[Wii Send-Off] The Top Ten Wii Peripherals (Released or Unreleased)

6. The Wii Vitality Sensor

Like the aforementioned horse thing, the Wii “Vitality Sensor” was also never released, but we actually got to SEE this one. Presented at an E3 press conference (can’t remember which; 2009 maybe?) and slated for release the year following, this odd, hospital-like finger attachment allowed the Wii to sense your heart rate and body temperature, the uses of which are actually a bit more versatile than you might think. The main touted use of the peripheral was something dubbed “Wii Relax”, which would do breathing training, relaxation instruction, and other things of that nature. Perhaps meditation training!? The main problem for the core audience was that– while there were plenty of cool ideas for games that utilized it (horror game anyone?)– it had to be plugged into the Wiimote to function, which meant that the Nunchuck had to be set aside!

5. The Wii Zapper

The Wii is probably the only console to really have a sizeable amount of light gun games that sold somewhat well, and the spirit of that idea Nintendo released Link’s Crossbow Training alongside a peripheral called the “Wii Zapper”. The Zapper was one of the few gun peripherals that actually allowed for simultaneous use of the Wiimote AND nunchuk, which caused several developers to offer “Zapper modes” or “Zapper controls” in their shooter games that were originally meant to be played with the two devices separately. One such game was Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 which I completely forgot about until right this second and now I’m gonna have to go buy it again because it was really awesome.

4. The Wii Wheel

Even though it was packaged in with Mario Kart Wii (whose motion controls left a bit to be desired), the Wii Wheel was the only peripheral that almost everybody who owned a Wii had. This was in part due to the fact that almost everyone who owned a Wii bought Mario Kart, but in part due to the fact that it was actually a pretty well designed, modest add-on. If you’ve never played a game that was actually made better by the use of the wheel, I highly recommend you check out ExciteBots: Trick Racing!