Wii Remote Jacket - Review

On Oct. 1, 2007 Nintendo announces that they will be bundling the Wii Remote Jacket with all new Wii consoles sold, and for those that already own a Wii Console and wish to have this accessory all that is required is to contact Nintendo head office of your region, and they will be sent out to you free of charge.
Which was very kind of them, why was this done? Well George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications say, “We’re always looking for ways to improve our products and make sure everyone has a safe and fun experience”, “Many electronics manufacturers provide similar protective covers for products like cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players.”
That makes sense, I guess they had to do something to combat the copious amount of silly accidents reported across the Internet, and there was even a website dedicated to photos and videos of these incidents.
Not only is this good gesture towards their loyal customers it would also help Nintendo keep out of the court room when it comes to people trying to squeeze a quick buck out of big corporations.

Description
The Wii Remote Jacket is protective semi transparent silicone cover for the Wii Remote unit, the Jacket is slid over the Wii Remote and encapsulates the controller leaving the buttons, D-pad and speaker exposed, there’s a small flap on a hinge that plugs into the accessories port that prevents dirt from contaminating the terminal when an accessory is not in use.
Towards the front of the Wii Remote jacket there’s extra padding to help absorb the force of accidental impact, the extra padding also changes the shape of the entire unit giving a different feel when grasped.
Being made from silicone, keeping a firm grip on the Wii Remote when hands are getting a bit sweaty is easy, this also aided by the ribbing that surrounds the batter compartment area.

Functionality
Using Wii Remote with jacket fitted on its side for games like Paper Mario and compatible Virtual Console titles, is actually an improvement over using a Wii Remote without one, having the extra padding towards the front of the Wii Remote makes the unit feel thicker and more comfortable to use, especially over extended periods of time playing.
Now using it for games that require you to point at the screen or do gestures there’s not a great deal of difference, apart from feeling softer and easier to grip.
Accessing the batteries turns out to be less of a hassle that I originally thought, just pop the end of the Wii Remote out, peel back the jacket and feed the wrist strap through, not sure how this would go if your using a charging dock though.

The Look
The Wii Remote Jacket isn’t going to win any beauty contests with it’s a Smokey clear construction and bulging padding, if it had a matching white finish it would blend better with the Wii Remote, but functionality and safety was probably higher up on its priority list when being designed, over time the look will just grow on you anyway.

Value
Well with a good fair price of $0 and free delivery I’m happy enough to navigate through Nintendo’s automated call centre in search of a human voice only to be put on hold for 5 minutes.
Nintendo Head Office Australia – (03) 97309822
While you have them on the phone may I suggest you grab the new version of the Wii Remote wrist straps, and much better design then the previous.

Overall
It performs its intended purpose with out offending the visual senses to much and are a much better alternative to the colourful silicone gloves that have been circulating department stores and online shops.
If your still struggling with the concept of safety when using the Wii Remote this video should be of some assistance:


Overall Rating 7/10