Digging through a series of patent documents I discovered alternate design documents for the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and Classic Controller. The hardware is finalized now, but looking back at what could have been is pretty neat!

One early nunchuck design is shaped like a block. Doesn’t look comfortable to hold either compared to the ergonomic nunchuck in stores.

One version of the Classic Controller isn’t very “classic”. The controller with two analog sticks on the side looks like it’s made for Katamari Damacy and not much else. I wouldn’t want to play any Virtual Console games with a cramped D-pad and face button layout.

Here’s where we have a lot of variation. One Wii remote had an analog stick instead of face buttons. Another design has a flat directional pad. And then there is a conceptual Wii remote with two extra buttons. I wonder what Nintendo planned to use those for.

Do any of these scrapped designs look good or better than the final Wii remote?