Engadget: Nintendo MotionPlus Hands-on (hint, they are not impressed)

[kingofwale]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/nintendo-motionplus-hands-on-blah/

Nintendo MotionPlus hands-on: blah.

by Ryan Block, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 4:27PM

So yeah, we got a chance to check out Nintendo's new MotionPlus accessory. Wii Sports Resort is the only title announced right now that requires (or supports) MotionPlus, and we gave a couple of the games a run (like sword fighting and jet-skiing). Basically we're at a loss as to how this does anything truly differently or more effectively than the current controllers. We get that it's got additional MEMS accelerometers that supposedly bring the relationship of motion and gameplay to a more 1:1 ratio, and for the motion types we tested, it worked well enough. We guess. But the experience felt basically the same, so what's the deal?

We had booth rep to explain why we needed the MotionPlus for Sports Resort. Not just because the software requires it, but why it NEEDS it, and not just a regular Wiimote. We were told that with previous Wii Sports games, players could kind of get by with a waggle (this is where he started gesticulating with some what random movements), but now you could play all this crazy stuff, like swords and jet skis. But there was absolutely nothing here that felt like it couldn't be accomplished with the regular Wiimote -- or what the Wiimote originally promised. So if it is more accurate and effective in real space, why not just improve the Wiimote experience instead of trying to hock another $30 accessory? As of right now, we'll pass.