Friday, August 8th 2008

ASUS Puts New Twist on PC Gaming with a Wee Like Eee Stick Wireless Controller

ASUS, a leading company in the new digital era that revolutionized personal computing with the Eee PC, today unveiled another world's first - the Eee Stick, an easy-to-use yet highly versatile Plug and Play wireless controller for the PC platform that translates users' physical hand motions into corresponding movements onscreen.

Bearing the product tagline "Get into the swing of gaming", the Eee Stick's promise to its users is simple:
  • Easy Plug and Play
  • Excellent 3D Remote
  • Exciting Gaming Enjoyment
The Eee Stick will be bundled exclusively with certain models of the Eee PC and the Eee Box, along with a collection of games developed or adapted specifically for use with it.

Ideal for Entertainment On-the-go and at Home
When used in conjunction with the supremely mobile Eee PC, the highly portable Eee Stick is perfect for gaming on-the-go. It is equally suitable for gaming and other multimedia entertainment applications at home, when used with the Eee Box, Eee PC or any other PC.

Extended Playtime and Long Broadcast Range
The Eee Stick comprises an Activation stick, a Navigation stick and a 2.4GHz RF dongle. Even though vibration-capable, both ergonomic sticks consume very little power, providing up to a lengthy three days (72 hours) of continuous play on two AA batteries per stick. The 2.4GHz RF dongle has a long broadcast range of 10m and does not impose any specific placement and orientation restrictions, ensuring that the Eee Stick controllers remain responsive even with they are not pointing directly at the dongle - thus allowing users to engage in the full breadth of physical movement without any fear of disconnection.

Versatile and Visceral Gameplay with Three Operation Modes
The motion sensors built into the Eee Stick offer three modes of operation:
  • The 3D Motion mode which responds to and reproduces movement along all axes as well as wrist rotations, is ideal for playing sports, action and beat 'em up games.
  • The Pointing mode focuses on aiming, and is hence perfect for First Person Shooters and light gun games.
  • The Tilt mode, which reproduces movement forward, backward and to the sides, lends itself well to racing and flight games.
Hassle-free Setup
As with every product in the Eee family, the Eee Stick is designed to be as user-friendly as possible. As such, the setup process is exceedingly simple:

Plug the RF dongle into one of the Eee PC's USB ports.
Hold the power buttons on both the Activation and Navigation sticks for five seconds. Once the lights on the dongle and sticks are lit, the pairing process is complete and the Eee Stick will be ready to use without further configuration.

Broad Compatibility
With its HID connectivity, the Eee Stick can theoretically be used with all PCs. It will, however, function best with games specially developed for it. A number of such games will be bundled with each Eee Stick. The Eee Stick also works seamlessly with other PC gaming peripherals such as gamepads and keypads, enabling users to mix and match devices to yield their own unique playstyle.

Source: ASUS
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16 Comments on ASUS Puts New Twist on PC Gaming with a Wee Like Eee Stick Wireless Controller

#1
ShadowFold
Cool idea. I might get it if its around 50$.
Posted on Reply
#2
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
looks like it was photoshopped and somebody at asus is playing a joke on us. there are too many similarities in the design between this and the Nintendo Wii's nunchuk.

but if it is real, i smell a lawsuit in the works.
Posted on Reply
#3
twicksisted
i think the main difference is that the EEpc version looks to be using wireless or bluetooth to receive... whereas the Wii looks to be using infrared and you have to point the nuncheck at the receiver
Posted on Reply
#4
chron
bowling on my computer? hell yes.
Posted on Reply
#5
Kenshai
twicksistedi think the main difference is that the EEpc version looks to be using wireless or bluetooth to receive... whereas the Wii looks to be using infrared and you have to point the nuncheck at the receiver
WikipediaThe controller communicates wirelessly with the console via short-range Bluetooth radio, with which it is possible to operate up to four controllers as far as 10 meters (approx. 30ft) away from the console.
Actually, just for the point and click stuff you only need the IR, for anything else it transmits through bluetooth.
Posted on Reply
#6
suraswami
holy cow. This is sweet. Finally I can enjoy playing games with my media pc on my big TV.
Posted on Reply
#7
theJesus
If this comes to life, that means I won't have to hack a wii-mote and nunchuck to work on my computer! And maybe it'll encourage more programmers to make some progress on emulating the wii ;)
Posted on Reply
#8
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
twicksistedi think the main difference is that the EEpc version looks to be using wireless or bluetooth to receive... whereas the Wii looks to be using infrared and you have to point the nuncheck at the receiver
actually, the wiimote uses bluetooth. the wiimote itself has a 1024x768 resolution camera in the end, not iR emitters. the sensor bar has two iR emitters, one on each end, each containing 5 iR LED's.
Posted on Reply
#10
Laurijan
Is to be seen how many pc games will support that controller..
Posted on Reply
#11
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Random Murdereractually, the wiimote uses bluetooth. the wiimote itself has a 1024x768 resolution camera in the end, not iR emitters. the sensor bar has two iR emitters, one on each end, each containing 5 iR LED's.
i'd like to hear where that came from. everything i have read (and seen myself) is that the wiimote uses bluteooth (motion/buttons) and IR (pointing)

this was established early on by the people porting it to PC, and there surely is no camera.
Posted on Reply
#12
TheMailMan78
Big Member
I think this will end in a bloody apocalyptic Deathlok style lawsuit from Nintendo
Posted on Reply
#13
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
oh i realised theres a typo in the thread title - it says 'wee' like, not wii
Posted on Reply
#14
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
Musselsi'd like to hear where that came from. everything i have read (and seen myself) is that the wiimote uses bluteooth (motion/buttons) and IR (pointing)

this was established early on by the people porting it to PC, and there surely is no camera.
camera
i know what i'm talking about.:toast:
the people porting it to pc/linux were using the built-in accelerometers, not the iR sensing.
Posted on Reply
#15
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Random Murderercamera
i know what i'm talking about.:toast:
the people porting it to pc/linux were using the built-in accelerometers, not the iR sensing.
"The Wiimote includes a 128x96 monochrome camera, with an IR-pass filter in front of it"

thats not a 1024x768 camera, thats a loooot different.
Posted on Reply
#16
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
Mussels"The Wiimote includes a 128x96 monochrome camera, with an IR-pass filter in front of it"

thats not a 1024x768 camera, thats a loooot different.
fine, i'll play your little game:
"8x subpixel analysis is used to provide 1024x768 resolution for the tracked points."
EDIT: next time, keep reading before you declare yourself right. there are other people in this world that have knowledge of things you don't. before jumping their ass, listen to what they have to say and maybe you'll learn something. :toast:
Posted on Reply
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