Having won a notable "Best of" award at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NYKO Technologies and its Kama Wireless Nunchuck are now facing the prospect of a potentially messy legal battle after Nintendo recently accused the California-based accessories specialist of engineering a control device that borrows far too heavily from its own first-party, wired offering.
More pointedly, according to Nintendo’s claim, NYKO’s wireless Kama alternative "wholly appropriates the novel shape, design, overall appearance and even the color and materials used in the Nintendo Nunchuk controller."
Well, dear reader, while that accusation certainly holds water -- the Kama does look remarkably similar to the Nunchuk at first glance -- we at M&C Gaming are here to tell you that Nintendo’s apparent sour grapes at being beaten to the wireless punch should not deter you from investing $35 USD in a device that easily ranks as the most worthy third-party controller ever produced.
While the NYKO Kama Nunchuck and Nintendo Nunchuk (note the slight spelling differential) do look extremely similar, NYKO’s control alternative is slightly wider and deeper than its first-party counterpart. This is especially apparent at the thumbstick end of the Kama, which makes the device feel more solid and a little less fragile than the original Nunchuk. That physical user assurance is also compounded by a touch of extra weight in the Kama, which is the product of two AAA pencil batteries housed inside the exaggerated curves of the unit’s ergonomic finger grip.
From a controller layout perspective, the Kama offers up a near-identically placed analogue thumbstick along with ‘C’ and ‘Z’ frontal button positioning that only differs from the original Nunchuk insofar as the buttons are transparent. The analogue stick feels solid but responsive at any and all angles, rolling freely in its socket but with just the right amount of resistance, while the buttons function with a similarly welcome inconspicuousness that’s never likely to detract from game-based interaction.
In terms of actual defining differences, the Kama is (obviously) instantly recognisable due to its freestanding nature, with the clunky Nintendo cable and its Wii Remote connector swapped out for a sturdy adjustable wrist strap that ties off on the controller without compromising its smooth curves. Beyond NYKO’s quiet company branding, the Kama has two extra buttons located directly beneath the thumbstick, both of which are required for establishing a connection to the waiting Wii Remote and NYKO’s length-extending wireless dongle adapter.
Clicking securely into the Wii Remote’s Nunchuk port, the (supplied) one-inch dongle is also flush-fitted with the same two-button layout as the Kama device; yet, unlike the NYKO Nunchuck, the dongle draws its energy through the Wii Remote. As for both layouts, the right-sided buttons are clearly icon-marked for delivering power to the dongle and Nunchuck, while the opaque left-sided buttons are required for synching and displaying the actual wireless connection. Once powered up, the left-sided buttons flash Wii blue during connection, and both need to be physically pressed by the user in order to fully establish a link between the Kama and dongle. By doing so, the buttons then stop flashing and instead settle into solid blue, which denotes a secure gameplay connection.
From a design standpoint, the Kama has all the right ingredients for an impressive piece of kit: its reassuringly more substantial than the original wired Nunchuk, its control features are convincingly solid, and its connection set-up is swift and effortless, which then brings us on to actual in-game performance.
We tested the Kama alongside two very different Wii gaming genres, putting it through its first-person paces on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and also across a demanding fitness activity offered up by current ‘gamercise’ craze Wii Fit. It performed well on both, although the sudden and energetic moves required during Wii Fit did leave the Kama playing catch-up slightly.
While NYKO’s controller alternative handled the more studied and steady pacing of Metroid Prime 3 without any problems whatsoever, with control buttons, analogue stick, and motion requirements working well throughout, it did lack a little accuracy and consistency when used in conjunction with Wii Fit’s boxing mini-game.
Existing as the only in-game fitness discipline that includes Nunchuk interaction, Wii Fit boxing requires the player to hold the Nunchuk (and Wii Remote) in their grasp to effectively convey punch movements on-screen against a robotic punch bag. Sadly, the Kama wasn’t quite able to maintain fully dependable accuracy during the timed-targeting gameplay, missing the occasional punch that Nintendo’s wired Nunchuk nailed pretty much every time.
However, when considering the emerging wealth of Wii software titles that don’t demand such rigorously intensive physical player interaction, which could possibly compromise the wireless connection, the Kama still stands firm as a fabulous control choice for those looking to remove tangled wires and restrictive arm movement from the Wii equation across more conventional games.
Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Nintendo’s first-party Nunchuk solution, and many people will likely fail to find attraction within a wireless controller that saddles the user with the added onus of disposable or rechargeable batteries. Yet, for those looking to enjoy authentic wireless gaming ahead of any future product offered up by Nintendo, the Kama is truly the definitive wireless choice at this point in time.
And, with Nintendo on the legal prowl looking for the courts to force NYKO into pulling the Kama from retail shelves, dedicated Wii fans would be well advised to snatch up a unit while they still can. Granted, the looming patent dispute could pan out via a settlement that ultimately spares the Kama’s existence, but why take the chance considering just how good the controller is and just how much it improves the overall Wii experience.
Verdict: 90%
USA
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