I really don't understand why we're still messing with AA's in 2007. Give me a dock or a chargepack with some rechargeable lith-ion, thanks. 360 can do it, why can't Wii?

that wire hit my face many times...maybe this is what I need....

@TheDismalScience: My guess would be cost to manufacture. AAs are cheap! All of m gadgets use AAs. I fully endorse building up a small fleet of AA-using gadgets so you can use rechargables.

8 for my Wii remotes
4 for my Wavebirds
2 for my digital camera
4 for my wireless keyboard
2 for my wireless mouse
1 AAA for my Sansa MP3 player

With 4 extra AAs and 1 extra AAA always charged, I'm never ever having to stop using anything due to low battery power. I just swap out and keep going. That's what sucks about Li-Ion packs, usually they are non-standard so to keep using the device, you'd need to buy extras, which are in most cases a waste. Or I suppose you could try and work with the device while tethered to a cord, but you've just sacrificed your gadget's freedom of being wireless.

The wire has tangled with my elbow while boxing on the Wii several times. This is promising...

Nintendo tethered the Nunchuk, so they were lucky in a sense that they didn't have to worry about the same issues that plagued the Wii remote (strap strength, now needing a cover-cushion, etc).

Hope Nyko doesn't get the raw end of it being strapless...

@TheDismalScience:

AA's are a universal standard meaning you can get rechargeable NiMh batteries for dirt cheap anywhere. Lithium Ion ones are a bit more $$, but again the AA size means you have a variety of choices as opposed to a proprietary form factor.

The huge mistake Nintendo made in the design is the lack of a recharge dock. It's really annoying to have to take the batteries out to recharge. I'm waiting if a third party can can find a way to recharge batteries through the nunchuck connection on the wiimote and build a dock around that.

Ummm... NYKO makes a charging station:
NYKO Charging Station on Amazon. I'm pretty pleased with mine. I'll have to try one of these bad boys when they comes out. I have one concern though, how well does that little dongle thing stay on with a game like boxing? Lots of hand movement makes me worry it might be the next straight-to-flatscreen projectile.

I think Nyko makes some great products... I have their charging station for the Wii, basically eliminating my need for batteries, and I have their charging station for the PS3, which is nice b/c I don't have to plug in the Dual Shock into the console everytime it needs juice... though it is kinda bulky... my g/f hates the wires on the nunchuck, so I'm definitely going to look into this.. I'm crossing my fingers that these are rechargeable and have a separate docking station so I don't have to get rid of the one I already have...

I've never used the remote upside down before, so I don't really see how the dongle will fly off...

This looks like a fairly good quality product if it works well anyway. To the person who said something about being strapless -- you can see where the strap attaches in the photo above; it's clearly visible. And to the person who said something about the dongle falling off -- it's evident also from the photo above that there are release buttons on the side of it. The only technical problem I see with it is that it might not work with Nintendo's remote jackets.

As far as a good use for it also -- you might get some traction out of playing the forthcoming "Samba De Amigo" with this as it will give you a larger range of motion than with the tethered nunchuck (Unless of course you play the game with two wiimotes as you will apparently be able)

The only time i had a problem with the wire was when I was trying to pull a blanket up onto the couch and I was too lazy to take the remote strap off.

I don't mind the wire though, it's perfect for strangling your friend who keeps winning and won't shut up about it.

I hope the nunchuk has a wrist strap. Imagine the motion of throwing a grenade in game with it and smashing it all over your living room wall. INCOMING !!

Great idea but they had better tether that thing or the lawsuits will flow like rain.

This is completely unnecessary. Games are designed so you can hold the Wiimote and nunchuk on either hand. Nyko; makes great products? Give me a break; Nyko makes cheap ass products that burn your 360 up in an attempt to cool it or battery li-packs that lasts weeks. I still don't know how they are in business still. Only an exteremely dumb person would spend money on this item.

...except that Nyko's rechargable batteries suck worse than Duracell AA's. I've gone back to regular batteries because the frequency of swapping out the rechargeable insert was ridiculous.

I'll go back when they exceed the lifetime of regular (buy-in-bulk at COSTCO of course) batteries.

@junk:

How are the batteries? Huygir (above) notes that their life cycle is pretty weak. Probably wouldn't be a problem in my case as my average usage is about an hour at a time, but sometimes my friends and I have marathon wii sessions. I wouldn't want the batteries to die after two or three hours.

I was babysitting for my sister a while back, poor little guy pulled the wiimote and nunchuck too far apart, the connector unhooked and popped him in the face.

so... for the 360 it might be different since there's no way of directly charging the controller (e.g. you still have remove the battery to charge). But for the wii charge station, it comes with a special grip cover that allows for the battery to be charged without needing it to be removed from the remote...I play, place it back on the stand, 100% charged next time I play. So for me, it's about convenience, something I would gladly pay for. Obviously Nyko's products can't appeal to all people, but they do meet the needs of buyers out there, so keep snide comments to yourself. Only an extremely dumb person who claims himself as the Greek titan of intelligence would spell his name wrong.

Jibbly, for the casual gamer, like myself, I think the batteries last fine.. I've easily gone on a 4 hrs spree on single charge on the wii version.

@BonkUGood: Wow, for all of your 4 comments ever to appear in this one post; you must be really eager to throw your money to Nyko or actually related to this shame of a product. I bet you work for Nyko; don't you? you sneaky console killer you

@BonkUGood:

Nice, thanks for the info, I might have to ask santa for two docking stations this christmas.

@ ProsumeThis. No, just don't appreciate personal attacks by ignorant people like yourself just because you had a bad product/brand experience.

...why are you mad? Nyko sucks. ;P

I've never understood people's problems with the teether. Yes they're attached to each other, but you know what else are connected? Your arms.

Kudos to Nykos for bringing this little beauty to market, while Nintendo went Wii Wii Wii Wii all the way home.

Indeed Thedismalscience, NYKO already has a charger pack out:
[www.bestbuy.com]

How unsafe!

Just chiming in to say that the Nyko charging dock is indeed awesome! It saves you money on batteries, gives you a place to store your Wiimotes and the added grips on the back of the Wiimote are a nice touch. I've never had any problem with battery life, though I never play the Wii for more than an hour at a time.

Looks okay, might look into it if it reviews well. And I have to say that my Nyko charger for the Wii crapped out on me. Whenever I would put my wiimotes onto the dock it would either only charge for a couple minutes and wouldn't charge the bateries at all, or would say that it was charging it all night and my batteries would still be low the next day. My batteries were constantly at one or two bars. I bought rechargeables and haven't looked back since.