Most of the Nintendo controllers that you buy new on the market today are for the Nintendo Wii, although you can still pick up some of their older controllers new, and definitely, second-hand.

Nintendo Wii Controllers

Wii Remote

The Wii remote is the main controller for the Wii console. It is quite revolutionary compared to other controllers, as it has a motion sensing capability that allows you to use natural wrist movements to interact with the game. You can also point to objects on the screen, utilizing the wii remote's accelerator and optical sensing technology. The accelerometer in the Wii remote senses acceleration along three axis. And it is the sensor bar that is shipped with the console that the remote uses to sense activity. This feature means the experience of using the remote is consistent irrespective of a television's size or type.

Many of the features that you usually find in regular game consoles are actually provided by other attachments, such as the numchuk, which is bundled with the wii console.

The wii remote comes with a wrist strap to prevent it from flying out of your hand during movements. This wrist strap has been upgraded a number of times due to safety concerns (there were reports the early wrist straps broke during heavy use). The strap shipped with the wii remote is now thicker, with a lock clip instead of a slide clip. Nintendo have been replacing old wrist straps free of charge.

Since late October 2007, the remote has included a jacket to help protect it in case it is accidentally dropped or thrown. It's a silicone jacket that also provides better grip and cushioning.

The Wii remote also contains a memory chip which allows you to store up to 10 Mii avatars, and take them to another wii console. Some games, such as Pokémon Battle Revolution and Super Swing Golf also use some of the memory in the remote.

The remote also has basic audio and what is called rumble functionality. This adds an extra dimension to some games. For example, a bow shot in the Legend Of Zelda will give the impression of an arrow traveling away. In some games you receive an object through the remote, or even listen to phone calls with it.

The remote is battery powered. Two AA batteries will last for 60 hours when you only use the accelerometer, or 25 hours if you use the accelerometer and pointer.

Nunchuk

The Nunchuk provides most of the functionality that you're used to with regular game controllers. It is designed to work with the Wii remote, and has an analog stick, one trigger button and one "C" button. It has the three axis accelerometer that the remote does, which gives you motion sensing and tilting. But it doesn't have a speaker, rumble or pointer function.

The Nunchuk is bundled with the console. There are third party wireless nunchuks also available.

Classic Controller

The Classic controller is another add-on controller. It looks and plays just like other controllers for Xbox and Playstation consoles released since 2005. It was designed mostly so that people could play the older Nintendo games that went with the SNES, Nintendo 64, and Turbografx-16. There are some current games that are compatible with this controller, however. This is great news for those who like a more traditional way to play games. So, it contains 2 analog sticks, amd two extra shoulder buttons.

During E3 2006 Nintendo introduced a Classic Controller (model number RVL-005), which plugs into the Wii Remote via a cord in a similar fashion as the Nunchuk.[16] It contains two analog sticks and two extra shoulder buttons: the ZL and ZR buttons, used to replicate the Z button found on the Nintendo GameCube controller. The overall configuration is similar to that of other major seventh generation console controllers. The controller is primarily used for Virtual Console titles (with SNES, Nintendo 64 and certain Turbografx-16 titles requiring either the Classic or Gamecube controller to play), but several retail Wii titles are compatible with the controller to allow for a more traditional control scheme.

Racing Wheels

There are a number of racing wheels available for the Wii, some produced by Nintendo, some by third-parties. It makes it much more fun to play racing games, and the Wii Wheel even comes bundled with Mario Kart Wii. It can be used by all games that utilize sideways steering.

Wii Balance Board/Fitness Board

The Wii Balance board is also called the Fitness board, and, as the name suggests, is used in fitness and sports games. It looks like weight scale, and is battery powered. It measures a person's center of balance with pressure sensors, and is very accurate in assessing a person's weight, a feature it uses to work in ceter of balance calculations.

Physically, the board can take up to 300kg, though it only works in accurately measuring a person's weight up to 150kg.

The following is a list of Games for the Wii Balance Board:

* Wii Fit

* G1 Jockey Wii

* Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010

* Water Sports by Activision Inc

* Marble Saga Kororinpa

* Go Play Lumberjacks

* Mountain Sports

* Doctor Fizzwhizzle's Animal Rescue

* We Ski and Snowboard

* Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

* Yoga

* Skate City Heroes

* Go Play Circus Star

* Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip

* Wii Fit Plus

* Gold's Gym Cardio Workout

* Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

* Academy of Champions: Soccer

* Skate It

* We Ski

* Winter Sports 2 The Ultimate Challenge

* Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip

EA Sports Active Bundle

You can also buy a silicone sleeve and rechargeable battery for the balance board, as well as a Skateboard/Snowboard, a travel bag, and an anti-skid sleeve, for it . Many of these are third party products.

Dance Pad

There are a number of Wii dance pads available that are compatible with Wii dancing games such as Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party. There are 4 directional touch pads that let you mimic the dance moves easily.

Boxing Gloves

There are Wii boxing gloves that can be used with games like Showtime Championship Boxing.

Sports Controller

The 8 in 1 sports controller pack for the Nintendo Wii includes a tennis racket, golf club, steering wheel and baseball bat. Use it for Wii Sports for a more life-like game.

Wii MotionPlus

The Wii Motion Plus is an expansion device for the Wii remote that lets controller motions be sensed and portrayed accurately on television screens, in real time. It uses an angular rate sensor to do this. Not all games are compatible with this extra functionality, but many are. Compatible games include Wii Sports Resort, Virtua Tennis 2009, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10, and Grand Slam Tennis. If you're using third party Nunchuks, they may not work with the Wii Motion Plus in all of the games.

Wii Zapper

The Wii Zapper looks like a mounted gun, and holds the Wii Remote and the Wii Nunchuk. The Nunchuk's control stick controls your character's movement, and the Wii Remote lets you Zap the baddies as you point at the screen. Compatible games include:

* Link's Crossbow Training

* Dead Space Extraction

* Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles; & The Umbrella Chronicles

* Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare, the Reflex Edition

* Call of Duty: World at War

* Ghost Squad

* The House Of The Dead: Overkill

* The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

* Sin and Punishment: Sora no Kōkeisha

* Wild West Guns

* Quantum of Solace

Other Nintendo Controllers

8-bit NES

The 8-bit NES controller is for use with the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was released in North America, Europe, and Australia in 1985. You can still buy new 8-bit NES controllers, and certainly second-hand ones.

16-bit SNES gamepads

The 16-bit SNES game controller is for use with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, released between 1990 and 1993. They are quite recognizable, and still available today.

Nintendo 64 Controller

The Nintendo 64 was a 64-bit video game console released in 1996. The Ninendo 64 controller is still available today, in the second-hand market.

Nintendo Gamecube controller

The Nintendo Gamecube was released in 2001. It was a 128-bit console, and its' controller is very recognizable.