Apparent third-party Wiimote makes its purple debut

It's not the first third-party Wiimote we've seen, but if the very purple device you see above is what it purports to be, it could well be the very first to actually hit the market, albeit in Europe-only for the time being. Dubbed the "Riimote," this one comes to us from peripheral maker Snakebyte, which apparently isn't providing many details on the remote just yet but is promising that it'll be available in Europe on Feburary 8th for the not-so-bargain price of €39.99 (or just under $60). Those slightly less nostalgic about a certain purple game console than some of us can also rest assured that the controller will also be available in basic black, although it seems you'll have to stick with the official gear if you want to keep everything coordinated.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

[BradVT @ Jan 25th 2008 3:39PM]

Is this a deal? I mean, the whole point of third party controllers is that they're cheaper, so are Europeans paying more than $60 for Wiimotes?

[Zak @ Jan 25th 2008 3:52PM]

That's what I was wondering. If it's not cheaper and it doesn't do anything better...

[ssuk @ Jan 25th 2008 5:56PM]

Couldn't you have done some research? The UK pays £32.99 for a Wii Remote which comes out about $66 USD for a Wii remote. Amazon.de lists the Wii remote at €39.85 which they're usually a bit lower than RRP, and €40 comes out to be just under $60 USD.

Since you didn't take the time to do a quick search to realise this, I really should sum this up for you; this is a rip-off. Don't buy it... Unless you want a cheaply made, horribly designed and coloured pile of crap for the same price as a normal Wii Remote.

[fgpx78 @ Jan 25th 2008 7:10PM]

In Italy a wiimote costs 35€....i miss the point!

[Wwhat @ Jan 26th 2008 2:32AM]

You cannot do conversions by simply going to xe.com and checking the exchange rate, in europe there is tons more tax and they pay a lot of people down the chain more because they also pay more taxes plus the europeans don't quite get the 'sell a lot cheap works better than selling 2 for too much' and the consumers are suckers too.

In short, this thing will be about $35 and dropping when sold in the US.

[mike @ Jan 25th 2008 3:48PM]

Man this thing is ugly!

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:00PM]

I'm afraid the klingons don't have a great sense of taste.

[Wwhat @ Jan 26th 2008 2:36AM]

Also comes in black:
http://www.wiiinsider.de/images/stories/080124-riimote-black.jpg

[Chris @ Jan 25th 2008 4:10PM]

It reminds me of bubble gum for some reason

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:05PM]

You mean like, purple blood globules floating around in zero-g?
...Does it remind you of magnetic boots and rayguns?

It's the arrangement of holes above the speaker that gives it away, you know, that hexagon thing... that and the colors, and general look of the grip on the bottom.

[Chris @ Jan 25th 2008 6:21PM]

lol, okay let me rephrase. The COLOR reminds me of bubble gum. It's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this atrocity.

[CanCar @ Jan 25th 2008 4:18PM]

It would be good idea to do it pinks and to donate the sales to the pink campaign and we would be supporting the campaign against breast cancer.

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:06PM]

Dude, it looks like it /has/ cancer...

[Brett @ Jan 25th 2008 4:25PM]

Amazon UK is selling the Nintendo Wiimote for 29.99 pounds so this thing is in no way a deal. I'd love it if they could get it down to $25 on a third party so I could justify getting a 3rd and 4th. They don't have to be perfect, just get the job done for those occasional 4 player tennis matches, etc.

[gadgetgateway @ Jan 25th 2008 4:28PM]

Third-party hardware should be less expensive, especially if they don't add anything different than the original hardware. Buying this Wiimote as a gift gadgets because of its would be a bit of a let down to all but the gift recipient.

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:07PM]

Not if they're an xorg hacker with spray paint. ^_^

[zapperdude60 @ Jan 25th 2008 4:32PM]

Riimote??? Sounds like a Chinese man trying to say it.

[Kozzi @ Jan 25th 2008 6:55PM]

nah Chinese almost got it right with ..Viimote

[TJ Johnson @ Jan 25th 2008 4:54PM]

Yeah, now's an okay time to say it...

Wiitarded

[AlexP @ Jan 25th 2008 5:07PM]

Hey, at least they managed to incorporate grip to it.

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:08PM]

This is true.

[SimonB @ Jan 25th 2008 5:24PM]

for 60$ I would expect it to work my tv,vcr,sound system and maybe my microwave too.

[ethana2 @ Jan 25th 2008 6:02PM]

Uhhh... dude, bluetooth is bluetooth. I've even considered getting a PS3, installing ubuntu on it, and getting a wiimote to use as a mouse.

[Rachel @ Jan 26th 2008 12:31AM]

Couldn't you just colorware a wii if you wanted color?

[Wwhat @ Jan 26th 2008 2:35AM]

That is probably against the law nowadays.

[Rachel @ Jan 27th 2008 7:31PM]

Against the law the use colorware? Doesn't seem like it from thier site.

[Wwhat @ Jan 26th 2008 2:42AM]

I placed 4 comments in this section and after a refresh they were all gone.
lil bug methinks.

[Goatee Man @ Jan 26th 2008 3:16AM]

I don't think it's _too_ ugly... And if it was a good deal cheaper than Ninty-made remotes, sure, I could go for one. But why, in the name of all that is good, would you get a third-party remote that's the exact same price as a first-party one? Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose?

[Wwhat @ Jan 26th 2008 8:23AM]

I personally wonder if they have the same functionality/precision as the wiimote, I mean it has that camera in it and processing and those sensors and some 3rd party version like this might be a lot worse.

[snakebyte Europe @ Feb 1st 2008 4:55AM]

Hi guys,

before anyone accuses me of stuporous viral community guerilla: Check my tag and yes, I do work for sunflex (the company behind snakebyte).
We've been following the discussions on the web for about a week now, and I have to admit, that this is really really cool :O)

Please let me provide you with some background information that may (or may not) enlighten this discussion:
Unfortunatly, the pink (some call it purple) in the pictures doesn't really reflect the original colour due to some artificial light sources a.s.o. in the renderings. This pink was indeed chosen to be the best pink there is by designated pink experts, i.e. a group of female teenagers. If you want to know what the pink looks like, please visit

http://www.sunflex-europe.com/fileadmin/galerie/v/snakebyte/Nintendo+Wii/

and check the announced Wireless Nunchaku and the Retro Controller: They'll give you a pretty good example of the original colour.

If anyone is interested in actually seeing the pink Riimote in action: We've very amateurishly filmed the so called "Golden Sample" of the Riimote so everyone can watch us heavily sucking at bowling on youtube. The Golden Sample can be compared to software in pre-alpha stadium, so there will be further improvements on the packaging and usually on some technical details and some fine tuning... We actually didn't have a black sample, sorry for that...
Here's the "movie": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx0VXuyqQnU

The function: Either motion sensing works or it doesn't. There's no in-between. And the Riimote really works :O)

The price: Of course, the price is a bit on the highish side and if we could, we'd definitely lower it. To give you some idea of why the price is so considerably high: The Riimote features one crucial I.C. that costs in purchase alone about as much as almost a third of the final sales price.

Hope to have given you all some useful information?!

Best regards and keep on gaming!

snakebyte Europe