Will Motion+ go the way of the Balance Board, Wii Speak?

[ameratsu]

trestres said:
Balance Board is not an integral part of the Wii, you may see it as a secondary platform. M+ does enhance the capabilities of the Wii, therefore needs to be on most Wii's if we want most games to support it. When a game has multiple control schemes, it's most probable that it won't be as refined, due to restrictions the other scheme imposes.

 

This is an important point. Nintendo has made a habit of bundling their new shiny peripherals with complementary software that makes for an enticing package. So while someone may have no problem buying Wii Fit if they are interested in the software, the way nintendo keeps the balance board hostage by bundling it with software seems to reinforce its limited use, as seen with the abudance of fitness related balance board enabled games. The fact that Wii Fit is about the exceed the total install base of the ps3 with only a handful of worthwhile balance board enabled games out there is telling. The Balance Board is being treated by third parties like a set of rockband drums, with the software being developed for it specifically having a very narrow range in the form of fitness and lifestyle games.

In the case of M+, even if tommorow Nintendo decided every new Wiimote came integrated with M+, there are millions of legacy users with no M+. Third parties are in a bit of a tough spot, having to configure their game for regular and M+ enabled wiimotes, thereby reducing the amount of effort they are able to put into integrating M+, or any optional Nintendo peripheral for that matter. W+ is available seperately though which is a good thing as those interested in a particular M+ don't necassarily need to buy a bundle to get it. Working with the benefits that Nintendo's peripherals provide to make a more immersive game experience while still making the game work for users with just a wiimote is going to be a challange for third parties.