WiiMotion Plus demo — The future of gaming is now
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 9:59pm by Jack
In case you didn’t know, the second half of that headline was uttered originally in some form or another by the fellas over at Sony about the PS3 a few years ago. It never happened, however. It couldn’t, because this video and Wii MotionPlus is it.
It’s a simple demo, but as I’ve been trying to say for a while now, it’s the potential of these things that’s so amazing. If you didn’t think of at least a half dozen or so game ideas, or tweaks for existing genres, you’re a zombie. Tennis games will be reinvented; sword fighting games will become the new channel-clogging mini-games we complain about today; weapons will behave like real weapons, as opposed to “push triangle button to swing.”
And believe me, the software is coming for this accessory, just like it has for the DS and the Wii (the latter just hitting its stride with third parties this year, IMO). Red Steel is on board and you can bet developers, the talented ones anyway, already have their cocktail napkins full of ink and future profits.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
That looks great. I hope they don’t rush it’s development in-game and give the new add-ons a bad rap.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
This really will usher in a new level of intuitive gaming. I’m very excited about it.
I’m also looking forward to the following 2 excuses by lazy developers:
1) Not all Wii owners have Wii Motion Plus… that’s why we didn’t utilize it.
2)Wii Motion Plus is too sensitive.
I can see the firestorm on the horizon.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
This is what the Wii was supposed to be when we first heard about its motion controls…
July 30th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
EA should be all over this with sports games. Football and baseball are just two things that would benefit from this.
Imagine a Zelda game with the same sword fighting mechanics as shown here.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am
If you like this then check this out.
AI that you train all working on the Wii!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oNTLzCFNU
This is very old but it is very cool!
July 31st, 2008 at 12:05 am
This wouldve totally bombed two years ago. But now, developers even have announced they’ll use it with pop and new games even when we havent heard or even seen anything about the game.
And yes, this is the year where 3rd parties start leg humping the Wii (althought i dont see them fully ejecting all the fluids yet)
July 31st, 2008 at 12:09 am
OMG! THATS FREAKING AWESOME!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:32 am
Despite the fact that this is not packaged with a lot of flair, they should have shown THIS at e3.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:25 am
That’s quite impressive. I hope Nintendo does a good enough job pushing motion plus that 3rd parties aren’t hesitant to make use of it.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
Wii Sports resort will sell huge next spring. The numbers it pushes will encourage third parties to develop for it. The ballance board is proof positive of this and it does not have near the same potential in application. The question in my mind is will we ever see a game that uses the Motion Plus and Balance Board in tandem to really give me full body control dodging and blocking in 3D that would be fantastic. Imagine sword fighting where you could not just parry, but also dodge or lean forward to put extra pressure on.
The shovel ware on Motion Plus early on will be older Wii games remade with Motion Plus. Force Unleashed PLUS+, Soul Calibur Legends PLUS+, Ninjabread Man PLUS+. Some of these will be welcome others not as much.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:36 am
I wish he would’ve shown if moving the remote toward and away from the screen has been improved. That doesn’t work very well on the current Wii Remotes.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:39 am
How is this the future of gaming? It’s barely any different than what the Wii currently does? I don’t feel a slight enhancement to the existing control system will bring the Wii to a whole new level, it’ll just enhance the experience and make it slightly more responsive than now.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:52 am
Satiated, this is a huge step forward as third parties have complained that there is not enough data to do what we want it to do. Right now many games only use the remote motions to replace a button press, this is a very different concept.
David, they do show examples of him doing scooping motions. They involve a forward and back and it appears to work well.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am
This should have been built into the Wiimote in the first place. How frustrating! At least we don’t have to wait for the Wii 2 though so that’s a plus.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:51 am
@Hunter now they have reasons to do sequels and also fix the graphics. Soul calibur could have been good the combos in that game are made to tear through a whole group of guys. They should give it a cool res evil view also. Another excite truck would be fun also. Of course red steel would be nice also but I wonder how sega feels about a panzar dragoon now or a shinobi?
July 31st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
wow I am feeling so blessed. What a wonderful presentation.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Wow! Can you say ‘groundbreaking’?
July 31st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Erm… The future is in about a year.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
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July 31st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
How hard would it be to create + versions of games via an update?
I would certainly pay for a light saber duels upgrade via the shop channel that utilizes this.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:59 pm
“This is what the Wii was supposed to be when we first heard about its motion controls…”
Yes. Yes it was.
Also, games will not be out for another year or more because they did not know of the technology.
So we can all just wait and talk about how cool it WILL be, when it SHOULD have been this way from the start, really.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:05 am
It’s pretty amazing that some of you guys have managed to secure such exclusive access to what goes on inside the Nintendo hardware development wing. This is what “should have” been available when Wii launched in 2006? Please keep in contact with Infendo, so we can use you as a valuable inside source for Nintendo. Your industry insight is apparently unmatched, because I’ve seen nothing to suggest this was tech available at launch in 2006. Again, please keep us informed of what’s going on in Nintendo R&D so we can break more of these exclusive stories. Thanks.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:18 am
I <3 Jack.
I think all of us level-headed Internet commenters (all 17 of us) should do what Jack just did, more often. Let’s fight whiny, assumption-making e-arsonists with scathing, over-the-top sarcasm. Freakin PWNZORD!!1!one!
You just made my day, Jack. Thanks.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
i am with jack. The company that made the gyros even said the tech wasnt available at a consumer acceptable price and size in 2006.
Tech continues to advance. What some people are saying is the the ps3 is what the ps2 should have been. they should have put the cell processor into the ps2 10 years ago. Its illogical, unrealistic. It wasnt available then, even though sony promised the same things with ps2 as they do with ps3, in a hyperbolic sense.
Nintendo never actually promised true 1:1 when the first remote was announced anyway. Thats the whole reason we have been speculating about it since launch. It is why 3rd parties have beat around the bush about it all these years, neither confirming nor denying its possibility for the most part.
This is the first time nintendo has officially offered 1:1.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
“It’s pretty amazing that some of you guys have managed to secure such exclusive access to what goes on inside the Nintendo hardware development wing. This is what “should have” been available when Wii launched in 2006? Please keep in contact with Infendo, so we can use you as a valuable inside source for Nintendo. Your industry insight is apparently unmatched, because I’ve seen nothing to suggest this was tech available at launch in 2006. Again, please keep us informed of what’s going on in Nintendo R&D so we can break more of these exclusive stories. Thanks.”
Cry me a river, you pathetic fanBOY. If your head was not up Mario’s butt all the time, you might actually see more clearly, sure this a fan site, but its not a “denial of Nintendos mistakes site.”.or IS it.
Of course this tech was around, and it Should have been there at the get go. Was it a bit pricy back 2 years ago? Of course it was, but then again, the Big N makes SOOOO much money on the DS, the Wii, and software that they could have easily afforded to put it in.
From the getgo.
Fanyboys are pethetic. But you Do amuse me from time ot time.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:37 pm
So, wii wii, let me get this straight…
Instead of releasing this as an all-in-one controller in 2006, as you say Nintendo could and should have, they INSTEAD chose to purposefully release it two years later, when it would be perceived by the industry as a huge “oops, we forgot to include this!” gaff. Oh, this is not to mention to backlash from people who think the MotionPlus is yet another example of an accessory-happy Nintendo, like yourself.
To recap:
Nintendo decided to purposely scrap an all-in-one controller at launch, which would have been easiest to implement and would have lacked a backlash from consumers tired of accessory overload, and instead consciously decided to release an accessory two years after launch, because they enjoy having the industry make fun of them.
You make perfect sense. I apologize.
PS — I prefer fanMAN. Use the Infendo archives to check that out. Thanks.