Wii Sports Resort might not be the only title to showcase the Wii MotionPlus when the dinky add-on launches next spring. GameSpot went hands-on with The Conduit at PAX 2008, and revealed that the shooter will feature MotionPlus support. The Conduit is currently set for a March launch, so has this new information also inadvertently dated Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus?
Whether it has or not, MotionPlus for The Conduit is Pretty Big News -- so much so, that we're afraid it may overshadow some of the other eye-catching details in GameSpot's report. These include:
In the final game, High Voltage hopes to have a completely customizable head-up display, in which any HUD element can be dragged and dropped to different parts of the screen.
There will be nine missions in total, with the singleplayer campaign lasting "about ten hours."
Cut scenes won't be used; rather, the story will be developed through news or radio broadcasts, much like the Half Life series.
Some projectiles can be guided using the cursor, which sounds a lot like the Nikita launcher in Metal Gear Solid, automatically making it ZOMGAWESOME.
For those of you who're fans of tennis, rejoice. EA is poised to present their own tennis title. And, as if that wasn't enough, it will take advantage of Nintendo's new MotionPlus peripheral, joining Ubisoft in proclaiming it's totally awesome. EA also mentions that this will be the first tennis game to include the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which is where Wimbledon is played.
So, how many of you are looking forward to seeing this one? A tennis game that takes advantage of MotionPlus? We're excited!
Nintendo kept the Wii MotionPlus a secret from everybody for as long as possible, a move that resulted in grumbling from certain third-party developers.
That hasn't diminshed enthusiasm for the tiny add-on, however. During an interview with Gamasutra, Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat couldn't praise the MotionPlus enough (even though he admitted having some doubts at first), enthusing about how the peripheral would make gaming feel "seamless," and arguing that it could only lead to a more immersive experience. "It's one thing to have your brain interpolating what you're doing," gushed Mallat, "[but ] it's another thing to not need that interpolation work."
Elsewhere in the interview, Mallat expressed his view that Shaun White Snowboarding was a "must-try" and described developing Dogzas "psychologically very exciting." Hmm.
Despite it being arguably the best thing to come from Nintendo's E3 line-up, everyone isn't happy about MotionPlus. At the top of the list of disgruntled folk is none other than LucasArts. Why? Well, according to a blurb from the latest issue of Game Informer, which was transcribed by a GAFfer (the one with the Arkham Asylum reveal), third parties weren't privy to the info before Nintendo's press conference (if they read us, they would have learned about it a day beforehand). That's old hat to us all, though.
The problem is that LucasArts specifically took the time to craft The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels specifically for the Wii. See, everyone wants a 1:1 lightsaber game and it would've been a fantastic way to market the game. We guess that ship has sailed ...
Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels
The boffins at InvenSense who developed the MotionPlus accessory have insisted that their relationship with Nintendo is "not an exclusive one," and haven't ruled out the possibility of the MotionPlus technology seeing other companies on the side. The cads!
There's certainly not a lack of interest, with company head Joe Virginia telling Eurogamer "I can't get into details about other folks that are interested in this technology, but as you might imagine of course there is more interest out there." Whether Sony or Microsoft will pounce at this opportunity remains to be seen. The whole internet decided that Microsoft would reveal a motion-sensing controller at E3, only for the Redmond firm to unveil a big, fat nothing.
On a more positive note, Virginia talked up the possibilities of MotionPlus, discussing adding spin to tennis shots, curve to a bowling ball, ultra-precise golf swings, and sword motions with forward thrusts. You already knew all that was possible, but reading it this morning made us excited for MotionPlus all over again.
Iwata's interview yesterday definitely sparked some debate within our little community here, but it would seem a lot of you didn't exactly chime in with your own thoughts on 'very affordable.' So, what price point would you like to see Wii MotionPlus set at? Is $20 a sweet spot? Would you mind paying as much as $30? Weigh in!
The Wii has long been heralded as the cheapest console out there, but that claim soon weakens if you want to own every add-on that is available for the platform. Nintendo seems to recognize that Wii ownership is getting increasingly pricey, and now company bossman Satoru Iwata has said: no more add-ons!
Okay, so he didn't quite make that promise. But Iwata has told the Wall Street Journal that "most of the ideas for accessories that we had initially come up with are out now." If you can hear sighing, that'll be our wallets, though don't get comfy right away: Iwata has warned that Nintendo might think up more, presumably once the company's bank balance has dipped below the danger level of one trillion-gazillion* dollars.
Iwata also confirmed that Nintendo would try and make the Wii MotionPlus "very affordable," an attainable goal considering that the add-on is apparently cheap to make. There will also be games that can only be played with a MotionPlus plugged in -- beginning, we'd assume, with Wii Sports Resort.
Hardcore gamers sure do hate tacked-on waggle. Indeed, no one likes to flail their arms around like they're trying to signal aircraft when a simple button press will do. And the guys on the othersides seem to be under the impression that the Wii is nothing but a PS2 that replaces thumb pressing with wrist flicking. So when a new title or an iteration of an existing franchise gets announced for the Wii, the non-believers tend to thumb their snooty noses and prattle amongst themselves with ingenious statements like "Dead Rising on the Wii? More like Waggle Rising. YEAH! HIGH FIVE, BRAH!" All right, maybe they're not quite as neanderthalic, but the sentiment remains: the use of waggle is often met with skepticism from the core.
To ignore the importance of waggle would be to forget what makes the Wii so awesome. Sure, some games have no real need for motion-based controls, but let us not forget the joy and immersion experienced by the non-gamer who first picked up a Wiimote and found themselves instantly engaged in a lively tennis match. To downplay motion controls would be to forget what made the Wii so successful in the first place. Without it, the Wii would be just a beefed-up GameCube. (THERE, I said it!) Just for a moment, let us forget about why Super Mario RPG has yet to be released on the North American Virtual Console and go back to the flood of imagination we felt when the Wiimote was first unveiled. Here are the activities we wish were made into games on the Wii.
The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Siliconera has snagged a short interview with Sega Associate Producer Christopher Kaminski about Platinum Games' forthcoming MadWorld. Topics covered include whether or not the gorefest will support the Wii MotionPlus (it won't, sadly), more of the backstory, and whether the title will accomodate multiple players (Kaminski gave a "no comment" to this one, which keeps our hopes for a MadWorld multiplayer mode alive).
There was also some discussion about "Man Darts," another of MadWorld's ridiculously over-the-top finishing moves -- one that involves whacking dudes with a baseball bat, brutally slamming them into a giant dartboard. Judging by the above screenshot, points can be scored, making this sort of a game within a game. Siliconera's Spencer Yip wondered if this could be played as a party game. "I'm going to go with no comment with that one," replied Kaminski.
Probably the wisest response, but it looks a lot more fun than Game Party.
Ever since Wii MotionPlus was revealed, we've all been hopeful about what it can do for games. Sure, it's been revealed to be utilized in Red Steel 2 and is already used pretty effectively in Wii Sports Resort, but what about other things? Well, above, you can see the tech's co-developer, AiLive, demonstrate it through a "laser sword" game. Looks pretty sweet, if we may say so.
We mucky commoners have known about the Wii MotionPlus add-on for just over a week now, but don't go thinking it's any different for third-party developers. At E3, Game Informer approached several third-parties about the peripheral, and were repeatedly told that the accessory was news to them -- as they understood it, Nintendo simply hadn't told anybody about the MotionPlus, prior to it being revealed last Monday.
In other words, we can safely not expect a flood of third-party releases supporting the peripheral. On top of that, the developers doubt they'll be able to implement Wii MotionPlus into upcoming projects, such was the secrecy that surrounded the project. Not clever, Nintendo.
Are you desperate for some extra length? Do you yearn for that extra inch that could give you the edge over others? Do you want increased size right now?
Well, good news: you don't have to wait for Wii MotionPlus's Spring 2009 launch for a chance to elongate your Wii Remote. The makers (it's not specified who) of this new wireless Nunchuk are happy for you to get adding to Nintendo's wand right now. Available from today at China-based outlet Divineo, this 'chuk comes with a tiny wireless receiver that plugs into the bottom of your Wiimote -- very much like the Nyko Kama model which we reviewed earlier this year.
At $24.95, this is ten bucks cheaper than Nyko's effort, or you could buy five for $21 apiece and, um, give us the spare? We're just floating ideas here!
In the second year of the newly revamped show, Nintendo released a few much-desired games, as well as a pair of incredible peripherals, and yet, there seemed to be something missing. Much of the show's excitement came from third parties (on my Nintendo Wii?), and some found Nintendo's announcements disappointing. Whatever your reaction, we're sure we can all agree on one thing: there was a ton of news and a flood of media. Luckily, you can revisit it all right here (even the week's most outrageous story, which wasn't even from E3).
We've listed a few of the show's highlights below, but for the full index of all our 2008 E3 coverage, hit the break. We still have a few items rolling in, and we'll be updating the index as that happens. Check back with us over the next few days by clicking the E3 sidebar graphic.
Well, so much for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Really, as much as we love the thought of using our Wiimotes as Lightsabers, we don't think such duels will be able to compare to the Sword Play in Wii Sports Resort. That's right, wewent there.
Seeing the 1:1 motion controls in action (via the Wii MotionPlus) just puts us in awe. Are we just too easily amazed, or are you guys excited, too? Maybe we can just pretend our swords are Lightsabers. Of course, we'll have to wait until spring to try any of it out, anyway. Too bad, so sad.
Are you desperate for some extra length? Do you yearn for that extra inch that could give you the edge over others? Do you want increased size right now?
A new Pikmin sprouts!
Animal Crossing: City Folk confirmed
The Conduit will use WiiSpeak
Wii Sports Resort announced
Mega Man 9 feels more like a 10
Wii Fanboy bats-on with Mario Super Sluggers
Animal Crossing to support keyboards, save fruit-picking time
Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wii Sports Resort
