Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote
Dear Nintendo,
I felt very happy with the announcements you made in your recent Direct. I am particularly excited about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond coming out in December and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 returning already this October!
I played Metroid Prime 1 and 2 on the Gamecube, and 3 on the Wii. They are some of my favorite video games of all time. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are also my favorite 3D Mario games of all time. I'm very happy that I get a chance to return to those series so soon after obtaining my Switch 2.
However, I also have one big concern.
I am worried that my experience playing and replaying these games might be soured by the controls.
Let's take Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and the Super Mario Galaxy titles, for example.
I played all of them on the Wii, using the Wii Remote, which in the former, allowed me to point at the screen and quickly target enemies, and in the latter, allowed me to swiftly collect star bits flying through space and make Mario do a spin attack. The Wii Remote was also extremely practical for navigating menus and settings in both games, like how I could quickly pull up the scan visor in Metroid Prime 3, which I loved.
However, Metroid Prime 4 and the re-release of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, will be played using the Joy-Cons 2. They're are an impressive feat of technology, packing a lot of functionality into a tiny form factor, that allows me to play my Switch 2 both in docked as well as in hand-held mode, but they lack one feature that really set the Wii Remote apart: the infra red sensor.
The more I think about it, the more I believe that the Wii Remote, alongside the Nunchuck, where truly the peak of video game controllers. Together, they had more than enough buttons to allow for complex, hardcore games to be played. They were also ideal for games that required motion inputs, especially with the Motion Plus adapter. On its own, the Wii Remote, held sideways, was even a great controller for classic games that required the D-pad to be played. It was the all-round, most versatile, and in my opinion, most ergonomic and intuitive controller to have ever existed.
I think that you must have realized this back then as well, which is why you re-released Metroid Prime 1 and 2, as well as Pikmin 1 and 2, under the New Play Control! label on the Wii, allowing players to use the IR sensor for the point-and-click mechanics of each of those games. It greatly enhanced the gameplay! It just made so much sense!
Since then, however, we have not seen this technology make a return.
You have released games that would have been fun to play using IR sensors, such as the popular Splatoon series. As it is, players aim using the gyroscopes of the WiiU game pad or the Joy-Cons of the Switch 1. It works well, as the popularity of that series demonstrates, but I still think that it falls short of how perfect it could have been, had it been possible to play those games with the Wii Remote.
I do know that Metroid Prime 4 features mouse support, and I happen to play mostly at my desk, so I can make it work. However, I'm still concerned about the ergonomics of holding the right Joy-Con sideways to play in mouse mode, while attempting to press the buttons on the side. It doesn't seem very ergonomic to me. Perhaps you'd consider developing an accessory that the Joy-Cons could be magnetically inserted to (to connect to it), to give it the shape of a regular mouse of which the buttons are placed in a more comfortable position?
There is still Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 though, which don't seem to allow for mouse mode. I have my doubts that the gyroscope will work as well for aiming at the screen to collect star bits as the IR sensor on the Wii Remote would have been.
So, here's my suggestion to you:
You have already brought back the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube controllers, which I love.
Why not bring back the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as well?
Here's how I envision that it could work:
The Z and C buttons on the Nunchuck could be ZL and ZR. The 1 and 2 buttons on the Wii Remote could be L and R. Everything else stays the same. The screenshot button could be added below the Home button. The Wii Remote would have HD rumble support, as well as the IR sensor, and of course, the controllers could be sold standalone, or bundled with the sensor bar (which could connect to the Switch 2 dock via the USB-A ports). A firmware update to the Switch 2 would then allow players to go to the settings to determine whether the sensor bar is placed bellow or above their monitors, and to calibrate the sensitivity of the pointer. The Wii Remote could even work for navigating the system's menus, like with the Joy-Con's mouse.
Then I could play Metroid Prime 4 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 with the best-suitable controls, for the ultimate experience. That would make me very happy.
I think that many other people would be very happy to see the Wii Remote return. It was truly ahead of its era.
Sincerely,
Your biggest fan since 1997.