Product Features
There’s no denying it: Nintendo knows how to accessorize their platforms with smart products that are attractive to both the casual and hardcore gaming crowds. The Wii MotionPlus, the latest expansion device for the Nintendo Wii console, improves the Wii Remote controller by permitting more accurate motion controls. While the developer support for the accessory isn’t exactly one of the brightest selling points, this attribute will only improve in the future. Currently, there are only four titles that give the Wii console the improved controls everyone has asked for since its release and they are the following titles: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Grand Slam Tennis, Virtua Tennis 2009, and Wii Sports Resort. I’ve had the chance to play three of the four (Tiger Woods, VT 2009 and WSR) and all of them have greatly benefited with heightened entertainment value in the motion controls.
In the future, the accessory is expected to be utilized by several key developers. In one instance, High Voltage Software, developers of the recent Sega published The Conduit, will be using Wii MotionPlus in two out of four of their projects including: The Grinder, a first-person shooter involving vampires and werewolves, and Gladiator A.D., a fighting game that involves the Roman gladiators. If gamers aren’t satisfied with the current list of games supporting the Wii MotionPlus, then maybe the line-up of upcoming 2009 titles will prove to be a better fit to their style. September 8 will see the release of Ubisoft’s Academy of Champions Soccer and the following week, September 15, NHL 2K10 will release to add its name to the list of sports titles giving their nod to the accessory. Outside of those two titles, the schedule is barren in terms of hard release dates – Red Steel 2 was delayed until the first quarter of 2010, XS Games’ Crazy Mini Golf 2 doesn’t have a date set in stone, and the day Namco Bandai’s Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked reaches store shelves is still in question.
The popularity of Wii MotionPlus isn’t to be questioned either as there’s been close to 1 million units sold in the United States when you include the sales of more than 500,000 bundled with Wii Sports Resort and 205,000 units sold with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Combine that with exceeded sales of 1 million units in Japan, it’s almost a guarantee that developers will be dedicating their time utilizing the accessory by any means necessary. The best example that has been set would be Nintendo’s highly popular Wii Balance Board. It has sold almost as many units in a year and a half as Sony’s PlayStation 3 has done in three years. The software for the Wii Balance Board now has over 20 games making the most of Nintendo’s beloved accessory and has upcoming titles such as: Dance Dance Revolution, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Wii Fit Plus in the cooker. So if the Wii MotionPlus takes the same route, gamers could have a plethora of options by this time next year for software to pick and choose from.
Looking even further back in time, Nintendo has traditionally done exceptionally well with their add-ons with the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak and Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak. The former released a year after the Nintendo 64 hit markets and helped advance technology by years for both Nintendo and its rival console providers by giving gamers something intangible with their gaming experiences. As for the latter, the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak helped double the console’s RAM storage capacity and gave developers much more memory to work to create their video games with better resolutions, textures, and depth to their art. From Perfect Dark to The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the Nintendo 64 accessories benefited gamers enormously and Nintendo is replicating that success with the Nintendo Wii.
Though, it must be said, even with the major success Nintendo has had with the Wii MotionPlus and Wii Balance Board, one has to wonder if their next accessory is going to fail. Revealed at their E3 2009 press conference in June, Nintendo is ready to unleash the next step for the Nintendo Wii in the form of the Wii Vitality Sensor. Do gamers really want an accessory that tracks their pulses and body signals? Is there any use for the Wii Vitality Sensor besides for fitness games? There’s a glimmer of hope that a developer makes use of the accessory for horror games such as Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, a Japan-only title that was published by Nintendo and developed by Tecmo. Tracking the gamer’s heartbeat could potentially be entertaining for a horror game to ante up the terror. When it’s all said and done, Nintendo is proving that their track record for accessories is almost bullet-proof. From the wireless revolution that was the GameCube Wavebird to the Wii Balance Board, Nintendo continues to perform above expectations and the Wii MotionPlus is no exception. But for now, it’s time for developers to start stepping up and pledging their support to the accessory.
The popularity of Wii MotionPlus isn’t to be questioned either as there’s been close to 1 million units sold in the United States when you include the sales of more than 500,000 bundled with Wii Sports Resort and 205,000 units sold with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Combine that with exceeded sales of 1 million units in Japan, it’s almost a guarantee that developers will be dedicating their time utilizing the accessory by any means necessary. The best example that has been set would be Nintendo’s highly popular Wii Balance Board. It has sold almost as many units in a year and a half as Sony’s PlayStation 3 has done in three years. The software for the Wii Balance Board now has over 20 games making the most of Nintendo’s beloved accessory and has upcoming titles such as: Dance Dance Revolution, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Wii Fit Plus in the cooker. So if the Wii MotionPlus takes the same route, gamers could have a plethora of options by this time next year for software to pick and choose from.
Looking even further back in time, Nintendo has traditionally done exceptionally well with their add-ons with the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak and Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak. The former released a year after the Nintendo 64 hit markets and helped advance technology by years for both Nintendo and its rival console providers by giving gamers something intangible with their gaming experiences. As for the latter, the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak helped double the console’s RAM storage capacity and gave developers much more memory to work to create their video games with better resolutions, textures, and depth to their art. From Perfect Dark to The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the Nintendo 64 accessories benefited gamers enormously and Nintendo is replicating that success with the Nintendo Wii.
Though, it must be said, even with the major success Nintendo has had with the Wii MotionPlus and Wii Balance Board, one has to wonder if their next accessory is going to fail. Revealed at their E3 2009 press conference in June, Nintendo is ready to unleash the next step for the Nintendo Wii in the form of the Wii Vitality Sensor. Do gamers really want an accessory that tracks their pulses and body signals? Is there any use for the Wii Vitality Sensor besides for fitness games? There’s a glimmer of hope that a developer makes use of the accessory for horror games such as Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, a Japan-only title that was published by Nintendo and developed by Tecmo. Tracking the gamer’s heartbeat could potentially be entertaining for a horror game to ante up the terror. When it’s all said and done, Nintendo is proving that their track record for accessories is almost bullet-proof. From the wireless revolution that was the GameCube Wavebird to the Wii Balance Board, Nintendo continues to perform above expectations and the Wii MotionPlus is no exception. But for now, it’s time for developers to start stepping up and pledging their support to the accessory.
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