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Review: Nintendo Wii Fit Rechargeable Battery Pack by Mad Catz

Review: Nintendo Wii Fit Rechargeable Battery Pack by Mad Catz

By: Daniel Chubb | October 28, 2008 | 9 Comments

The Nintendo Wii had already taken the world by storm before they released the Wii Fit, but after doing so Nintendo expanded on the idea of having fun and getting fit at the same time.

Millions of people around the world are now using the Wii to get Fit and part of this plan also includes the Wii Balance Board. With every gadget they do not always plan everything perfect and the balance board lacks something very important.

If you use Wii Fit everyday, the batteries powering the device will run out fast and this can become a pain, even if the board does have great battery saving features.

Mad Catz are happy to fill this need with the Rechargeable Battery Pack for the balance Board, it’s a little sad that something like this did not come as standard but we are happy to see a company grabbing the opportunity.

It’s a simple device as you can see in the photos; you just remove the Balance Board’s battery cover and replace the normal batteries with the Mad Catz Battery Pack. This will give you around 20 hours of playtime and then you can easily charge via a USB charge cable, which can be connected to the Wii or a PC.

The charge time tends to be lower than 20 hours, but this will depend on what games you play. The device does pay for itself very quickly thanks to the savings you make on replacing batteries. Look to pay around £8 or $20.

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  • http://WiiFitFrenzy.co.uk Chantal M.

    If something was to go wrong with your Balance Board and you’ve been using a rechargeable battery, it voids your warranty.

    Nothing will happen but if it ever did, just don’t mention it when you phone Nintendo.

    :)

  • http://www.realfreebies.co.uk Wii

    @ Chantal M.

    Thanks a lot for this information, I never knew about this!

  • Tea.Queen

    I have purchased the product above, and it did end up damaging my board. Luckily Nintendo was willing to fix the Balance Board. Nintendo told me they have been experiencing problems with the Rechargeable Battery Pack Designed for Wii Fit™.

    DO NOT BUY!

    Use regular rechargeable batteries.

  • Laura.Stewart

    We purchased the Wii Fit Bundle 5 in 1 along with the wii console for Christmas. We inserted the battery pack that came in the bundle and just started having trouble with the balance board. (the steps were off on aerobics and the music wasn’t on beat either) I called the help line and told him we were using the battery pack and he said that it’s not an authorized product and that it would normally void the warranty, but he would fix mine this time. It’s very misleading to purchase the Bundle and not realize that the battery pack is a 3rd party vendor that isn’t approved by Nintendo.

  • dog

    ya it happend to my ant and we called nintendo and they said the battery was not a product of the nintendo compney

  • dog

    i agree

  • Maverick

    The people with problems would do well to actually explain how this battery pack has caused their problems because there is no way that the battery could have been at fault. Did they charge the battery pack? Did they try alkaline batteries? Or did they just get a faulty board which Nintendo blamed on the battery pack but offered to replace out of goodwill?

    The facts are simple.

    Mad Catz battery pack is 4 x AAA NiMh batteries with a total capacity of 550mAh and outputting 4.8volts. Even when charging the pack will output 5volts (not that you could use the board when charging).

    The board supports rechargeable batteries so 3000mAh AA batteries could be used (also outputting 4.8volts) and primary batteries outputting 6.0volts.

    It’s not possible for the Mad Catz battery pack to output more than 5.0volts and as such it’s not possible for the pack to create the problems indicated above. What is possible is that the board was faulty or there was interference because of it’s location.

  • Stella

    I got this product when i purchased a bundle of a silone cover, bag, and fitness mat and the first time we used it, it lasted for ages, and the 2nd time, but by the 3rd time the wii stopped picking up our movements, i charged it up and then used it again, it lasted 5 mins!!!
    I have since gone back to normal batteries and so far they have lasted 4 days with me using it everyday.
    I would not recommend this product as it does not say what its meant to say or do.

    Nintendo should be designing there own rechargable battery pack so they get the money or they should have designed the wii board to use batteries that camaras use so have a better self life and last longer!!!

  • http://www.ultimatewiigaming.com Hector Bodell

    I’ve had my Nintendo Wee for the last 6 months now and I absolutely enjoy it. I had no idea that I would get such a workout. The boxing game that comes as part of “wii sport” really gets your heart rate racing , if you don’t enjoy making that trip to the gym, this is the next best thing. The funny thing is that I actually went to gamestop to pick up a gamecube adapter and I ended up buying this Nintendo Wee instead.