By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

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

Sqrl on 16 July 2008
GlingGling said:
Sqrl said:
FYI Miyamoto has said in interview that its possible it will come packed in with Wii-remotes standard. And that you just have to get one for your existing Wii-Remotes.

This is a pretty good plan. I sort of see this as the equivalent to the N64 memory pack. It'll be required for many games in 2 years.

 

Yeah he said in another interview that he would like it to become the standard that developers use as well, so with that kind of thinking they almost have to. 

Personally, I would like to see them offer a 2-pack and 4-pack of motion plus at a reduced price over the single if they do that, try to help folks catch up.
To Each Man, Responsibility
Around the Network
greenmedic88 on 16 July 2008

I suppose if people are willing to pay for bottled filtered water, they're willing to pay for just about anything, but I don't think this quite applies.

Most people aren't going to buy a set of these peripherals just because they're being made.

Wii Sports Resort will sell the peripheral. If it is as well received as Wii Sports, Nintendo should be able to move a fair number of extras, but it is very presumptive to think that all Wii owners are going to upgrade all their remotes with or without seeing the additional benefits.



TWRoO on 16 July 2008

Watching that Warioware game made me think.

In general it won't be able to make old games better of course, but I think it might be able to fix any time lag, like in that video there was a definate lag of about 1/4 - 1/3rd of a second occasionally, but with this add on it will probably lower the lag as ell as make it more reliable.



GlingGling on 16 July 2008
Sqrl said:
GlingGling said:
Sqrl said:
FYI Miyamoto has said in interview that its possible it will come packed in with Wii-remotes standard. And that you just have to get one for your existing Wii-Remotes.

This is a pretty good plan. I sort of see this as the equivalent to the N64 memory pack. It'll be required for many games in 2 years.

 

Yeah he said in another interview that he would like it to become the standard that developers use as well, so with that kind of thinking they almost have to. 

Personally, I would like to see them offer a 2-pack and 4-pack of motion plus at a reduced price over the single if they do that, try to help folks catch up.

 

With what will be over a 30 million install base this is even a better plan. Let's see what Nintendo does. I wonder if Nintendo runs focus groups for this kind of feedback, I'd like to be part of that.



BrainBoxLtd on 16 July 2008
greenmedic88 said:

Currently, it looks like Motion Plus will be reserved for select titles that actually require the additional user input, which is fine, but does make the add-on purely optional rather than something everyone with a Wii will buy.

I think the typical user doesn't know what the real benefits of 1:1 controls provide and would only be buying it for Wii Sports Resort rather than under the presumption that it will make all Wii games that much better or easier to play.

Hence why they're packing it with a sequel to Wii Sports to begin with and ensuring the games included greatly emphaize it. People will play with it and realize the difference first hand. Then their friends will want to play with them and more Motion Plus add-ons will be sold. Very cunning marketing on Nintendo's part.

Also on an unrelated note. Elebits actually did a fairly stunning job creating this kind of game play with just the sensor bar. Since you had to aim to keep your cursor on the screen it was actually fairly practical for that game. Naturally not everything would work with that set-up though. But still impressive considering it was released in December 06.

 



Around the Network
GlingGling on 16 July 2008
BrainBoxLtd said:
greenmedic88 said:

Currently, it looks like Motion Plus will be reserved for select titles that actually require the additional user input, which is fine, but does make the add-on purely optional rather than something everyone with a Wii will buy.

I think the typical user doesn't know what the real benefits of 1:1 controls provide and would only be buying it for Wii Sports Resort rather than under the presumption that it will make all Wii games that much better or easier to play.

Hence why they're packing it with a sequel to Wii Sports to begin with and ensuring the games included greatly emphaize it. People will play with it and realize the difference first hand. Then their friends will want to play with them and more Motion Plus add-ons will be sold. Very cunning marketing on Nintendo's part.

Also on an unrelated note. Elebits actually did a fairly stunning job creating this kind of game play with just the sensor bar. Since you had to aim to keep your cursor on the screen it was actually fairly practical for that game. Naturally not everything would work with that set-up though. But still impressive considering it was released in December 06.

 

Yeah, the IR capability of the WiiMote was a life saver in terms of keeping critics quiet. It really helped mask many of the limitations of the original motion sensetivity.

 



greenmedic88 on 16 July 2008
Sqrl said:
GlingGling said:
Sqrl said:
FYI Miyamoto has said in interview that its possible it will come packed in with Wii-remotes standard. And that you just have to get one for your existing Wii-Remotes.

This is a pretty good plan. I sort of see this as the equivalent to the N64 memory pack. It'll be required for many games in 2 years.

 

Yeah he said in another interview that he would like it to become the standard that developers use as well, so with that kind of thinking they almost have to. 

Personally, I would like to see them offer a 2-pack and 4-pack of motion plus at a reduced price over the single if they do that, try to help folks catch up.

Nintendo should just upgrade the current remote (and maybe even Nunchuk) integrated into one unit to make the feature standard.

Given the issues they've constantly had with production, it seems unlikely, but if ALL controllers in the future were upgraded (like transitioning from SixAxis to DS3), then it's no longer an additional strain on production lines.

The availability of the clip on already means all existing remotes can be upgraded, but if Motion Plus is to be the future standard, having every Remote sold requiring a Motion Plus clip on and/or a Nunchuk is getting a little ridiculous since that comes to $80-90 per set.

 



GlingGling on 16 July 2008
greenmedic88 said:
Sqrl said:
GlingGling said:
Sqrl said:
FYI Miyamoto has said in interview that its possible it will come packed in with Wii-remotes standard. And that you just have to get one for your existing Wii-Remotes.

This is a pretty good plan. I sort of see this as the equivalent to the N64 memory pack. It'll be required for many games in 2 years.

 

Yeah he said in another interview that he would like it to become the standard that developers use as well, so with that kind of thinking they almost have to. 

Personally, I would like to see them offer a 2-pack and 4-pack of motion plus at a reduced price over the single if they do that, try to help folks catch up.

Nintendo should just upgrade the current remote (and maybe even Nunchuk) integrated into one unit to make the feature standard.

Given the issues they've constantly had with production, it seems unlikely, but if ALL controllers in the future were upgraded (like transitioning from SixAxis to DS3), then it's no longer an additional strain on production lines.

The availability of the clip on already means all existing remotes can be upgraded, but if Motion Plus is to be the future standard, having every Remote sold requiring a Motion Plus clip on and/or a Nunchuk is getting a little ridiculous since that comes to $80-90 per set.

 

Yes, they'd have to tweak the pricing a bit. This may be one area where nintendo might have to take a loss monetarily. A small price to pay in the end.

 



HappySqurriel on 16 July 2008

Another thing to consider with its usage ...

A lot of games might not need Wii MotionPlus to work, but it could improve the gameplay by increasing the quality and accuracy of input, and they could use it as an optional attachment (like the Rumble Pack was back in the day). For a game like Red Steel 2 (as an example) they could design the sword controlls to work well enough using a standard Wiimote, but with the Wii MotionPlus accessory attached the improved control could be a much more immersive experience; and give a competitive advantage in the multiplayer game.



greenmedic88 on 16 July 2008
GlingGling said:
BrainBoxLtd said:
greenmedic88 said:

Currently, it looks like Motion Plus will be reserved for select titles that actually require the additional user input, which is fine, but does make the add-on purely optional rather than something everyone with a Wii will buy.

I think the typical user doesn't know what the real benefits of 1:1 controls provide and would only be buying it for Wii Sports Resort rather than under the presumption that it will make all Wii games that much better or easier to play.

Hence why they're packing it with a sequel to Wii Sports to begin with and ensuring the games included greatly emphaize it. People will play with it and realize the difference first hand. Then their friends will want to play with them and more Motion Plus add-ons will be sold. Very cunning marketing on Nintendo's part.

Also on an unrelated note. Elebits actually did a fairly stunning job creating this kind of game play with just the sensor bar. Since you had to aim to keep your cursor on the screen it was actually fairly practical for that game. Naturally not everything would work with that set-up though. But still impressive considering it was released in December 06.

 

Yeah, the IR capability of the WiiMote was a life saver in terms of keeping critics quiet. It really helped mask many of the limitations of the original motion sensetivity.

 

IMO, the lack of a pointer sensing feature is what made the SixAxis much more of a miss than hit. Technically, the motion sensing ability of its accelerometers is superior to that of the Wii remote.

The only drawback to the IR sensing is the "lost tracking" issue many games on the Wii seem to have when the remote is pointed beyond the range of the IR lights on the sensor bar.

By integrating a pointing system (not different in principal from light guns) and accelerometer based motion sensing, it allowed for a far more versatile motion control system than either could have provided separately.