Nintendo WaveBird Wireless Controller (GC)
By Susie Vee

Unlike some of our game industry comrades, we’re actually quite bullish on the GameCube over here at GameGal World Headquarters. In fact, with games like Eternal Darkness and Rouge Leader already out -- and Mario, Zelda, Starfox and more on the way -- we think the little blue box has a strong future.

Sadly, everyone has an Achilles heel, and in the case of the GameCube one of the major ones is the controller’s short cord. A seemingly small thing in the big picture, but trust us. After hauling the GC down to the floor and dragging it towards the couch one too many times, we were ready to cut the cable, so to speak.

Now, riding to the rescue is Nintendo’s own Wavebird controller. Why is it named the Wavebird? Beats us, but it’s one of the few wireless next-gen controllers that lives up to the standard of modern gaming equipment.

It looks and feels somewhat like the standard GameCube controller, but the need for a battery compartment makes it noticeably bulky and boxy. After a while, you’ll get used to it, but it does sort of seem like the regular controller’s fat ugly cousin.

The rumble feature is also missing – Nintendo says this is to preserve battery life, but in our tests, battery life doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. There’s an on/off power switch, so you just have to remember to turn the unit off between gaming sessions.

Overall, the quality is great, unlike many wireless controllers, this one actually works. No delay, no mysterious missed button presses, etc. And, of course, you can play sitting on the couch, not camped out two feet in front of your TV (didn’t mom always say that was bad for your eyes?).