Wii Classic Controller Pro coming to confused, oversized US living rooms in April
By Paul Miller 
posted January 25th 2010 9:19AM
posted January 25th 2010 9:19AM
The Perfect Bundle for Hunting Season: Monster Hunter® Tri and Wii Classic Controller Pro Come Together for the First Time in North America
Bundle Will Bring the Highly-Anticipated New Controller and Popular Franchise Together for the Ultimate Monster Hunting Experience on the Wii System
SAN MATEO, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Nintendo of America today announced an exciting new bundle featuring one of the most highly anticipated titles for 2010, Monster Hunter® Tri, and combining it with the new Classic Controller Pro™ for the Wii™ system. The Classic Controller Pro's more traditional control configuration will give gamers the ultimate Monster Hunting experience when the bundle becomes available in North America this April at a suggested retail price of $59.99.
"Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we're confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about," said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's vice president of Licensing. "Gamers of all kinds enjoy playing games on Wii. Monster Hunter Tri delivers an incredible new experience on Wii, while the Classic Controller Pro gives players even more control options for their favorite Wii games."
The new Classic Controller Pro includes a second row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips. The Classic Controller Pro plugs directly into the Wii Remote™ controller, and until now, has been available only in the Japanese market.
The Classic Controller Pro will be compatible with more than 450 Wii, WiiWare™ and Virtual Console™ games. The Classic Controller Pro bundled with Monster Hunter Tri will be black, while both black and white versions of the controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo's Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuck™, or Classic Controller™ to slay the monsters that inhabit the world.
The Monster Hunter series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. According to Media Create, Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release.
For more information about Monster Hunter Tri, please visit: http://press.capcom.com
ABOUT CAPCOM
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil®, Street Fighter®, Mega Man® and Devil May Cry®. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Tokyo, Korea and Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom can be found on the company web site, www.capcom.com.
ABOUT NINTENDO
The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.2 billion video games and more than 535 million hardware units globally, including the current generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.Nintendo.com.
Bundle Will Bring the Highly-Anticipated New Controller and Popular Franchise Together for the Ultimate Monster Hunting Experience on the Wii System
SAN MATEO, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Nintendo of America today announced an exciting new bundle featuring one of the most highly anticipated titles for 2010, Monster Hunter® Tri, and combining it with the new Classic Controller Pro™ for the Wii™ system. The Classic Controller Pro's more traditional control configuration will give gamers the ultimate Monster Hunting experience when the bundle becomes available in North America this April at a suggested retail price of $59.99.
"Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we're confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about," said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's vice president of Licensing. "Gamers of all kinds enjoy playing games on Wii. Monster Hunter Tri delivers an incredible new experience on Wii, while the Classic Controller Pro gives players even more control options for their favorite Wii games."
The new Classic Controller Pro includes a second row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips. The Classic Controller Pro plugs directly into the Wii Remote™ controller, and until now, has been available only in the Japanese market.
The Classic Controller Pro will be compatible with more than 450 Wii, WiiWare™ and Virtual Console™ games. The Classic Controller Pro bundled with Monster Hunter Tri will be black, while both black and white versions of the controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo's Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuck™, or Classic Controller™ to slay the monsters that inhabit the world.
The Monster Hunter series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. According to Media Create, Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release.
For more information about Monster Hunter Tri, please visit: http://press.capcom.com
ABOUT CAPCOM
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil®, Street Fighter®, Mega Man® and Devil May Cry®. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Tokyo, Korea and Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom can be found on the company web site, www.capcom.com.
ABOUT NINTENDO
The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.2 billion video games and more than 535 million hardware units globally, including the current generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.Nintendo.com.
@Solidstate89
I agree on the asymmetrical sticks. However this controller is primarily designed for the virtual console and therefore places higher importance on the digital pad (which is the best on the market currently). The analogue sticks are also a little better placed than the Playstation controller as Sony just put theirs in a spare space on the original digital pad rather than think about comfort. So yes the analogue sticks are not in the ideal place, but this pad is not meant for that. I was playing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom last night and the pad is excellent.
Give me a firmware update that allows us to use them in Gamecube games then maybe, but I've got two worthless "classic controllers" as it is.
@nntpgrip The Wii's internal architecture will prevent the Wii from using it for Gamecube titles. No firmware update can fix this.
@nntpgrip
Agrees.
How about a WaveBird Wii instead? There is a large number of (arguably a majority) gamers who no longer like the dated, crappy and poor ergonomics of the symmetric analog stick layout and would much prefer the WaveBird/360 style layout. Then again this is Nintendo, and they don't care about what "gamers" want because they aren't their core buyer anymore.
@kingbiscuit
they have a wavebird for the wii or you could use the old gc wavebird.
@n8equalsd
Sorry, I should have clearly implied with the IR, speaker and accelerometer for full Wii functionality.
@kingbiscuit
interesting that you say that, cas that was the original plan for the controller back when the Wii was referred to as the Nintendo Revolution.
alas, those were the days...
@cigawoot But you can use the wavebird in Mario kart
@cigawoot what if this classic controller pro came with an adapter to be pluged in the gc controller port on the wii?! see, everything is possible in a perfect world.
@nicholiservia
Conquest of the crystal palace was an amazing game. my friend had it and i always made him pop it in as a kid when i went over there.
Well, *that's* gonna show fingerprints...
Nintendo selling more hardware? What a surprise! Yay, another controller to throw in the drawer.
How about an update to use this with Super Mario Bros?
@xCrunk
Unfortunately we all know Nintendo isn't touching anything firmware-related other than for obvious stuff.
They're too rock-headed, perhaps afraid, that they might mess up something by releasing game patches or something =/.
@xCrunk
I'd buy it if Mario used it.
I ****ing HATEEEEE using the wiimote for that game. It ruined the entire experience. Seriously.
@MegaJapan
I don't even think the Wii /can/ do game updates. I could be wrong, but I remember hearing this a while back.
@CarpeD1em500
consider getting that SNES holder for the wiimote - it's great!
@CarpeD1em500
stop your effing spinning !!!!!!!!
hahaha
@CarpeD1em500 I agree. The solution has been to stick the Wiimote into the steering wheel plastic thing. done.
@BigJayDogg3 This has been done via homebrew with Brawl+, which is essentially a patched version of Brawl which can be activated or not, depending on the user. So Nintendo could well release a game patching system, no problem. They just don't want to.
It looks like two grips duct taped to the classic controller. Why wasn't this released earlier?
@Slvrgun Exactly. Why wasn't this released earlier? It's kind of a duh.
@Slvrgun
Remember guys, this is Nintendo. They probably planned on releasing this when the Wii launched. They just want you to follow their tradition of buying the same hardware three times in every lifecycle.
Classic --> Old tech --> The Xbox 360 Controller.
LOL
@Wesscoast I feel you man. That stupid Xbox 360 controller. At least this one's wireless.
Oh wait.
@N900
Well, technically, it is...
It’s still not wireless? Dumbfounding. Who at Nintendo thought it was a good idea to have a cord running from the Classic controller to a Wii remote?
@Christian The smart people at Nintendo who figured customers would rather pay $20 for this instead of $45. As an added bonus, it also requires less batteries.
Don't knock it until you've tried it. I've had one of these controllers for a while (they've been out in Europe since November) and I can honestly say it's one of the best controllers I have ever used! Very comfortable in your hand and great button layout. I recommend it whole heartedly!
@NFreak I don't think anybody is knocking it based on design or comfort. It looks just fine in both categories... I think that people are a little put off that you could spend $200 on controllers for _one player_ for the Wii.
@NFreak
of course it's comfortable. playstation has been using this design since 1997
@NFreak Out of curiosity, is the joystick the same height as it is on the regular classic controller, or is it slightly lower like the N64 controllers of yesteryear?
@silversun I disagree. I find the shape of the PlayStation controller really uncomfortable. On this one the grips are more rounded so they fit your hand better and the analogue sticks are a little closer to the edge so you don't have to stretch your hand as far to use them. Using a PlayStation controller makes my hands hurt after about half an hour. With this I've had no problems at all.
@Elaith I can't be certain as I don't have an N64 controller to compare it too, but I'm pretty sure they're the same as the original classic controller.
@NFreak
He said comfortable not cramp inducing! The PS controller is just horrible now (although when released was a definite improvement over the competition). This new Wii controller is amazing and feels great to hold.
To all those complaining. Don't buy it, no one is forcing it on you. However if you were going to get the normal classic controller I would recommend that you get this one instead. Strangely I don't see the same sort of backlash when logitech release a new mouse!
Kinda makes you think. I like the Wii and all for its unique control schemes, but the fact that they have... like four different control mechanisms makes you wonder that they didn't get it right by debuting such a unique control system.
@(Unverified)
...That's a fair point. They advertise motion control, and then have 4 other input options because few publishers can configure the motion control to actually fit their games.
@(Unverified)
But there is really only 2 control schemes. The Wiimote and the Classic controller.
You could argue that motion+ is another one but it is really just an improvement of the wiimote and is not needed for any games (although obviously those that support it are far better with motion+).
This new controller is not a new control scheme as it is simply a new classic controller and will work with any game that supports the classic controller just as the classic controller will still carry on working fine. It is just like when Microsoft released the controller S or Sony re-released the dual shock controller for PS3. Remember Sony also had 2 control schemes for the original playstation. Analog and non analog controllers....
I wish nintendo would do something to grab my full attention once more, *sigh* well back to my xbox 360 and ps3
No need to be THAT condescending, Engadget.
Though, I will agree that this should have been out a long, long time ago. The classic controller was designed as a slick and square part of the purist "wii" look. People didn't ask, "Well, why cant I pwn Twilight Princess with this controller?" because it was ugly and hurts hands. Well, my oversized calluses anyway.
This control will at least address the issue for those who enjoy cracking out the classic games without having to lug out the N64. I mean, they could just make the gc controls compatible... But, alas, wishful thinking I suppose.
Nintend'd? plying?
And too bad we didn't get the same treat for the Kuro Wii >.>...
@MegaJapan
i know... i wanted to buy another one (after lending my aunt my own) but ive been waiting for the black to arrive ... will it ever happen?? =__=
@MegaJapan
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here...
Please bring back the original Gamecube controller Nintendo! Just make it wireless without all of that extra bulk and add in rumble. Enough with these ugly classic controllers, I would have bought a PS2 or PS3 if I wanted to use a lame excuse for a controller (two analog sticks on the bottom FTL). The Gamecube controller was great and I still play with my old wavebird controller with pretty much every Wii game that supports it, while the newer generation has no clue about real controllers, instead they play Mario Kart with the wiimote, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the wiimote+numchuck combo! pfft. Just another example of Nintendo leaving behind some of its old customers for larger profit margins.
Will it have the accelerometers?
I have been loving Super Mario Wii, but the standard remote turned sideways leaves a lot to be desired as a controller for that type of game.
It's too bad you can't use the current "classic" controller, but then you wouldn't be able to do the gimmicky shake moves that you can do with the remote.
*yawn* Oh, more controllers...? All I wanted was a few good games to play on my dusty white Wii that hasn't even been powered on for over a year.
I like the shape, but I'd like it be wireless and preferably with a motion sensor like the DS3/Sixaxis
sweet fancy moses that thing looks like the dual-shock's obese cousin.
The controller already looked and felt like wrangling a potato, now it's a potato with grips...
a wii to ps2 adapter that should work and look much better than this!
"slightly different buttons (this time dual shoulder buttons)"
The classic wii controller has exactly the same buttons (L, R, Zl, Zr), only they are placed side by side. Only the ergonomics are new. So this device doesn't add a new control scheme and doesn't "add to the confusion".