At E3 2008, we chatted with Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto about the newly announced MotionPlus Wii remote technology, which enables true 1:1 movement in games. (We tested it out in Wii Sports Resort and we can confirm that it's the real deal, and that we love it, but that's another story.) Miyamoto went on the record with us about the tech and its future.
"The Wii remote itself is good at detecting larger movements whereas the WIi MotionPlus is good at detecting more subtle movements. By combining the two of those, the feeling is that it just opens up the palette of what can be done in terms of motion control," said Miyamoto. "So that means that there is a lot of possibility, whether it's something like a very accurate version of Punch Out! that goes beyond what Wii Sports boxing can do, or even other ideas, I just think there are a lot of different possibilities right now. And just one point of clarification. Punch Out! is just an example. I'm not saying that we're working on that."
Asked whether or not the MotionPlus technology was open to third-party developers yet, Miyamoto said, no, not yet. "We've only just announced it today, and because of that I'm sure we'll start getting many inquires. But the libraries will be in a state that we believe we can pass off to third-parties very soon," he added.
Of course, the MotionPlus attachment will come bundled with Wii Sports Resort, shipping next week. But what does this mean for the future of the Wii remote? It looks like it'll become the standard.
"There's a lot of potential things we can look at with that," Miyamoto said of MotionPlus. "We haven't finalized anything at this point, but my general assumption is that probably having the Wii MotionPlus coupled with the Wii remote is going to become a much better standard for us to work with."
link
"The Wii remote itself is good at detecting larger movements whereas the WIi MotionPlus is good at detecting more subtle movements. By combining the two of those, the feeling is that it just opens up the palette of what can be done in terms of motion control," said Miyamoto. "So that means that there is a lot of possibility, whether it's something like a very accurate version of Punch Out! that goes beyond what Wii Sports boxing can do, or even other ideas, I just think there are a lot of different possibilities right now. And just one point of clarification. Punch Out! is just an example. I'm not saying that we're working on that."
Asked whether or not the MotionPlus technology was open to third-party developers yet, Miyamoto said, no, not yet. "We've only just announced it today, and because of that I'm sure we'll start getting many inquires. But the libraries will be in a state that we believe we can pass off to third-parties very soon," he added.
Of course, the MotionPlus attachment will come bundled with Wii Sports Resort, shipping next week. But what does this mean for the future of the Wii remote? It looks like it'll become the standard.
"There's a lot of potential things we can look at with that," Miyamoto said of MotionPlus. "We haven't finalized anything at this point, but my general assumption is that probably having the Wii MotionPlus coupled with the Wii remote is going to become a much better standard for us to work with."
link