WiiBits

Brian touched on it a little earlier, but I know, he used words - pictures make things easier for you to digest. So here’s the slideshow of the abandoned, unloved Wii controller prototypes from Nintendo’s GDC keynote. Pretty sure we’ve seen them all before somewhere or other, but I like the faux-wear-n-tear on the star one. Very punk. Did I use that word in the right context? I don’t know anymore…Luke Plunkett

Original post by Dan Dormer

Gizmodo has several good shots up of Wii accessory prototypes (I don’t believe the designs are officially final yet) including the Zapper shell for your Wii-mote. The Wii-mote docks into the barrel using the port on the bottom that usually connects to the nunchuck. The Zapper shell adds a trigger and an analog stick to the top. The rumored Duck Hunt 2 should be big blast of nostalgic fun.

I wonder how functional it would be for first person shooters since you really only have easy access to the analog stick and one button. Is the zapper intended to be used only for classic light gun games such as Duck Hunt? The gun is nowhere to be found on the E3 floor so no one has been able to try it out.

Also be sure to check out the photo of the classic controller shell, should be great for playing all the Virtual Console games.

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The Nintendo Wii is stepping up it’s efforts to become an entertainment hub as today Opera Software announced that the console would use the excellent Opera browser. Gamers will be able to browse the Web on their always connected console using their Wii-mote as a pointer. Opera is one of the more powerful modern browers and adheres to web standards, meaning Wii users should be able to have a web experience similar to what they have on their computer.

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Fantastic fan-made video of the history of the Wii. From the very first tidbits of information on the “Revolution”, to the wild speculation, to now. Very cool.

via Kotaku