In a meeting suite at CES, Nyko showed us their full line-up of Wii-U accessories, from battery packs to controllers. If you watched our Nintendo Wii-U launch live stream you’ll remember that we ran out of juice on the gamepad and had to pause to recharge it halfway through the stream. Well the good people at Nyko have sought to remedy that with two new products.
The Power Pack triples that battery life of the Wii U’s tablet, and at almost three times the size of the original Wii U battery, it should. “We noticed that there was a lot of extra space in the battery house of the gamepad, we don’t know why but we’re pretty sure it was just for us,” was the rather humorous response Nyko gave us as they unscrewed the back of the gamepad to place the Power Pack.
A less-invasive battery booster, the U Boost, essentially doubles the juice of the tablet while simply sliding on to the back of it. Even better, the U Boost comes with a kickstand and can be fit on the original gamepad charging base.
Both the Power Pack and U Boost launch next month and will cost around $25.
Another product we were shown was the Charge Station U which charges two remotes as well as the gamepad. While being charged you can also adjust the viewing angle of the gamepad, allowing you to use the gamepad in the most comfortable position. We were also shown the Charge Base Pro, a patented charging system which has dual charging ports as well as USB adapters. It utilizes AC power, which simply means that your controllers will be charged rapidly.
Nyko actually created a magnetic charge adapter that connects to the back of your controller, which is what docks into the Charge Base Pro.
Along with battery-enhancing peripherals, Nyko’s lineup also included controllers, specifically the Pro Commander. In a previous episode of the Game Fanatics Show we checked out Nyko’s PlayPad Pro, the versatile Android controller which the Pro Commander is reminiscent of. The Pro Commander features the same soft, comfortable grip as the PlayPad Pro, which was one of the biggest acclaims I gave the device. The Pro Commander also re-arranges the button layout to fit more with a traditional Xbox controller rather than the awkward one of the Wii-U; a great call in my book. The Pro Commander retails for $34.99, significantly cheaper than the stock Wii U controller, but with much more bang for your buck.
We were also shown some legacy products such as the PS Vita grip and their line up Xbox 360 accessories. Overall, Nyko showed us some great innovative products that were not outrageously expensive. Be sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel as we’ll be posting our full video reviews of these accessories in the coming weeks.
