Nintendo Wii Motion Plus – Is it ever going to come out?
I wrote this article back in September of 2008: Nintendo Wii Motion Plus: What Is It, When Will It Be released, and When Will We Get It? The article has generated more traffic than anything else I’ve written on Bright Hub. It gets at least 1,000 views a month, sometimes 3,000+. Clearly a lot of people are interested in this thing, and yet it still doesn’t seem to be out. And I can’t find up to date information on it!
Is it out yet? Is it still coming out? Are you excited for it? What’s the deal here?
The last I heard was that Nintendo has officially adopted it as a standard feature of the console (any new Wiis ship with one), but it’s still suffering from the chicken-and-egg problem: No game uses it, so there’s no demand. And because there’s nobody using it, there’s no incentive for developers to provide support.
It’s coming early June, so just wait a week or two. There are a number of titles that support it that will be released around the same time.
I pre-ordered one of these a while back, along with Grand Slam Tennis (which makes use of it). As far as I can tell, the unit and game are both on track to ship from Amazon on 6/8. The game’s release date was actually moved up to coincide with that of the MotionPlus. I am trying not to overhype it in my head, but I hope it’s as cool as it’s supposed to be!
Wii Hater here!
Actually not a hater… I just prefer to play computer games with more precise controllers. And yes, I prefer NOT to move and train my body. And no, I am not fat or lazy.
Microsoft had an idea to make a controllerless Wii, basically the system recognizes the movement of your limbs. It is called “Project Natal” or something like that.
Not really my cup of cake – I just want good computer games. Nothing wrong with advanced controllers, but these controllers so far only work well for pseudo-sport-games.
I just said cup of cake… oh my. SCNR.
Anyone have links to official information regarding the release of the Wii Motion Plus?
Important bits:
- “The new Wii MotionPlus accessory will hit U.S. retailers on June 8″
- “What’s more, these control enhancements will be on vibrant display when the Wii Sports Resort game launches on July 26″
- “Designed for easy attachment to the Wii Remote controller, the Wii MotionPlus accessory will be offered at an MSRP of $19.99″
- “Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus will be offered together at an MSRP of $49.99″
I don’t really have much interest in the Sports Resort, but I’ll pick it up next month if the wife shows interest. I would assume that it’ll be common for people to buy the MotionPlus alone near the release date, then get a second with Sports Resort.
Am I excited for it? Nope. Will I get it? Nope. Not unless a second game comes out on the Wii that interests me, and that game takes advantage of it.
I bought my Wii a month ago solely to play one game series I liked on the DS that has a sequel on the Wii. It can almost play with the classic controller but, dang it, it uses the nunchuck for a single feature that isn’t duplicated on the classic controller. Grr.
Nothing else on the Wii interests me so far. Got two games with the bundle I’ve never even loaded up. Sigh.
I’m wagering Nintendo ran into major cost issues when trying to make a production copy of the motion plus. And it’s a nasty catch 22 for them, Wii sells really well been a low cost, casual gaming system….the moment they bring out an expensive add-on they are competing with the Xbox 360/PS3 where the Wii doesn’t come off well.
But then if Project Natal works like Microsoft is promising, the Xbox 360 is probably going to bury the Wii anyways – Nintendo is going to need a really cheap motion plus that works very well to stay in the game.
Dellaster: What game is that?
Serith: I don’t think the XBOX360 is going to bury the Wii simply on a similar (or even better) motion controller. The Wii has dominated this round not just because of its controller, but the overall combination of the controller along with their philosophy on games. The Nintendo has become a lifestyle console, rather than a gamer’s console.
Thanks for the link Talsek. I used that information to update the Bright Hub article.