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How would you change Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus add-on?
It took the Big N right around a year to actually ship its Wii MotionPlus dongle after first showing it off at E3 2008, and now we're curious to know if you think the wait was worth it. We've already spilled our deepest, darkest thoughts on the $20 add-on accessory, but now that Wii Sports Resort is out (and still firmly lodged within your Wii's optical drive), we just can't wait another second to hear from end users. Are you pleased with the additional sensing capabilities? Has it enhanced your gameplay as you thought it would? What aspects would you like to see changed? You just paid a Jackson for a brick that attaches to your perfectly functional Wiimote -- don't miss your chance to pick it apart.
Joyswag: Wii Sports Resort + 2 MotionPlus adapters [update]
Update: Thanks for playing, folks! The giveaway has come to a close and we'll be selecting our winner via email, so keep an eye on your inbox!That's right, folks! Joyswag coming your way again, this time with some Wuhu Island action. One lucky winner will walk away with Wii Sports Resort (including MotionPlus) ($50 ARV) and one additional MotionPlus controller ($30ARV). So, let's get down to it! Leave a comment telling us where your best vacation was and why You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day This entry period ends at 11:59 am ET on Wednesday, August 5 At that time, we'll randomly select one grand-prize winner to receive Wii Sports Resort (including MotionPlus) ($50 ARV) and one additional MotionPlus controller ($30ARV) For a list of complete rules, click here Good luck!
Video interview: Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen
Last week, we visited Nintendo's impressive display at Times Square. The company gathered a few tons of sand and recreated a tropical getaway in the middle of NYC's busiest intersection. We caught up with Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen to chat about Wii MotionPlus, Wii Sports Resort, Pikmin 3, Wii Speak, and a few other things. Trinen explained Nintendo's future plans for MotionPlus, and explained why Nintendo isn't afraid of Sony and Microsoft's upcoming plans to add motion controls to their systems.Catch the full video interview above.
NEMS takes step forward, MEMS looking nervously over shoulder
Just as it's starting to seem like MEMS motion sensor technology is gaining more widespread use, we're now hearing rumblings of activity from the developers of its eventual successor: NEMS (Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems). To contextualize this discussion (and to give laypeople a shot at understanding), MEMS sensors are the magic behind the Wii MotionPlus as well as a stunning tech demo recently conducted on a Toshiba TG01. The nascent nano version promises even greater sensitivity, and now scientists from TU Delft in the Netherlands claim they have successfully measured the influence of a single electron on an 800nm-long carbon nanowire. Just detecting such an event is a feat in itself, while the ability to measure its effects can be used in a huge range of ways: from transportation and medicine to ultra-sensitive gaming controllers. While accurate comparisons between the Dutch breakthrough and current generation sensors cannot yet be drawn, we can confidently say that this marks an important step toward making our dreams of playing a nanoscale piano a gargantuan reality.
UK chart get: Tourists flock to Wii Sports Resort
Now that Nintendo has finally started chartering some flights to lovely Wuhu Island, folks have been eager to snap up Wii Sports Resort for their very own ticket. In the UK, Chart Track data shows the follow-up to 2006's console pack-in is quite the popular little piece of software, as the sequel earned the top spot on last week's All Formats chart. Strong start, but will it have the staying power of Wii Fit?Last week's winner, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has thus been bumped down to the second spot, with EA's other darling, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, snagging bronze.%Gallery-27709%
Nintendo won't make Wii MotionPlus a new standard
Nintendo converted Times Square into a tropical island getaway for a day to celebrate this coming Sunday's launch of Wii Sports Resort, the first sequel to Nintendo's flagship Wii title. We had a chance to chat with Bill Trinen, product marketing manager for Nintendo of America, while overlooking the festivities below. He told us that in spite of the advances made by Wii MotionPlus, he doesn't see Nintendo enforcing it as a new standard. "I don't think that we would or that we would necessarily require other developers to do so either," Trinen said. "Something like Wii MotionPlus and whether or not you want to incorporate that is more of a creative decision that's up to each individual developer.""I think it certainly suits specific types of games, but it may not make sense to include Wii MotionPlus in every game," Trinen continued. "For example, if you look at the motion controls of New Super Mario Bros. for Wii that's coming out this holiday, it's not the kind of control that requires or would really benefit from more precise movements. So it doesn't make sense for a development team to spend time implementing something that's going to enhance the end experience. I do think over time, we're going to see a lot of developers taking a look at it and finding things they can do that they couldn't do with the standard Wii Remote and we're going to see those experiences come to life."When asked if Nintendo had any plans to revise the standard Wii Remote to include Wii MotionPlus tech, Trinen replied, "those are all good ideas. We've thought about all that as well. At this point, we're really just focused on launching Wii Sports Resort and obviously getting Wii MotionPlus off to a good start and getting it to the hands of as many of the Wii consumers as we can. And from there, once it becomes time, we may look at what other options are available."Check back tomorrow for our full video interview with Bill Trinen and VP of corporate communications, Denise Kaiger, as they talk about Sony and Microsoft's motion efforts, the Wii Vitality Sensor and if Pikmin 3 is still happening.%Gallery-68619%
Review: Wii Sports Resort
Upon my initial skydive into Wii Sports Resort, I expected the game wouldn't wow me much. I'd seen it during various stages of its life and played it many times. Now that I had the final product, I expected it would hold little in the way of surprise. But as I started unlocking games and playing more, I found myself losing track of time. Many of us know that a great game can just suck you in and you can easily lose hours mining it for all of its glorious, fun riches. Wii Sports Resort was no different for me. %Gallery-27709%
Miyamoto: Wii MotionPlus technology only possible now
Don't even start weaving conspiracies about how Nintendo's recently released Wii MotionPlus peripheral was supposed to be incorporated in the initial Wiimote design. According to Shigeru Miyamoto, such a nickel-and-dime plot is absolutely impossible -- and as we all know, Miyamoto never lies. Look at him, with those pinchable cheeks! Those are not the cheeks of a liar.In an interview with The Telegraph, Shiggy explained the MotionPlus was only possible due to technological innovations "which took place after Wii launched." Actually, he says the technology was around, but it would have been impossible to use at such a "compact" size and low price. So, did you want Wiimotes to cost $200 and weigh as much as toddlers? No? We didn't think so.[Via IGN]
Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus selling well, and Wii Sports Resort ain't even out yet
For a device that took a solid year to go from "debuting at E3" to "shipping," we're pretty surprised to see that Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus held as much steam as it did. With overall video game sales dropping in June for the first time since 2000 (when looking at year-over-year figures, anyway), the Big N still had a few hundred thousand reasons to smile. Aside from the 361,700 Wii consoles and 766,500 DS units that shipped in June, the company also managed to sell 169,000 Wii MotionPlus dongles -- and that's not including the ones that were packaged with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, of which 272,400 units were sold. The real kicker, however, is that the accessory's real partner in crime (that'd be Wii Sports Resort) has yet to be released. It's good to be king, ain't it Mario?
Hands-on: Red Steel 2
click to enlarge We stopped by Ubisoft's San Francisco offices late last week to spend more time with its upcoming Nintendo platform lineup. Although we'd played many of the same games -- at the same stage of development -- during E3, now was the time to really focus on details. So, first up was Red Steel 2, a game that initially had us smitten with its manga-esque East-meets-West visual style, but failed to impress once we took hold of its controls.So, once again, we were faced with the extremely short demo / gameplay primer Ubisoft had created for last month's trade show. This second look didn't leave us any more enamored with the mix of sword slashing and pistol shooting, but we were able to get a better idea of exactly what didn't feel right. At the same time, we came away even more impressed by the game from a visual standpoint than when we'd first seen it in action.%Gallery-51378%
Engadget gets in-depth with the Wii MotionPlus
Like trying to watch a foreign language film on a tiny TV, it seems that our buddies at Engadget can't figure out if they've got problems with the Wii MotionPlus technology, or just the way it's being used. The site recently did an exhaustive hands-on with Nintendo's new add-on, the fruits of which you can see here.The best implementation/demonstration for the super-sensitive tech seems to be manipulating an e-frisbee in 3D space, which is almost too precious and appropriate for our brains to comprehend.
Wii MotionPlus review: it works, but so far the games aren't worth the fuss
At first glance it's a little difficult to understand the necessity of another motion-sensing add-on. What could possibly be inside this particular block of white plastic that's not inside those other countless slabs of white plastic that Nintendo has already slathered on the Wii? Sure, we know in theory that the gyroscopes that MotionPlus provides allows the controller to truly orient itself in 3D space, instead of just sensing acceleration in various directions, and breaks some of that reliance on the sensor bar, but do those theoretical advances result in a true leap in gameplay? We tested it out with EA's new MotionPlus-enabled Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis -- the first such titles on the market while we wait for Nintendo to get its own Wii Sports Resort in order -- and we'd say the results are pretty inconclusive so far. Check out our full impressions after the break, along with enthralling videos of both games in action. Major thanks to The Golf Club at Chelsea Piers for letting us test this out at their facilities, and to golf pros Herb and Marj for letting us waste some of their valuable time.
We know you'll need it: the Wii MotionPlus instructional video
With the release of the Wii MotionPlus, Nintendo has apparently placed how-to videos with applicable games to instruct its customer base on how to attach the accessory. Destructoid took the opportunity to upload the video, which walks a fine line between airplane emergency video and a tape that would be played in "health" class.Dtoid notes that the real horror is that once the three-minute video starts ... there's no way to exit (not even the glorious Wiimote's Home button will save you). So, if you really need to know how to shove, slide and thread your components inside the Wii prophylactic, please feel free to watch the video after the break.
EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with Wii MotionPlus now shipping
It may not seem quite as impressive now that Microsoft and Sony have shown off their visions of a motion-controlled future, but Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus is still as good as it gets when it comes to consoles today and, as promised, it's now finally shipping alongside the latest Tiger Woods game. That may not be exactly what Nintendo had in mind when it first unveiled MotionPlus way back at last year's E3, but the first-party wares won't be too far behind, with its own Wii Sports Resort title (and requisite bundle) still on track for a launch late next month. If you're up for a little golf in the meantime, however, you can pick up the Tiger Woods game bundled with Wii MotionPlus for $59.99, or the standalone game (still playable with the standard Wiimote) for $49.99.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: The Legendary Starfy
Now that the whirlwind of E3 is over, Nintendo is getting back into the swing of updating the Nintendo Channel with less exciting content than last week's big reveals. This week, it's all about the release of MotionPlus and The Legendary Starfy, with plenty of video content for both. Sadly, we don't have a demo of the latter, which we were really hoping for. But, hey, you can at least play Ant Nation. That's something, right? Right?
Red Steel 2 hitting store shelves in Wii MotionPlus bundle
As one would assume, a samurai western video game with a heavy focus on the implementation of a peripheral that allows for alleged 1:1 digital sword maneuvering will be hitting store shelves bundled with said attachment. Or, to put it in monosyllabic terms, we just learned at the Ubisoft press conference that the Wii MotionPlus exclusive Red Steel 2 will be bundled with Wii MotionPlus at launch. Are you like, totally surprised?
InvenSense gloats about world's first 6-axis MEMS-based motion sensing solution
We tell ya, some proud folks work at InvenSense. After boasting last year about its Wii MotionPlus-powering IDG-600 motion sensor, the company is set to gloat once more at E3 this year. The cause for celebration? Its 6-axis motion processing solution, which it's calling a world's first. Said solution weds its IME-3000 3-axis accelerometer with its IDG dual-axis family of gyros in order to produce a wicked small 6-axis motion sensor. In theory, at least, this creation is small enough to add MotionPlus-like capabilities to smartphones and other ridiculously small devices, with even TV remotes holding the promise of one day letting you "roll through" the EPG. Currently, the only big-name devices utilizing 5- or 6-axis motion functionality is Logitech's MX Air Mouse and the aforementioned MotionPlus accessory, but obviously InvenSense is hungry for more. Too bad that DSi already launched, right?
InvenSense boasts new motion tech, as seen in MotionPlus
The motion technology masterminds at InvenSense dropped a press release today which reminds everyone how totally awesome their handiwork is. The product the company is currently boasting is its "6-axis motion processing solution," which is featured in the upcoming Wii MotionPlus dongle attachment. As the name suggests, the "solution" allows for the detection of movement in six directions -- up, down, left, right, forward and backward -- allowing you to throw fake frisbees to fake dogs with unparalleled accuracy.InvenSense is hoping to shop the new gyroscopic technology out to other electronic developers in July, so if your coffee maker suddenly becomes aware of its own pitch and yaw, you know who to blame.[Via VentureBeat]
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: The video tour, Wii edition
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will be hitting all major consoles and handhelds, but the Wii MotionPlus really makes it stand out on Nintendo's flagship game unit. It offers a greater degree of club control than we've ever seen in a game, though don't expect it to make you a better golfer ... unless you can somehow graft a Wiimote onto your club. You can check out Tiger's WiiMotion Plus in action here, and then head after the break to see new videos depicting the Live Tournament mode, as well as the new golfers and courses in the game.%Gallery-63036%
Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus accessory up for pre-order
With June 8th barely a month away, we're finally seeing Nintendo's long (long!) awaited Wii MotionPlus dongle hit the pre-order stage. Right now at Amazon, eager Wiimote swingers can get in line for $19.99, or if you're feeling frisky, you can also pre-order Wii Sports Resort and / or Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. So, who's down for making their controller the most expensive one on the market when fully equipped?Update: Good news, gamers. EA Sports just announced that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis will now be released on June 8th alongside the Wii MotionPlus dongle.
