So why wasn’t the Wii motion plus technology in the Wiimote from the beginning? Well according an interview that 1up had with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that at the end of the day it all came down to the price. Which as a south African I guess you could be happy about because otherwise we would probably be expected to pay R4000 for a Wii here.
Reggie explained that Nintendo was aware of the technology while designing the Wii but implementing it would have proven too costly for the business model Nintendo was looking to employ.
“By waiting about three years, the costs come down substantially and it becomes a viable product,” he offered.
While I think the prospect of the Wii having more precise controls is pretty cool, I’ve got to wonder if it was the right move to make. The Motion Plus will segment the Wii’s market and potentially cause confusion among the casual gamer, the casual gamer that pulled them out from the dark hole they dug with the Gamecube.
Nintendo say that their games will support the Wiimote alone but lets be honest, would in not feel like half the experience? You would essentially be buying a game you could never play properly until you bought another peripheral. This could become a large issue if all future titles do take advantage Wii motion plus.
Last Updated: October 7, 2008
Milesh Bhana ZA
October 7, 2008 at 13:39
Well it was one of those “neccessary” moves to get your foot into the market, the Wii has pretty much taken the casual gaming market to new heights and one of the reasons was the price point and the timing of the release.
The same way that MS released dodgy hardware. Yes it cost them loads of cash to extend the RROD warranty, but that was the cost of being out a year earlier than the competitor giving devs a chance to know the system well which one of the reasons that many 3rd party games still look better on the 360.
In both cases they were underhanded tactics where they screw the customer to get their goals, but in both cases they work.
The gaming industry is a business and Sony, Ninty and MS are all evil corporates.
ferver
October 7, 2008 at 13:40
I disagree (again sorry:)).
I think the Wiimotion plus(even if they could have installed it from the beggining) won’t have much effect on the casual gamer.
First of all, it’s just a perpherical and I don’t really see how it could cause confusion (you want better movement detection buy it, you don’t, than don’t buy it)
Than, as you said even if they’re casual gamers, it doesn’t change the fact that they would want to buy the peripherical. And if they don’t, well as you said, some games won’t neccesarily need the Motion PLus.