Asus takes on the Wiimote

Posted at: 4:31pm 7th August 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

New Eee Stick promises to translate physical hand motions into corresponding movements on a PC screen

If you’ve been suffering from Wii envy when you go round to your mate’s house, but don’t love Wii Sports enough to part with £180, then Asus may have the answer in the form of this new Eee Stick. The new controller promises ‘to translate physical hand motions into corresponding movements on a PC screen.’



Heck, it even looks a bit like a Wiimote and Nunchuk setup, with one half featuring an analogue joystick, and the other featuring a digital control pad, each with a wrist strap.

Asus is starting off by bundling the Eee Stick with specific models of the Eee PC and Eee box, along with a bundle of games that Asus has developed for it. Asus couldn’t tell us whether it would be available separately at a later date, but the company did say that it ‘can theoretically be used with all PCs,’ adding the caveat that the Eee Stick will ‘function best with games specially developed for it.’ Asus also points out that the Eee Stick is a standard HID (human interface device) peripheral, and it can cooperate with any other gaming peripherals, so you can mix and match parts of the Eee Stick setup with other controllers.

Included in the bundle is an Activation stick, a Navigation stick and 2.4GHz RF USB dongle. Both sticks have a rumble feature, and require two AA batteries each, which Asus claims will last for up to 72 hours of play.

Asus has developed the Eee Stick with three modes of operation in mind. The first is the 3D Motion mode, which responds to movements across all the axes, as well as flicks of the wrist, which Asus says is ideal for sports and action games. Second on the list is the Pointing Mode, which focuses on aiming and is targeted at first person shooters and light gun games. Finally, there’s the Tilt Mode, in which the Eee Stick acts a bit like a joystick, and could be used for flight sims.

Should Asus make this available outside the Eee PC bundle, or is the PC better suited to keyboard and mouse gaming? Would you rather buy a genuine Wiimote and get it working on a PC? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.