Nintendo Wii MotionPlus accessory for the revolutionary Wii Remote controller again redefines game control, by more quickly and accurately reflecting motions in a 3D space. The Wii MotionPlus accessory attaches to the end of the Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player’s arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion. Every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true response in their game play.
There are two components to the Wii Motion Plus, the hardware attachment itself and the software that supports it. The hardware, which consists of a sensor which detects rotation that hooks into the expansion/Nunchuk port of the Wiimote, allows the setup to feed back exact 3D positional information to the console. It still requires the other motion-detection systems of the Wii,, including the sensor bar, which may contribute to the flaws of the overall system.
Here’s the best example of what we’re talking about. In Wii Sports Resort’s Swordplay mode, where you swing around a kendo sword, there’s a game called showdown where you advance along a fixed path and swordfight about 50 continuous people. Even after calibrating your sword (Wii MotionPlus) at the start of the fight, the sword will go about 20-30 degrees askew after a few minutes of swinging, requiring you to recalibrate the system quickly by pressing down on the D-Pad. That wouldn’t be bad, except for the fact that the Wiimote is still susceptible to interference from bright sunlight through a window or any pair of incandescent lights it thinks are the sensor bar, which totally screws up your orientation.
But for the most part, it’s 1:1 motion. Wave your Wiimote around and the sword follows. You bowl or throw frisbees or swing a club or shoot a basket and the Mii on screen actually traces the actions of your controller. It’s a very different experience than the past three years of flicking around the Wiimote. If you control your environment (limit the amount of sunlight, don’t have any light bulbs to interfere), the hardware does what it claims. The hardware is a big step forward, but it’s not the end of the road. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say this was 80% of the way there to delivering true 1:1 motion detection in the hardware. Unless Nintendo releases a Wii MotionPlus, I don’t expect that it will get all that much better in this generation, hardware-wise.
Wii Motionplus is definitely fun, and it’s the closest you’ll get to 1:1 motion gaming, much better than the regular controls. Come on and give more of youor money on Wii Motion Plus.