and worked great with the many gun games that came to the system– most notably The House of the Dead: Overkill, Dead Space: Extraction, and the two Resident Evil Chronicles games.
3 Avoid: Battery Packs/Charging Stations
There is a divide among gamers whether wireless controllers should use standard batteries or built-in battery packs. No matter what side you fall on, one thing should be universal: when a controller uses standard batteries, that’s what you should use, rather than fussing with add-on battery packs and charging stations.
AA rechargeable batteries are pretty affordable these days, as are chargers, and that’s the route you should go with Wii Remotes rather than bulky battery packs and charging stations that, at this point, can’t possibly have that many good charges left in them anyway.
2 Best: SD Cards
The Wii’s built-in memory was plenty big enough for game saves, but once the Wii Shop Channel came into play and downloading games became an option, the console’s onboard memory filled up way too quickly.
Luckily, the Wii accepts standard SD cards to allow for additional storage, and those are a must for anyone who still uses their Wii– especially those that have games downloaded that are no longer available to purchase again with the Wii no longer connectable to the internet.
1 Avoid: Basically All Wii Sports Accessories
It’s no big secret that a lot of people bought a Wii just to play Wii Sports, and there were many companies that jumped on the chance to sell completely worthless add-ons to those people that turned Wii Remotes into golf clubs, baseball bats, tennis rackets, even bowling balls.
Most of these were only used once or twice before people realized they were stupid and never touched them again, and now a lot of those people are trying to pawn them off on others as interest in Wii stuff has seen a resurgence. Don’t take the bait, even if it’s free.
Next: 5 Best Mario Games On The Nintendo Wii (& 5 Worst)
