Motion Plus – Why wasn’t it there from the start?

Well I touched upon this in a previous blog that compared the 3 motion strategies by the 3 console manufacturers Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo had an Iwata Asks section available to view during E3 but it quickly disappeared from the internet but thanks to Nintendo Europe it has resurfaced and can now be read. I have a short extract from the interview that to me is the most important factor within this interview!

Iwata: I suppose the obvious question is: if it offers such huge advantages, why didn’t you use it in the Wii Remote from the very start?
Takamoto: We actually looked into the idea of including a gyro sensor at the very start of the Wii Remote’s development. But the idea was rejected due to issues of both space and cost which attaching a gyro sensor would entail.

New Play Control – Motion, is it the Vital Component?

Nintendo pioneered the move for console manufacturers to rethink control designs with the Wii remote. This was quickly and somewhat unashamedly ripped off my Sony with the Six Axis controller, we have Microsoft heavily hinted to release their new control scheme at E3 (you can read more about this in my previous blog). We have Tony Hawk’s RIDE coming soon for a rumoured $120 that includes a motion sensing board controller which is the only control option. It leaves me thinking, what about the other component of the Wii Remote.

New Play Control – Microsoft

Now everyone seems to have an opinion on new ways to play videogames, whether you love it or hate it this seems to be the future for the industry. This is not exclusive to console manufacturers, it is also open to publishers/developers of video games the best examples are EA/MTV/Harmonix and Red Octane/Activision with their seemingly never ending stream of music controllers, or an even more recent one would be with Tony Hawk’s RIDE with the new board peripheral that simulates a skateboard for the game but could also be used in the future as a snowboard, surfboard or even wakeboard.

Nintendo was the pioneer of opening up the games market to new control types, going all the way back to the NES with the power glove, the power mat and the synonymous R.O.B the robot. Up until the recent times Nintendo had a prototype controller for the Gamecube that is similar to the Playstation 3’s sixaxis controller they also had Donkey Kong bongo’s moving to the Wii with the Remote as a primary control option with motion and infra-red pointer control. Also looking at what the touch abilities have done for the handheld market and the possibilities for the in-game use of the DSi’s cameras already showing with augmented reality games in the works.