Motion Plus May be Permanently Embedded in Silicone Jacket
Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 9:59pm by Sean
IGN is reporting that multiple sources suggested that Nintendo’s upcoming Wii-Motion Plus peripheral may come embedded in one of Nintendo’s trademark silicone sleeves.
IGN’s Matt Cassamassina had this to say in a post-GDC write up:
During the show, there were all sorts of companies showing off Wii MotionPlus, from AiLive to countless developers, all fascinated by the device. No major revelations about the technology itself, but one interesting tidbit did come up a couple times. Namely, that MotionPlus might ship infused inside of a jacket and cannot be removed. A perma-Wii remote condom, if you will. Bad news if you hate the Wii rubber because, if true, you will have to use one if you want to play games with MotionPlus, plain and simple.
Nintendo has a policy not to comment on rumors or speculation, so to our knowledge this has yet to be confirmed. I can’t say that I’ll be surprised if this turns out to be true – and like many gamers, i’m sure i’ll be carefully mutilating my motion-plus sleeve to better suit my needs – but still, I’m not sure mandating “safety is the best policy.
Update: C3 suggests that this might be a communication error – it’s quite probable that Nintendo told developers that Wii Motion Plus would ship with new silicone jackets, as the old jackets won’t fit the new peripheral.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I hate those sleeves, I guess it’s going to be an exacto-knife party when I get my motion plus add ons.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Yeah, exacto knife for me. Can’t stand those stupid sleeves. They say the designed it to look like a TV remote so it could sit out on the coffee table and not look too out of place, yet they put that condom on it that makes it look like a dildo. The controller with sleeve is the last thing I’d want a guest to see, who knows what they’d think it is.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Many of us will be cutting it off if it is together. I have the sleeves, never use them (I still have never thrown my Wii remote at the TV.)
March 29th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I don’t see it. How do you use the MarioKart Wheel? Or the Link Crossbow thing? How do you change the battery? Or Guitar Hero, etc. You can’t if the Jacket is on.
My guess would be that there will be a new WiiMote with the MotionPlus built in, but the same shape as the existing one. Maybe the unremovable sleeve was a decoy, or a security device on the prototype, or something to keep others from getting too close a look at the new remote.
March 29th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
probably so the thing doesn’t fly off when you swing it around.
i was ondering when we’ll hear about the wiimote with motion plus in it…?
March 30th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Apparently, the idea for an accelerometer/gyroscope improved motion controls was in development during the “Revolution” concept, but the technology and price didn’t catch up to the idea.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:02 am
It is a communication error – when Wii Sports Resort ships in a few months, you will get a MotionPlus and a sleeve that will be sized to the combination of the remote and MotionPlus.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:25 am
I don’t really mind the jackets, I find it gives the wiimote a bit extra weight which I satisfying, sure it’s a pain in the arse if I want to play guitar hero, mario kart etc or change the batteries but I’m not that fussy
.
What I want to know, which either I’ve missed somewhere along the way or it hasn’t occured to anyone yet (though I’m suspecting the former) is can you plug your nunchuk into the motion plus, or are all motion plus games going to be nunchuk-less? If so I think that’s a big shame.
March 30th, 2009 at 8:29 am
@Phil
I thought for sure I’d heard that the nunchuck would plug into the back of motion+. If you enlarge the image, it looks like there’s a small flap to cover the jack when not in use.
March 30th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I’ll just cut that mofo off… I don’t care what it will look like… I hate those stupid rubbers!! Hahaha!
March 31st, 2009 at 2:09 pm
welp im screwed yet again if this happens, because none of the stores around here sales one of those jackets, exacto knife for me too.Nintendo is doing one hell of a job including “everybody” for the wii do i have to be rich to be everybody.
April 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I think that Nintendo won’t be infusing Motion + into the jacket. I’m not a fan of those sleeves either. I had ordered a set of four from Nintendo when I found out about them, and I think it adds unnecessary weight to the Wii mote, it’s got a crappy texture IMO, and if you use the wrist strap, then there’s no need (I always use the wrist strap). I used the sleeve once, and then tossed all four in a drawer somewhere so I didn’t have to worry about them.
I’m still curious though what the price point will be for a Motion+ peripheral that’s standalone. I only intendo to buy one copy of Wii Sports Resort (mainly for sword fighting) and then three more of the peripherals to outfit the rest of my controllers.