Nintendo to sell Wii Wheel separately in Japan
by Kyle Orland 
{ Feb 27th 2008 at 5:00PM }
Japanese gamers shouldn't worry, though, as Famitsu (machine translation) reveals that Nintendo will be offering additional wheels for sales at the bargain price of 1200 yen (about $11). No word on whether Americans will get the same chance, but with the market for useless plastic attachments for the Wii remote being what it is, we imagine a similar deal will come stateside eventually.
[Via SiliconEra]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
deaftly @ Feb 27th 2008 5:07PM
Fuck this, Im just going to take the steering wheel out of my car when i get home.
SoulBlade @ Feb 27th 2008 5:13PM
yay another peripheral i won't buy!
JodyAnthony (death by snoo-snoo) @ Feb 27th 2008 5:16PM
insert flood of 'nintendo is milking the consumer base!!!!' posts here
Mr.ESC @ Feb 27th 2008 5:18PM
Nintendo is milking the consumer base!!!!
Lazy Ken Kutaragi @ Feb 27th 2008 5:29PM
The Plumber is bending you all over and milking you for his consumer-base needs
Praise be to me?
samfish @ Feb 27th 2008 8:59PM
Oh God...you're combining all the trolls into one big super troll when you say that...
Mr.ESC @ Feb 27th 2008 5:21PM
The Wii wheel is decent because is included in a game I was going to buy anyway but if it sold separately it simply sucks.
If you have used the Wii zapper for games such as Resident Evil The umbrella Chronicles you notice that add-ons only makes things worst.
JodyAnthony (death by snoo-snoo) @ Feb 27th 2008 5:21PM
your avatar is amazing.
why dont you have a seat over there.
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:07PM
"The Wii wheel is decent because is included in a game I was going to buy anyway but if it sold separately it simply sucks."
But Mario Kart Wii is prices at $60. Doesnt that make the wheel NOT free, and it is forced with a game a lot of people will want? This is a scam.
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:07PM
"The Wii wheel is decent because is included in a game I was going to buy anyway but if it sold separately it simply sucks."
But Mario Kart Wii is prices at $60. Doesnt that make the wheel NOT free, and it is forced with a game a lot of people will want? This is a scam.
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:08PM
Sorry about the double post!
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 27th 2008 6:29PM
@flame
Don't talk shit, ok? It's a $50 dlls game.
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=230257
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:33PM
Your information is wrong. At GDC, Reggie said it was going to be MSRP $60.00. And watch your mouth.
BTW- I am a huge Nintendo Loyalist- I just don't liek to be taken advantage of.
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:39PM
And even if it was $50, They would put hte disc in the same cardboard garbage as Wii SPorts/ Link's Crossbow Training.
I think I own every about 85% of every Nintendo first and second party games- and lately I have not been to pleased with them. I feel like my needs as a gamer have been put on the back burner to casuals.
GoldenS1104 @ Feb 27th 2008 5:30PM
If my friends want to use Wii wheels so bad, they can bring their own. I'm not going to even use mine anyway, so they can use that if they want. I know nintendo said playtesters prefered that form of control the most, but I think it's a load of balogna. The Wii Remote + Nunchuck combo sounds the best to me (apparently doing tricks is awkward with Gamecube and Classic). I've heard in quite a few hands-on impressions that the Wii wheel felt like it wasn't very precised.
Mr Khan @ Feb 27th 2008 5:31PM
I wouldn't think it wise, but its working for Wii Sports in that region
Sometimes the Japanese are just hard to fathom
Jhongerkong @ Feb 27th 2008 5:39PM
still should be called the wiil
XTreMEjuMPy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:43PM
wow. it has shattered t v written all over it. can you say Wii Disk Golf
Mr Khan @ Feb 27th 2008 5:49PM
Wii Sports Frolf?
ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 27th 2008 5:52PM
You know what'd be kickass for the peripheral?
Extra rumble.
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Feb 27th 2008 6:20PM
and a ribbed Wiimote jacket to go along with it
Gavin @ Feb 27th 2008 5:55PM
[SARCASM]But Nintendo is perfect and never does anything to screw over the customer...[/SARCASM]
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:09PM
What a scam! The game costs 60$, and comes with a 'free wheel.' I love Nintendo, but what a scam!
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 27th 2008 6:28PM
It's not a $60 dlls game. It's $50, with the Wii Wheel free.
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=230257
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:33PM
Your information is wrong. At GDC, Reggie said it was going to be MSRP $60.00. And watch your mouth.
BTW- I am a huge Nintendo Loyalist- I just don't liek to be taken advantage of.
SJ @ Feb 27th 2008 6:11PM
It is a shitty peripheral, and racing games don't work that well with such motion control because there's no resistance to motion (which is why over-steering is very common when you use such motion controls).
I actually did a study for one of my classes where I decided to compare such motion control to analog control for a racing game (using the Wiimote). Participants were people who haven't really played any games before. They overwhelmingly preferred the analog stick over motion control...the performance was much, much better.
SoulBlade @ Feb 27th 2008 6:43PM
More out of curiosity than anything... what game did you use?
SJ @ Feb 27th 2008 7:19PM
Mario Kart for the n64 (I should have mentioned that). I used an emulator and used GlovePIE to connect the Wiimote to my PC.
SJ @ Feb 27th 2008 7:21PM
Btw I realize that Mario Kart 64 wasn't made with motion control in mind, but still. That is a valid flaw in my study but it is quite easy to convert between analog and motion controls. Also I would imagine my setup would not have been too different from what Nintendo has done for Mario Kart Wii...just map the analog controls from -1.0 to 1.0 depending on the rotation of the Wiimote.
Neil @ Feb 27th 2008 6:17PM
The wheel is a joke, I really can't imagine why anyone would willing buy it.
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Feb 27th 2008 6:21PM
Because it comes with a kick ass game?
Neil @ Feb 27th 2008 9:57PM
@ The Artist formally known as Jesus
Did you even read the title of the article?
"Nintendo to sell Wii Wheel separately in Japan"
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Feb 28th 2008 1:40AM
sorry I meant in America
Where it hasn't been announced that it would be separate.
HighFiveJesus @ Feb 27th 2008 6:22PM
It seems like you could throw this into a pot of boiling water and drain it and add your favorite sauce. cheeeap.
NESv1 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:01PM
Am I the only one that realizes there's a button on the back of the Wii Wheel that makes it easier to do sliding? It will be a lot easier to hit the B button with the Wii Wheel trigger instead of actually hitting the B button. But, that's just me.
coast19 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:08PM
You got a point! I'll take the free Wii Wheel. But wont buy another.
NESv1 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:13PM
Thanks, coast19. I may get more Wii Wheels, but that's only if my friends who may play with me a lot really want some. Then again, maybe I should just have THEM buy the extra wheels! Heh~
samfish @ Feb 27th 2008 9:03PM
If I wasn't planning on tossing the wheel when I buy the game already, I could see myself picking up a second one for company if it was about $5 bucks.
But $10-12?
F you, Nintendo! It's a damn piece of plastic!
Curmeo @ Feb 28th 2008 4:34AM
$11 for a worthless piece of plastic? fuck you Nintendo. the sad thing is, this will prolly sell a lot.
knowthyself @ Feb 28th 2008 8:30AM
11 Dollars? It should be 5 dollars at the most. That plastic probably cost them two cents to purchase and twenty five cents to form into a wheel.
The problem with motion driving, as seen in other games, is the lack of a "default no movement" space in the motion. When your driving a car if you wanna keep going straight just let the wheel center and hold it there, no fear of swearving left or right. But with this wheel in the air on your lap its hard to maintain a middle ground where you don't wanna move left or right anymore. Its really annoying and is the fundamental flaw in motion sensing in driving games.