14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo seems to be continuing its practice of releasing game controllers suited for limited series of games. It has now unveiled on its Japanese website a new Classic Controller set to arrive sometime during this summer. It is dubbed the Pro and features a new design bearing some resemblance to the way the classic GameCube controller used to look.
By just looking at the Internet site where it is shown, it seems that the Classic Controller and the Pro will be sold alongside each other. It's not known when, better said whether the new addition to the Nintendo Wii will arrive on markets outside of Japan.
The Classic Controller Pro has new shoulder button positions and new grips eerily similar to those seen on the Dual Shock manufactured by Sony for the PlayStation 3. The general agreement is that there will be no new functionality for the Pro controller, as the ZL and the ZR buttons have been moved to sit in front of the shoulder buttons and not next to them, as until now.
The similarities to the GameCube controller suggest that Nintendo is seeing the new controller as the one to use with the Nintendo New Play Control! series, which aims to release GameCube classics for the Nintendo Wii, with better graphics and with updated controls. In some ways, this parallels the birth of the original Classic Controller, which was created in order to allow players to get the most out of the games released using the Virtual Console.
Nintendo is also aiming to introduce a new MotionPlus addition to the original Wiimote in 2009. The idea is that MotionPlus will make motion tracking much more accurate, allowing players to have a better performance in most Nintendo Wii games. Electronic Arts and Nintendo have already announced titles set to take advantage of this improved accuracy.