MotionPlus on Wii Game Development: Help, Hassle, or another Hurdle?

As the date approaches towards the release of Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus add-on, there has recently been a great deal of hype and excitement towards what new possibilities can be explored on the Wii system and even what pre-existing ideas can evolve into something that is better than anything previously imagined. In ways, one can say that the inclusion of this yet-to-be-released add-on single-handedly gives the Wii a new life, despite it showing no signs of dying before this. With a refreshed emphasis on how many games can be controlled, gamers, developers, and just about everyone else that stays involved with the video game world are no doubt looking forward to the next wave of Wii games in the hopes that what everyone thought the Wii could provide in its first 2 1/2 years will finally become a reality. With all of this optimism, however, the impact of MotionPlus will depend on how developers can make use of its advantages, and this is where this gamer believes that some questions can be raised.

Looking into the future tends to make a person look back at the past, as well. As I was thinking about the positives of MotionPlus, I couldn't help but look at how Wii game developing has been up to this point. Obviously, there have been many hurdles in making Wii games playable and enjoyable, and it's a struggle that will be around even as MotionPlus is released. While there have been those that have credited some of those hurdles to the inaccuracy of the Wii remote in certain situations, it is not the only reason why the Wii has seen its share of struggles when it concerns consistency pumping out quality software. Because the Wii platform wasn't as embraced as it is now until the system proved to be successful, the transition progress has been longer than usual for most systems. With that in mind, could MotionPlus actually present itself as another obstacle in developers getting comfortable with the system, especially when many developers/publisher are still trying to figure out their potential place on the system to begin with?

Some good news is that Nintendo seems intent on getting this little accessory into as many Wii Remotes as possible come June. Not only is the company including MotionPlus with Wii Sports Resort, which is a game that promises to sell a lot of copies and move just as many of these little units in the process, Nintendo has also given EA the chance to sell MotionPlus with a couple of its upcoming games. While it may seem small in some senses, perhaps this is Nintendo's way of encouraging developers to focus on making games with MotionPlus' advantages in mind from this point on. Obviously, if the majority of Wii owners have access to the functionality of MotionPlus, it provides a greater incentive to actually put in extra time to work with the improved control scheme. If MotionPlus is successful as Nintendo wants it to be, it may also mean that developers may forgo the current 'standard' Wii Remote control altogether in favor of MotionPlus-exclusive games, like the upcoming Red Steel 2 by UbiSoft, which is bound to take the overall Wii experience to another level.

On the opposite hand, it's still fairly easy to be concerned as to how well MotionPlus will be accepted by the overall Wii developing community. For starters, only a handful of currently announced upcoming games are using MotionPlus, and this could be well be a trend if developers are either unsure how MotionPlus will help its games or if the addition of the add-on will improve their games' chances of success. Everyone reading this are probably aware of the challenges that have been presented to many third-party publishers/developers regarding the sales of their Wii games, and regardless of where your stand is on the subject, this could be a factor as to how devoted many developers will be toward the accessory, much like the Wii itself. Not only will commercial success be weighing on the minds on a number of developers and publishers over the next few months and their decision to use MotionPlus, but also the question of whether or not MotionPlus is the final piece of Nintendo's overall puzzle with the Wii and how big of a piece this puzzle really is. While the chances of Nintendo releasing something that will make MotionPlus seem obsolete this gen seems unlikely, who thought that we would have a MotionPlus to begin with three years ago?

Well, that's about all for this post. A large part of the purpose of this thread is to gather some opinions of MotionPlus before (and maybe after) its release and see what everyone thinks about how this accessory will truly affect how Wii games are developed from now on. There isn't much of a right or wrong option here, as it's pretty much all opinion right now anyways (unless you're a developer that has experienced the accessory first-hand and can share of few things, which would be awesome). I look forward to see what people thinks of this post, as well as to what they have to share on the subject. Thanks for reading!

To add; one of the other difficulties is the fact that 1:1 will copy the exact movements. e.g. You'd need to be a pro tennis player to actually be able to play tennis games well if they were purely based on the 1:1 motion of Motion Plus.

Personally, I don't think Nintendo is worried about Motion Plus exceeding or not. If people want or need it for their games, they will buy it, Wii is a casual console... That is the why Nintendo made it from the start, that means that Nintendo gets money from the sale of a Wii console and it doesn't matter whether or not the player buys anything else.

Nintendo never stated Wii was going to be 1:1 from the start, I think the public assumed it was going to be. And even if it was, something like Wii Sports Tennis that relise solely on timing would not have been affected considering 1:1 would have been more complex for average people (personally I am naturally good at tennis, so I probably wouldn't have had much trouble... sadly my coach hated me because I was so good and I beat him, so I quit.... QQ). Nintendo was at the most disadvantage at the start of this generation, this is what you have to understand. They couldn't afford HD and they couldn't afford 1:1 motion control.

Now that Nintendo is on top, they can afford 1:1, so I am fully open to it.

And hopefully they can afford HD, wouldn't mind playing current gen games on a new Wii!!!

i cant wait for motion plus i agree motion plus may bring new hurdles to the table e.g ea has said in making its tennis and golf this year that it was so accurate they had to balance it so you dont have to be tiger woods to play,but i think the this will remove more problems then it makes for devs and open up a really broad game play for us gamers.

since this will come up i really don't think its fair to say this should have came with the wii from day one (that would have been nice) Nintendo never said it would they had a plan to cut cost and appeal to the mass market would your grand parents really know that Nintendo made full 1:1 tracking? and Nintendo really wasn't in a spot to make gyro scopes because Invensense hadn't come up with the ones that are in the WM+ they were to larg , heavy , costly ,fragile and Nintendo didnt have a partner that could make millions apon millions

no matter i cant wait to see how some people handle WM+ in new ways never before seen

@lamsmee:

Thanks for bringing that up. I didn't think about it when I was creating the thread, but the challenges of creating a 1:1 like experience WITHOUT requiring experience in a particular subject is definitely one of the obstacles developers are going to have to deal with. Perhaps there are ways to tweak the experience that we don't know about though, so I'm not as concerned about that at the moment.

As for how Nintendo feels about MotionPlus, I actually think Nintendo is investing something big on it. Heck, Nintendo is allowing a third party publisher to sell the thing with its games AND is selling Wii Sports Resort, which is certainly a big title for the company with the accessory intact. Moreso than what they want the consumers to do, I think Nintendo wants to encourage its developing partners to embrace the unit and make it a critical part of developing future games. If it works, the consumers will definitely be more interested in obtaining at least one MotionPlus units themselves (and likely more for multiplayer games). As for the 1:1 arguement, I agree with you on the assumption part on everybody, but I think it was also that assumption that hurt the Wii when it came to developing games for the system because people expected more than what the Wii was at the moment. I think Nintendo could have always invested on the 1:1 control, much like it could have for HD and decided not to, but perhaps they had assumptions that developers would be fine at the moment with what was available at the moment, which can be debatable now.

@07pops07:

Thanks for the comment. It's good to know that you're still excited about MotionPlus, even though developers have already experienced a few challenges with getting adapted to it. That in itself is what I wanted to know more about when creating this thread. Also, I'm not saying that the Wii should have had 1:1 control out of the gate, but only that it was the expectations of many people when the system's control setup was announced. Perhaps Nintendo realized the challenges of balancing out 1:1 realism and creating an enjoyable gameplay experience and found a nice place within the two. Even so, maybe the company also realized that more could be done to help the system, developers, and the games, which is the reason for the inclusion of MotionPlus now. Also, perhaps the proper technology wasn't quite ready for it either, but to be honest, I wouldn't know the first thing about that. :P

In any case, it's nice to know that you're still thinking about the possibilities.

honestly im not getting the motion plus until red steel 2 comes out

developers will probably announce plans for motion plus at e3

Given the ridiculously high sales of Wii Fit and Wii Play, and the fact that everyone who owns a Wii (except for a few people in Japan) have Wii Sports, I'm confident Wii Sports Resort will sell well regardless of the fact that Wii MotionPlus is bundled with it. That can only be a good thing, because people will inevitably be like "What's this nifty device?" even if they have no idea what MotionPlus is initially. In that sense I find it very likely that other developers will begin to support it, since people will have it - a large portion of them core gamers, sure, but that's not really a bad thing.

I do hope though that eventually it becomes standard in the Wii Remote. It only makes sense to do so - and if this generation doesn't end until 2013 or so like analysts are beginning to predict, then it will really save the consumer the hassle. It really needs to not be $19.99, though; Wii controllers are already really expensive.

I'm just waiting for gamers to get pissed off at devs for not using M+ in games that clearly don't need it. They already got pissed at HV for not putting M+ in the conduit. Some people even wanted it in BB2.

While M+ will be cool and all, it's not needed in a lot of games.

It's not needed in certain types of games, but it will also make alot of games better.Motion+ is very accurate in all body movements, so it'll be great for any action game and simulators.

I'm just waiting for gamers to get pissed off at devs for not using M+ in games that clearly don't need it. They already got pissed at HV for not putting M+ in the conduit. Some people even wanted it in BB2.

While M+ will be cool and all, it's not needed in a lot of games.

goblaa

However, people should realize that there is two parts to the Wii, full motion and infrared controls.Motion+ is good for motion, that is it.BB2 and Conduit both use only infrared, pulling/shooting blocks and shooting aliens. I think it'll be no different if Motion+ was attached. Cmon, it's pointing at the screen, you can't get more precise than that. Those kinds of games I can see that they don't need that hardware, this guy has the right idea. People complaining about those two games don't understand what the + is really for.

I'm just waiting for gamers to get pissed off at devs for not using M+ in games that clearly don't need it. They already got pissed at HV for not putting M+ in the conduit. Some people even wanted it in BB2.

While M+ will be cool and all, it's not needed in a lot of games.