Nintendo WaveBird (platinum)

Pros: Wireless, long battery life, nice weight balance.

Cons: Nintendo stopped production of these bad boys....

Summary: This is the best controller made for the 'Cube to date. (I haven't tried the new Thrustmaster T-Wireless, when it comes out we'll see.) The wireless is flawless - it has long range, and enough channel options (16) that you can find four signals that are clear for use. (In a house like mine where almost everything is wireless - that's an imparative feature.)

For the Wii, it works great for Gamecube games. However, as another reviewer mentioned, Virtual COnsole support is spotty. The main reason is the same complaint with all GCN controllers - the d-pad just stinks. However, you can't find a better GCN controller to use with the Wii. Er, that is - if you can find one.

Nintendo - in it's typical idiot savant self - releases a great product like the Wii, and give it backwards compatibility - you can even use your old controllers. There's the savant. Then, they pile on the idiot. One of the great things about the wimote is it's wireless. So why they can their Wireless GCN controller, but keep the wired version is completely baffling. The Wavebird is one of the most critically acclaimed controllers ever made - for any system. To stop production when it's still both usable and there's a demand (they're going for 100% over msrp now on ebay) doesn't make sense.

Okay, so let me wrap this all up. Overall, this is a great controller. It's missing rumble (so don't use it to play Turok) but otherwise it's as good as a Gamecube controller can get. But, good luck finding a new one, unless you're Mr. Moneybags or love the thrill of eBay. A new viable option might be the Thrustmaster controller, when it finally becomes available.