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Wii Motion-plus : Better games on Wii, but when?

by Steven Williamson on 24 September 2008, 14:05

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo (TYO:7974), Wii

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A handful of decent games each year, is that enough?

One third party developer actually believes that Wii Motion Plus could prove to be a headache not only for developers, but also for Wii's largely casual gaming-loving user base.

Nick Hagger,from Blue Tongue Entertainment, the development team behind the action puzzle title “de Blob, believes that MotionPlus may even alienate Wii's casual gaming audience, who he believes seek "something very simple that they can just immediately get their heads around".

"I think if we had the MotionPlus to start out with, maybe the control scheme would have worked out a little bit differently,” said Hagger in a phone interview with MTV Multiplayer blog.

“I think the temptation with having Wii MotionPlus would have been to push it more in a gestural control scheme. While it’s definitely intellectually stimulating from a development perspective to play with those ideas — and I think it does appeal to a set of gamers out there — I think the majority of people that play on the Wii want something very simple that they can just immediately get their heads around.”

I couldn't disagree more. There are dozens of over-simplified casual-type games for Wii that are easy to play, but fail to make use of the Wii Remote. Wii MotionPLus is surely going to challenge developers of these titles to get off their lazy asses and create games that actually deserve to grace the console. They're going to have to work harder.

With Wii MotionPlus, the bad games are going to stand out even more and developers looking to make a quick buck off the back of a movie or popular franchise will hopefully up their game instead of hiding behind old ideas.

Yes, the announcement of Wii MotionPlus proves that Nintendo didn't get motion sensing right in the first place, but it also shows that it has recognised this and sought a solution that, in my mind, can only improve the Wii gaming experience. The problem is that we might be waiting some time for many third party developers to get to the required standard that we expect. And that, is downright annoying.

Nevertheless, even a handful of good games each year will probably be enough to appease the Wii crowd. It's worked so far.

How do you feel about Wii MotionPlus? Let us know in the HEXUS.community forums.

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HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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Posted by beanbandit - Wed 24 Sep 2008 16:31
I couldn't disagree more. There are dozens of over-simplified casual-type games for Wii that are easy to play, but fail to make use of the Wii Remote. Wii MotionPLus is surely going to challenge developers of these titles to get off their lazy asses and create games that actually deserve to grace the console. They're going to have to work harder.

I couldn't disagree more. Why should the developers get off their lazy asses? The Wii Motion Plus is an add-on, an after thought, just another accessory that won't get used much. Yes Nintendo are going to bundle the Plus with a game, but why should people spend more money just to play a game? How much will it cost? What will it actually bring to a game? Lots of questions but no answers.

Nintendo have created a new breed of “gamers” with the Wii, the casual non-gamer who liked what could be done with Wii Sport or Wii Fit. But aren't true gamers. The simple games suit them down to the ground, give them Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3 and they would be lost. These are real games, not some sort of gimmick to sell a console.

Nintendo may not have got it right with their motion sensing, but for most people its good enough. Nintendo should concentrate on making games rather than annoying the market/developers with add ons that won't sell. Remember the 4mb memory module that was available for the N64. Never took off, then it had to be bundled with some games as they had to use the extra memory. Will this go the same way? Possibly.
Posted by Steven W - Wed 24 Sep 2008 17:40
Good points!

The Wii Remote performs poorly on some games, namely the games aimed at the non-casual audience. The likes of PES, Call of Duty, the upcoming Tom Clancy games, first person shooters, driving games, will benefit no end from the improved motion-sensing and those developers who can be bothered to create a more immersive experience will utilise Wii MotionPlus.

There are so many games on Wii that make practically no use of the Wii Remote, other than the extreme basics, even though it's the motion-sensing that makes the console stand out from all others.

If smashing a tennis ball back and forward is your bag, then yep you're right, it works fine - some of the time. After the initial WOW factor, in hindsight, Wii Sports was rubbish. You'd punch in Boxing and it wouldn't register or you'd swing your tennis racket and the player would swing 2 seconds later.

Personally, I want to see more from Wii, what I've seen so far (apart from maybe 1/2 dozen games) has bored me to tears. As far as I'm concerned a better control scheme = better games. Whether Wii Motion PLus is better or not is another question. We'll just have to wait and see.
Posted by TheAnimus - Wed 24 Sep 2008 17:43
I think its a bit dodgy that these addons won't be cheap, and will be required to play half the games properly if developers are made to target them and only them!
Posted by MSIC - Wed 24 Sep 2008 17:48
beanbandit
I couldn't disagree more. Why should the developers get off their lazy asses? The Wii Motion Plus is an add-on, an after thought, just another accessory that won't get used much.
I don't disagree with beanbandit's disagreement, of the original articles disagreement of the original statement…

What i'm trying to say is that although i consider myself a gamer and would quite happily plug an extra thing in before playing if i thought it would add value to my experience, the likes of my sister-in-law who only uses WiiFit or my mum playing Wii sports bowling once a year, any more complexity will be off-putting.

For the ‘casual gaming’ group, which the Wii addresses far more than the Xbox360 or PS3 does, we need more pick-up-and-play and less plugging in. Maybe a new, redesigned Wiimote with the new technology built in? I have a Wiimote charging stand, and this extra thing would prevent it from being charged (unless i pull it out, store it somewhere, then later fetch it out, re-plug it back in each time…).
Posted by Salazaar - Thu 25 Sep 2008 09:08
Too little too late for me I'm afraid. I've had a Wii since it first came out and frankly I'm bored of it, all it does is gather dust right now so I'm selling it on.

This new addon sounds quite nice but it's just that, an addon. At best it'll be an interesting curiosity, utilised by a handful of games (like lightguns).

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