Wii Gear Review – B.O.S.S. Controller

B.O.S.S. Controller
Manufacturer: Performance Designed Products (PDP)

Reviewed by: Justin Alderman

Performance Designed Products recently released The B.O.S.S. (Big Oversized Super Shell) Controller for the Wii to coincide with the launch of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  The controller fits over the standard Wii Remote and claims to give the player a “better ergonomic shape”, a larger D-pad and action buttons for any game that plays with the Wii Remote held horizontally.  One of my biggest complaints about New Super Mario Bros. Wii was that it did not allow for the use of the Classic Controller and forces players to use the D-pad on the Wii Remote, which has on occasion resulted in faulty inputs due to it’s tiny size.  The B.O.S.S. looked like a viable solution to this problem and I’m happy to report that for the most part it is.

Upon receiving our review B.O.S.S. controller earlier this week I was immediately impressed with its construction.  The entire controller is hard plastic and very solid.  Additionally, every contact point that the shell has with the actual Wii Remote (including the button contacts) has a soft rubber piece that prevents any scratches or damage to the controller.  When the Wii Remote is inserted into the shell a small lip just below the IR camera window works together with two small pegs at the back of the shell to hold the controller in place.  Once locked in place the shell maintains a very tight fit with the Wii Remote and is impossible to accidentally separate.

The physical design of the B.O.S.S. is very similar to the old SNES controllers (just slightly larger) and the color scheme goes right along with New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  Overall PDP did an outstanding job of making their product look like something that would come straight from Nintendo.

The functionality of the B.O.S.S. is the only area where I ran into any problems, although after much consideration it is not the fault of the shell but rather with the way some of the buttons on the Wii Remote operate.  I tested the B.O.S.S. out on both New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Punch Out! (the two games specifically mentioned in the press release for the controller).  In my experience both games had the same pros and cons with using the shell.

On the plus side, the larger D-pad works exactly like it should and actually made it much easier to play both games.  Additionally, by making the “A” button smaller on the shell than it is on the Wii Remote the chances of accidentally hitting it during NSMB gameplay and putting yourself into a bubble when you did not intended to are greatly decreased.  It was a great design choice by PDP and I consider it an improvement over the using the Wii Remote when playing New Super Mario Bros.

However, there are a few issues with using the “1″ and “2″ buttons on the shell.  When pushing these buttons on the Wii Remote there is no “give”.  If you lightly tap either button on the Wii Remote it will not register as a pushed button.  The button has to be depressed past a point where it “clicks” before it registers.  It’s not something that I ever noticed before and only realized after having issues with the B.O.S.S. shell.  The reason this is a problem with the shell is because of the soft rubber contact point with these two buttons.  If you don’t make your “1″ and “2″ button presses on the shell with slightly more force than you would on the normal controller the rubber contact point will absorb the impact and not depress the button on the Wii Remote far enough to register.  Once I realized what was going on and deliberately made my button presses slightly harder than I normally would have I didn’t have any further problems.

Recap:

If you have problems using the small D-Pad on the Wii Remote for games that require it to be held sideways The B.O.S.S. is a very viable solution.  Priced at $9.99 the shell has a solid design, looks great and is well made.  The only issues that I experienced with it were easily solved by making my “1″ and “2″ button presses slightly harder than I normally would have.  All in all, I found the controller to be an improvement over the standard Wii Remote for games that require the controller to be held horizontally.

Recommendation: Buy