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Asus Release a Wiimote-Alike

Posted by timothy on from the sincerest-form dept.

arcticstoat writes "After attracting lots of media attention with the Eee PC, Asus has now turned its hand to producing a motion-sensitive controller like the Wiimote, called the Eee Stick. Looking unashamedly like a copy of a Wiimote and Nunchuk setup, the Eee Stick has two components — one with an analogue joystick, and one with a digital control pad — and both sticks have a rumble feature. The Eee Stick is currently planned to be bundled with various models of the Eee PC and Eee Box, but Asus says it can also theoretically work with any PC."

21 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. I call this progress. by SueAnnSueAnn · · Score: 2, Funny

    Finally an alternative to the mouse.

    1. Re:I call this progress. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I use a trackball, you insensitive clod!

    2. Re:I call this progress. by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

      C go. a ekrpat t.fxrapew frg cbo.bocyck. jnre!

    3. Re:I call this progress. by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I actually do use a trackball, and for the life of me, can't figure out why anybody would prefer the mouse. The trackball requires much less desk space, and also doesn't require constantly positioning your hand. You can leave it in one spot, and are never at a point where you're reaching for it. From my experience, a lot of the RSI problems seem to be from reaching for the mouse. Also, you can be very precise with a trackball. No problems with moving it as you press or release a button, and also easy to do continuous movements without having to reposition it. This makes it great when you have to trace around something when editing a picture.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    4. Re:I call this progress. by Skrapion · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I used to be a hard-core trackball enthusiast. I used them for years and years, and I've had an exotic collection of trackballs (my favourite was the Logitech Trackman Marble FX Wireless). But then I went to college, and all the labs had mice. Since I spent so many hours in the labs, my trackballs at home began to feel increasingly alien. I switched to mice, and haven't seen a reason to go back.

      Back in the day, a couple things I liked about trackballs were that you didn't have a cord pulling your mouse in awkward ways and that they took far less time to clean, but now we have wireless mice (preferably with hot-swappable battery packs!) and, unlike modern trackballs, modern mice don't have to be cleaned at all!

      As I made the change to mice, I also found myself getting better at FPS games. I found that trackballs made it easier to move quickly and accurately in a certain direction, but mice make it easier to move quickly and accurately to a certain position (in other words, relative movement vs absolute movement). Since FPS games are basically just glorified versions of Whack-A-Mole, quick absolute movement is, I find, more useful. But I wouldn't have said that when my muscle memory was more familiar with trackballs >:)

      --
      The details are trivial and useless; The reasons, as always, purely human ones.
  2. so... by razorh · · Score: 2, Funny

    something something something... Eee Stick... something something something... Eee Box... and it vibrates?

  3. So... by corychristison · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's an air mouse with extra buttons.

    I _like_ the point and click functionality of the Wiimote. I do not like waving my hand in the air in every other direction to try and click on something.

  4. Pointing? by Millennium · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So they say this thing has a "pointer mode," but I don't see any external reference (akin to the Wii Remote's sensor bar). How does this thing determine its position in space if it doesn't have a point of reference?

  5. Re:Sombody ain't happy by BPPG · · Score: 2, Funny

    Obviously nintendo is pretty mad at them for doing this. Nintendo no longer has a monopoly on the Wii remote...

    They haven't for a while.

    --
    What's the value of information that you don't know?
  6. Analogue and rumble? by archammer2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Didn't Nintendo just lose a law suit because they had controllers with analogue sticks and rumbling?

  7. Good idea by s.carr1024 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Way to copy a product that really doesn't work. If they Wiimote worked so well, they wouldn't need the Wii Motion Plus. Has anyone ever said, "I like using my computer, but I wish I had to spasmodically waggle my wrist more?" I don't think so. It is possible that the Asus remote is based on better technology (like in the Wii Motion Plus) but my point is it _looks_ like a Wiimote, a product that is actually a binary waggle-or-not sensor combined with an inverse laser pointer.

  8. I wonder if you can do the same things... by moose_hp · · Score: 2, Informative

    that you can do with the wiimote like head tracking:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

    low cost interactive whiteboard:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ

    Finger tracking (ala minority report)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU

    --
    DON'T PANIC.
  9. Content? by rtechie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People bought the wii because of the compelling gameplay related to the controller... what software is being released for this thing. ASUS isn't in the content business, so I'm not sure where the software is going to come from. Probably nowhere.

  10. Re:Why does Asus copy everything from the Wii? by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why is it that Asus feels compelled to copy Nintendo's Wii hardware on their latest releases

    For the same reason that all mainstream video game consoles after the NES copied the NES's directional pad to some extent rather than using a table-top joystick.

  11. FPS controller by jonnythan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ever since I first used a Nunchuck on the Wii, I've thought it would make the perfect keyboard replacement for FPS games.

    Think about it. In most FPSes, you use the keyboard to move. 100% digital, on/off movement - you're either pressing the key or you're not. With a Nunchuck, you can use the analog stick to move at different speeds. You can rotate it lengthwise to lean, flick it to jump, and tilt it down to crouch. There are two buttons, good for other random keyboard inputs (night vision goggles? use?).

    Combine it with a 5-button wheel mouse and you should have enough controls for most any FPS.

    Maybe this controller gets us a little closer to that.

    1. Re:FPS controller by Kjella · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Think about it. In most FPSes, you use the keyboard to move. 100% digital, on/off movement - you're either pressing the key or you're not. With a Nunchuck, you can use the analog stick to move at different speeds.

      And most of the time, rapid violent twists would be the optimum reaction. Maybe not all the time but very often you'd want to max out your movement and I think making the wiimoet work comfortably under those conditions would be difficult.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  12. The flaws I see... by Tetrad_of_doom · · Score: 3, Interesting
    • The Wiimote is a Bluetooth device, so why do I need this?
    • Why did they stick with the d-pad on the right hand unit? The only reason the wiimote has a d-pad is so you can turn the thing sideways and get an NES controller. You can't do that here.
    • The PC gaming scene is all about a single person gaming at the computer. The Wii gaming scene is all about groups of people playing in the living room. I'm not sure that is a gap this product can bridge.
    • The pictures make it look like pointing is done by reading gyroscopes and accelerometers, which will be less accurate than the wiimote sensor bar+infrared camera.
    • They'll need to package this with a killer app, and I don't see it.

    Copying somebody else and doing a half-assed job is no way to succeed in business. You've got to copy somebody and then improve the idea to make an impact.

    Get an infrared camera like the wiimote and put some straps with infrared LEDs on a player. You could use this for some real time basic motion capture. It won't be very accurate, but could be good enough to recognize a head nod/shake, a person pointing or waving and other basic actions. Now use this in WoW and suddenly your MMORPG is a lot more immersive.

    1. Re:The flaws I see... by Toonol · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Thread winner.

      The Wiimote is a perfectly usable pc peripheral. It's a somewhat low-resolution mouse replacement with some neat extra features. But the motion sensors by themselves are not the wiimote's main feature; the pointer is, which requires the sensor bar. Since this Asus device doesn't have the sensor bar, it's going to be far reduced in practicality from the wiimote.

    2. Re:The flaws I see... by merreborn · · Score: 2, Informative

      But the motion sensors by themselves are not the wiimote's main feature; the pointer is, which requires the sensor bar.

      To take that a little further:
      The accelerometers in the Wiimote SUCK -- hence this new "MotionPlus" attachment they've got in the pipline. They're so bad, they're frequently an impediment to gameplay -- e.g., Wii Golf is pretty much unplayable, 'cause the accelerometers can't detect putts reliably.

  13. Re:Sombody ain't happy by randyest · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Have you tried a "Vii"? (Chinese Wii knockoff to which parent linked) I have. It's terrible and you'd have to pay me to play it again. My 3, 5, 7, and 12-year-old nephews all hated it too. Seriously, it's utter garbage, especially if you've played with a real Wii. You can almost feel the liquid-mercury tilt switches inside. There is no sensor bar (not unlike this Asus "wiimote") -- 'nuff said for those who understand accelerometer drift and error integration.

    --
    everything in moderation
  14. Re:Why does Asus copy everything from the Wii? by eln · · Score: 2, Funny

    For the same reason that all mainstream video game consoles after the NES copied the NES's directional pad to some extent rather than using a table-top joystick.

    Because they hate children and wanted them all to suffer constant thumb pain?

    Nintendo Thumb is a serious and debilitating disorder. Please, won't someone think of the children?