E3 2008: Nintendo Surprises with Wii MotionPlus

Shakil published 14 Jul 2008, 22:47 in gamers - 295 views

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Plug a little accessory the size of a memory card into the tail of your Wii remote and Nintendo says you can have dramatically better motion control. According to Nintendo's pre-E3 press splash, the Wii MotionPlus attaches to the end of your Wii Remote and, in conjunction with the accelerometer and sensor bar, lets the system keep better track of your arm's position.

How much better? Nintendo claims an astonishing 1:1, arm to screen. That's like a dozen points higher fidelity than the current system, which works great for casual stuff like rhythm and puzzle games where you can sort of slop through the activities, but it's always been kinda touch-and-go with more serious stuff like Zelda and Metroid. You should hear what comes out of my mouth when my system's infrared bar loses the pointer in a game or just plain locks up. It happens fairly often, too.

So this is kind of an interesting, maybe even intriguing development. It also raises questions like: Will Wii owners flock to an add-on accessory? (Depends almost entirely on price.) Will Nintendo sell a version with the MotionPlus integrated? (They definitely ought to be thinking about it.) And is this intended to catch potential third-party competitors off guard by stealing a clap of E3 thunder? (Magic eight-ball says "indubitably.")

Stay tuned. Our E3 boots-on-the-ground (Danny Allen, Darren Gladstone) should be along with hands-on later this week.

© 2008, PC World Communications, Inc.

Tags: E3 2008, Nintendo, Wii MotionPlus, Wii

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