The Power Glove and DataGlove were based on Zimmerman's instrumented glove. They designed Power Glove over the course of eight weeks. Mattel brought in Image Design and Marketing's Hal Berger and Gary Yamron to develop the raw technology into a functional product. Zimmerman and Jaron Lanier, a virtual reality pioneer responsible for codeveloping and commercializing the DataGlove, who had made a failed attempt at a similar design for Nintendo earlier. Additional development was accomplished through the efforts of Thomas G. Rather, it was designed by Samuel Cooper Davis for Abrams/Gentile Entertainment (AGE), made by Mattel in the United States and PAX in Japan.
Though it was an officially licensed product, Nintendo was not involved in the design or release of the accessory. The Power Glove was originally released in 1989. For context, the touchscreen Wii U GamePad lasts just three to five hours after a 2.5 hour charge time.Japanese Power Glove (パワーグローブ Pawā Gurōbu), manufactured by PAX.
#Wii u power cord pro
But the Pro Controller charges by USB in just 4.5 hours, giving a nearly 18:1 ratio between charge time and play time. The ridiculous battery life probably has something to do with the comparatively weak rumble motor in the Pro Controller, so there's a give and take involved here.
#Wii u power cord manual
This was actually known before the system came out, but seeing this factoid in the user’s manual was just mind-boggling. Then again, if Microsoft had gone with the Nintendo standard, who’s to say the big N wouldn’t sue? The Wii U Pro Controller lasts 80 hours on a single charge. Nintendo has been using this button naming layout since the SNES (and through to the Wii’s Classic Controller), so Microsoft is the one flouting convention here. That’s gonna be really hard to keep straight when switching between systems.
While we're talking small details, look at the way the various buttons are named on the Xbox 360 controller (bottom) and Wii U Pro Controller (top). It's a nice touch that allows the controller to slide in and out very easily, and it's a bit reminiscent of the similar charging cradle that came with the 3DS. Instead of using a protruding charging point that might wear out as the controller is inserted and removed, the charging cradle uses a couple of small metal contacts that pop up when the GamePad is placed down, touching two small plates on the bottom of the controller. The charging cradle that comes with the Deluxe edition of the Wii U is pretty nice, letting the system slide in easily and securely while standing it up for display. The GamePad charging cradle uses pop-up contact points Our best guess at this point: an expanded battery pack to extend that three to five hour battery life. The screw hole, and the divots next to it, line up with the mystery connector at the bottom in such a way that it looks like it could be used to secure a bulky accessory that latches in to both connectors and sits flush with the back of the GamePad. The female screw hole in the middle of the controller's back ridge is very similar to the kind you'd see on a camera tripod, though the ridge would seem to get in the way of the base for most such tripods. UPDATE: Thanks to former Ars writer Ben Kuchera for pointing us towards yet another mystery connector on the back side of the GamePad, as shown above.