Asus Release a Wiimote-Alike 76
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."
So... (Score:4, 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.
FPS controller (Score:4, 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.
Re:I call this progress. (Score:5, Interesting)
The flaws I see... (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re:Sombody ain't happy (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The flaws I see... (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:I call this progress. (Score:3, 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 >:)