The other day, I got my ebay order in the mail. I bought two Wii Remotes Plus for only $15 each and free shipping. These are the same size as a regular Wiimote but they come with a built in MotionPlus sensor. Although they seem to work fine for now, it has become clear that these are cleverly disguised Chinese knockoffs. For just $15, I am satisfied so far but I cringe at the thought of shady dealers selling these at the full price $40USD. I am so fascinated by these knockoffs that I bought a copy of FlingSmash on sale for $30, genuine Wiimote Plus included. I wanted a real one for comparison, which is the black one in all these pictures.
Here's one of the boxes they came in. Everything seems fine so far. When I first opened it I thought it was pretty sweet to have a Japanese one.
This is basically what was inside the box. The manual is in Japanese with a 2007 copyright. Also the Wiimote was wrapped in plastic (not pictured).
(Real = Black) (Fake = Turquoise)
Here is what first tipped me off that I have a knockoff. On a real Wii Remote, Plus or otherwise, the Home button is flush with the controller face. On the fake, it protrudes a full millimeter give or take.
See those air bubbles around the D-Pad? The fake has one of those peel-off plastic protective films on the top so it keeps it's showroom shine. These are unheard of on a real one, at least in the US market.
Here's the accessory plug on the genuine one. Note the model number, RVL-036.
The fake has the original Wii Remote model number RVL-003. Also look at the left and right edges of these accessory connectors. The fake's metal is bent 90 degrees while the genuine has more of a curved shape for a more gradual retraction on an accessory's pins on insertion.
I noticed that on a real one (black), the red sync button is slightly wider and shorter than the fake's. I apologize for the blurry shot of the genuine.
This last one is also a bit blurry but you can see how the turquoise fake's sync button is slightly more thin than the genuine one. The rectangle label on this fake is slightly off center but on my other turquoise fake, the label is slapped on with seemingly no attempt to make it line up with the box, leading me to assume that these stickers are applied by hand. The real remote's sticker is not quite centered either though. Tri-wing screws are present on both the fake and the real examples but on the fake the screw heads are wider and appear sloppily machined.
Since I paid knockoff prices for these seemingly fine functioning controllers, I am not especially dissatisfied so I will just forget to give my ebay seller any feedback this time. I would be furious if I had paid full price for these though and hopefully these tips will help someone spot a fake if they are being scammed. Feel free to ask me any questions about these fakes and I plan on posting circuit board comparison pictures if Dealextreme ever gets around to shipping me that tri-wing screwdriver.
Here's one of the boxes they came in. Everything seems fine so far. When I first opened it I thought it was pretty sweet to have a Japanese one.
This is basically what was inside the box. The manual is in Japanese with a 2007 copyright. Also the Wiimote was wrapped in plastic (not pictured).
(Real = Black) (Fake = Turquoise)
Here is what first tipped me off that I have a knockoff. On a real Wii Remote, Plus or otherwise, the Home button is flush with the controller face. On the fake, it protrudes a full millimeter give or take.
See those air bubbles around the D-Pad? The fake has one of those peel-off plastic protective films on the top so it keeps it's showroom shine. These are unheard of on a real one, at least in the US market.
Here's the accessory plug on the genuine one. Note the model number, RVL-036.
The fake has the original Wii Remote model number RVL-003. Also look at the left and right edges of these accessory connectors. The fake's metal is bent 90 degrees while the genuine has more of a curved shape for a more gradual retraction on an accessory's pins on insertion.
I noticed that on a real one (black), the red sync button is slightly wider and shorter than the fake's. I apologize for the blurry shot of the genuine.
This last one is also a bit blurry but you can see how the turquoise fake's sync button is slightly more thin than the genuine one. The rectangle label on this fake is slightly off center but on my other turquoise fake, the label is slapped on with seemingly no attempt to make it line up with the box, leading me to assume that these stickers are applied by hand. The real remote's sticker is not quite centered either though. Tri-wing screws are present on both the fake and the real examples but on the fake the screw heads are wider and appear sloppily machined.
Since I paid knockoff prices for these seemingly fine functioning controllers, I am not especially dissatisfied so I will just forget to give my ebay seller any feedback this time. I would be furious if I had paid full price for these though and hopefully these tips will help someone spot a fake if they are being scammed. Feel free to ask me any questions about these fakes and I plan on posting circuit board comparison pictures if Dealextreme ever gets around to shipping me that tri-wing screwdriver.
