The Wii Remote Plus launches this Sunday, at least as a $50 bundle with FlingSmash. Interestingly, the Remote Plus is identical in weight to the original controller. But it is MotionPlus ready — a nice little touch for the five of you who play a lot of Motion Plus-enabled games. The only real difference is the new controller is labeled as such and appears to have more green circuity boards (see photo 4 left side). Other than that, they look and feel identical. (more…)

A Gamespot interview from E3 featuring Eji Aonuma, has him talking about the elements of Skyward Sword and some of the games design. It’s an interesting interview and provides more depth to Skyward sword than what most people already know about the game.

How do you guys feel about Skyward Sword and the style they decided to take with the design of the game?

Various sources from around the internet are reporting that Xbox’s much hyped project Natal has been officially renamed to Xbox Kinect.  Although this in itself is not specifically Nintendo news, it’s worth mentioning that Microsoft’s controller free revolution will be launching with a game currently known only as “Kinect Sports.” Classy Microsoft.

More on Xbox Kinect and the rumored “Xbox Slim” are expected to be revealed later this week at the Electronics Entertainment Expo.  Will Kinect cut in on the Wii? Will the Playstation Move? We’ll be sure to let you know as we cover the conference in the upcoming week.  Got any questions? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

It has been almost a year since the Motion Plus has been available to the public, and Approximately 16 titles were released so far in the devices lifetime. 22 titles if you want to count the Japan and European exclusive titles.

While 22 might seem like a decent number, it is actually a very small fraction compared to all the titles that were released. If we were to do the math, the amount of titles that support Motion Plus since it’s launch only make up 6% of all titles released. This percentage is actually slowly dwindling below the 6% mark. And While E3 is coming up and Nintendo should be supporting their games with their own accessory, the question remains.

Do you still have faith in motion plus, or was it in fact a dud like all other Nintendo accessories?

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.

[IGN via C3]

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.