T-Wireless Joypad EXPOSED!

[Jess Ragan]

This controller, designed as a replacement for the Wii's Classic Controller, has been a mystery to Wii owners thanks to its limited availability. Now that it's starting to show up on Amazon and other retail stores, however, that mystery can finally be revealed. Is it really that small? What's this about a mapping function? Is it better than Nintendo's own Classic Controller? All these questions and more will be answered in this review.

 

The first thing you'll notice about the T-Wireless (which I'll call the T-Wi for the rest of the review) is that it's pretty small, dwarfed in size by the Wavebird and even smaller than the svelte Xbox 360 controller. The second thing is that you'll have to pop three AAA batteries into the back of the joypad before you can start using it. There's a needlessly large battery pack on the bottom of the pad shaped to fit four AAA batteries, with some space left over for a fourth battery but no terminals to draw power from it. Why they didn't design the battery pack to accept three batteries in a single row is beyond me... it may have added to the size of the joypad, but at least the pack would have been less conspicuous that way.

 

Anyway, once you have the batteries in the unit, you just connect the odd looking dongle to one of the four GameCube ports on the side of your Wii. Flip the tiny power switch on the bottom of the controller, then the On button on your Wii, and you're ready to play some games. The T-Wi works on Virtual Console games, nearly all GameCube games (hope you kept those bongos for Donkey Konga!), and very few Wii games. As rumored earlier, Geometry Wars Galaxies will not recognize the T-Wi, so if you bought the controller specifically for that game, you're in for a nasty surprise!

 

The T-Wi's setup is typical of modern day controllers, with a design which borrows ideas from both the Dual Shock and Xbox 360 wireless controllers. The small blue analog sticks on the bottom of the unit are parallel to one another, which is a more natural layout for most players. On the left is a bizarre D-pad that's best described as a webbed cross. Every direction on the controller is joined together by contoured plastic, almost like the webbing on a duck's toes. On the right are four buttons arranged in a rosette. Every button in the rosette is uniformly sized and shaped, resulting in a more natural gaming experience. In the center of the pad are the start, select, wireless connection, and map buttons, and on top are four awkwardly shaped shoulder keys.

 

The map button deserves special attention, being the most innovative part of the controller and adding greatly to its functionality. Let's say you have a Virtual Console game like King of Fighters '94 or Sin and Punishment, which have awkward control configurations and no way to change them (there are three configuration settings in S&P, but don't kid yourself... they all suck). That's no longer a problem with a T-Wi. You just press the map button, then a button on the controller, then another button to make them swap functions. The map feature can be used with any action button, any analog joystick, or any direction of the D-pad, making it EXTREMELY versatile. The only thing missing is flash memory to store your controller configurations, but on a twenty dollar controller, its omission is understandable.

 

It's harder to forgive the odd shape of the D-pad and the shoulder buttons. The D-pad is the most damning flaw of the T-Wi. It's nearly flush with the face of the unit, limiting its tactile feel and your confidence when entering the complicated commands in games like King of Fighters '94 and Super Street Fighter II. Furthermore, the shape is in no way preferable to Sega's circular D-pads, or even Nintendo's more utilitarian plus signs. It might be better than the separated cross on the Playstation pad, but not by much. The shoulder buttons are also disappointing, without the analog response of the triggers on the Classic Controller or a stock GameCube pad.

 

The wireless connectivity seems to be pretty solid, on par with the Wavebird. Best of all, there aren't any dials to deal with... you just connect the dongle, switch on the controller, and you're ready to go. There is some setup involved for multiple T-Wi controllers according to the instructions. Each player has to hold the connection button on both their dongle and the controller for two seconds, but none of this is necessary if you're playing by yourself.

 

Overall, I think the T-Wi is a promising first step on the road to perfection. The map function is incredibly useful; so much so that you'll wonder why other third party controller manufacturers like Interact and MadCatz haven't taken advantage of it. The controller is also very small and light, a contrast to the massive WaveBird. However, the D-pad is a mess, the face buttons are a bit too tiny, and the battery pack on the back of the unit keeps you from getting a comfortable grip on the controller. If Guillemot were to address these issues, the T-Wi would be the ultimate joypad for the Wii, but even with its flaws, I could imagine this being at the heart of a lot of exciting controller modification projects.

[mimo]

nice review, but I think I will keep my wavebirds for a while longer

[Atariboy]

It sounds pretty disappointing to me, just a 3rd party wireless GC controller that is a knock off of a WaveBird with remappable buttons (Great idea though, hope it catches on in future controllers).

 

So I hope the idea catches on and we see a real classic controller replacement with a sensor that attaches to the bottom of the Wiimote and has remappable buttons, wireless, and the quality of a WaveBird or classic controller.

[Lord Helmet]

Thanks for the review. Where did you find one?

[Jess Ragan]

Thanks for the review. Where did you find one?

 

An Amazon retailer named Beach Sound. It cost me about $25, including shipping.

[Emehr]

Too bad about the D-pad as that was the only part of the controller I was interested in! Need something other than the GC controller for Game Boy Player gaming.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Just a heads up. I was at one of my local CircuitCity stores today. And they had not one..but two of these Thrustmaster pads! They were 19.99 of course. And no...I didn't pick one up. Perhaps I should have. But so far aside from a few of the SNES VC games, I haven't found a need to use anything other than a cube controller or the wii-remote.

 

Am I crazy for not having picked one of these up? If so, I'm sure I can go back after work and snag one of them, or both if someone needs me to pick up the other one for them and pay me back plus the cost of shipping?

[Atariboy]

No, its just a GameCube controller. If your happy with your present GameCube controllers, there's really no need unless you think you'd like this more.

[Reaperman]

well, it's hit my local circuit city, and I'm looking at picking one of these up for GC use. Rumble, *great* button placement and wireless--if only it weren't white.

 

Here's going to sound like a stupid question, but it's a problem I've had: Does this controller work with the gameboy player?

Also, it looks a bit thin/small--is it? how does it feel size-wise?

Edited April 16, 2008 by Reaperman