The
Nintendo WaveBird is a
wireless controller for the
Nintendo Gamecube. It is the first first-party wireless controller for well over 10 years.
The wireless controllers of the past has been notorious for poor response times and the necessity of keeping a clear line of sight. This is because they were made using Infrared electromagnetic radiation signals, which are normally given off by heat producing bodies. Remote controls use infrared. These are interrupted by most normal objects, like walls and siblings. They also have a tendency to bounce off walls and cause repeated, muffled signals.
The WaveBird is different. It uses radio level electromagnetic radiation. This sort of signal is commonly found in cordless phones. It behaves rather like a cordless phone, too. Walls and siblings are not an object, and you can play from up to 30 feet and further. You don’t need to be facing the console, and can be in another room entirely. If you have more than one, you must set them to different channels. You can also change from up to sixteen channels if you are getting any interference from things like your cordless phone.
It runs on 2 AA batteries that last for over 100 hours. The handles are a little longer, and there is no rumble feature to conserve battery power.