We’ve known about the Wii MotionPlus since yesterday, but we were forced to wait until today’s Nintendo Press Briefing to see the new Wiimote attachment in action. Reggie Fils-Aime, following a lengthy discussion of how much ass Nintendo is kicking in all market sectors and a few title unveilings, stepped onto the stage to discuss the Wii MotionPlus, and showed off the new title which would be putting it to use: Wii Sports Resort, a successor to Nintendo’s insanely popular pack-in title. Harnessing the power of a tiny plastic wedge, Reggie and crew demonstrated the “new standard in one-to-one motion control” with three summer-themed sports games, including quite the surprise at the end.
Reggie alleviated an obvious concern right off the bat: Just as Wii Play helped fill homes with extra Wiimotes, Wii Sports Resort will come bundled with the new Wii MotionPlus when it goes on sale next Spring. The MotionPlus simply plugs into the Wiimote the way a Nunchuk might, but simply forms an extended base onto the controller, rather than being held in another hand. Fils-Aime promised the new attachment would bring motion controls to the next level of realism, and allow new gameplay mechanics that developers might exploit for new, innovative game controls.
The Nintendo team went on to demonstrate three new mini-games from Wii Sports Resort, beginning with “Disc Dog.” Nintendo’s Cammie Dunaway, and her Mii, showed off the subtle arm-and-wrist-tracking of the new controls, aiming and flinging an in-game frisbee for an enthusiastic dog to run and catch. Mental note: Double-check wrist strap for durability; we’ve got another “swing your arm and pretend to throw something” accident waiting to happen.
Next up was Power Cruising, a jetski racing game resembling a Mii-ized WaveRace. This game was controlled via Wiimote and Nunchuk, held in front of the player as one might grip a pair of handlebars. This caused us to wonder — will it be either/or with the MotionPlus and Nunchuk, or does the former have a port to plug in the latter?
Judge for yourself from the above photo. It looks rather like there’s space to plug something into the bottom of the MotionPlus, doesn’t it? No promises, of course — just a guess.
Finally, Reggie and Cammie faced off in “Sword Play,” which appeared to finally achieve the holy grail of motion controls: One-to-one swordfight execution. Since the Wiimote was introduced, everyone has been eager to wave the controller around like a katana or lightsaber, instead of a dumbed-down “waggle equals incredible flourish” mechanic. Some have tried and failed, but Sword Play may actually be the closest we’ve seen to Wiimote slicing and dicing.
Wii Sports Resort, again, launches in the Spring, with an included Wii MotionPlus attachment.
UPDATE: While available Nintendo representatives could not describe the internal mechanism of the MotionPlus, they were kind enough to inform us that it does have a passthrough connector to allow users to connect the Nunchuk and other peripherals.
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July 16th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
[...] quite as intriguing as the Wii MotionPlus, the tiny gyroscope-based attachment that will ship with Wii Sports Resort this Spring. I’d long been dissatisfied with the Wiimote control scheme, due to the glaring [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
[...] hardcore gamers, Nintendo had a very poor showing at E3 2008. Rather than Mario, they gave us MotionPlus. Rather than Metroid, they showed off a noise-filtering microphone. Zelda fans are no doubt [...]
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