Wii MotionPlus: Will it work and which games will use it?

Power Tennis

While Nintendo has made great use of an innovative and refreshing take on gaming by implementing the Wii’s motion-sensitive control system, there is little argument that there is much room for improvement as it relates to much of the software available for the console.  Anyone who has suffered through the lazy and frustrating controls in the boxing portion of Wii Sports or tried playing the Wii motion-sensitive revamp of Gamecube Network’s Mario Power Tennis can attest to a need for an improvement in motion recognition.

No MotionPlus Support

Thus the MotionPlus project was announced mid-2008 and set to release in June of this year for $20.  MotionPlus, an attachment that connects to the bottom of the Wii remote where a nunchuck would usually be inserted, is  said to expand the capabilities of the system significantly by adding a more detailed and accurate Z dimension to the already spot-on X and Y axes.   If done well, the potential here is pretty vast.  The fencing game in the upcoming MotionPlus-supporting Wii Sports Resort could prove to be quite fun with an added sensor that can actually feel your thrusting and retreating movements, perhaps making for a  much more fun and realistic experience.

MotionPlus

Still, there is some reason to fear that MotionPlus is yet another in long a line of Wii gimmick devices.  It was recently announced that the technology would be absent from The Conduit, a first person shooter set to release a day after the MotionPlus.  Leaving it out of perhaps the most highly-anticipated game in the history of the Wii when being released so close together is certainly enough to give one pause.  High Voltage Software, the game’s developers, should be given credit, however, for not including something they felt would be a gimmick (at least in their game) only for the sake of being able to say it is there.  Hopefully other developers will follow suit and use MotionPlus if it adds to what they are truly trying to accomplish and leave it be if it ends up distracting from the game itself.

The Conduit: No MotionPlus Support

Aside from The Conduit, the most noticeable absence of MotionPlus in an upcoming release is in Punch-Out!!, the motion-controlled revamp of the NES classic precision-based boxing game.  If the gameplay of the Wii Sports attempt at boxing is any indication, Punch-Out!! will be a much more enjoyable experience using the classic controller setup that was wisely implemented in the game options.  Still, as fans of both the original and Super Nintendo versions of the game, we’re holding out hope here that both control options will be amazing… but we’ll let you know for sure when we review the game upon its release.

Wii Sports Resort: With MotionPlus Support

So far only three upcoming games have officially been announced to implement MotionPlus.  These are Wii Sports Resort, EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.  Rumor has it, however, that sword-and-gunplay-featuring Red Steel 2 will use MotionPlus when it is released this November.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any new developments with MotionPlus as well as provide reviews for how it is (or is not) implemented when the aforementioned games become available.

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