Nintendo may be a family friendly gaming company but they sure are sharks when it comes to the pricing of their products. Take this Nintendo Wii Nunchuk for instance which goes for $20 in gaming and electronics stores.

What function does the nunchuk have? Well it provides you with a joystick to allow for easy mobility in various Wii games since the actual Wii Remote is very limited. It also carries the C and Z buttons, which have been standard on Nintendo controllers since the N64 era.

What is truly appauling is that this item does not come with the Wii Remote. You buy it seperately. The Wii Remote itself sells for a ridiculous $40. So just to get a complete Wii controller set, you're blowing out $60.

In the end is the Wiimote & nunchuk really that revolutionary? On its own, its very basic. In the beginning you may think moves require much more agility more physical demand from you.. but you really begin to find there are quick shortcut ways that waste little energy and still give you the desires results in game. Wiimotion plus help change that, but that itself is extremely expensive and only for some new Wii games.

But back to the Nunchuk.. if you want to play with the genuine Wii experience, you're going to have to shell out money for this and a new controller. I'm glad at least you get 1 of each included when you buy a Wii console though. If you have 2 kids or more, you'll probably end up forking over a big wad of cash for extra controllers and nunchuks.

Bottom line, Nintendo seems to be milking consumers of their hard earned money in these tough economic times. I would recommend either trying to find a bargain online or researching third party brands who have released Wii Accessories and controllers like Nyko to see if its reliable, because they're considerably cheaper - but not all 3rd party products work well.

In the end, a lot of Wii games also permit you to use Gamecube or Wii Classic Controller which is basically a standard handheld with all the buttons you need, and both of those are going for a bit more reasonable prices.

In reality just about the only type of game I know about where the nunchuk is mandatory is in boxing where its used your other hand to throw punches. Most other games can be played with the Wiimote itself or a controller.

It just seems ridiculous to me for them to sell this separate, it should be included with the Wiimote for $40.