motionplus

Wii Sports Resort for 2: Save a little money on a bundle

Now that the Nintendo Wii is $199, there are two ways to go about using your savings: putting it in a low-risk bank account, or buying the rest of the peripherals Nintendo wants you to have to complete your Wii experience. Wii Fit notwithstanding, the biggest new plug-in Nintendo has is Wii MotionPlus, the motion sensor enhancement that plugs into the back of every Wii remote. And, sadly, they're still not included with the Nintendo Wii.

In an attempt to make amends, Wii Sports Resort is now selling a $59.99 bundle that includes two MotionPlus accessories instead of … Read more

Wii Sports Resort lands in stores this Sunday

Last month, we got some hands-on time with Wii Sports Resort, the first-party Nintendo game that comes bundled with Wii MotionPlus.

While most of the minigames are new, you'll recognize a few classics from the original title such as golf and bowling. That aside, there's a lot of new activities in Wii Sports Resort, all of which take advantage of Wii MotionPlus (which we reviewed earlier this week).

During our demo, we especially enjoyed our time with Table Tennis and Archery. After playing with the final version for about a week now, Table Tennis remains among the highlights … Read more

Wii Sports Resort: Hands on with new Wii smack-talk generator

As we mentioned previously, this week we got all close-up and hands-on with Nintendo's E3 lineup for the holidays, courtesy of a meeting in a NY hotel room deep in midtown Manhattan. And to our surprise (and clearly, Nintendo's delight), they've gone a little hardcore competitive on us all of a sudden.

We told you about New Super Mario Bros. Wii (a.k.a. "Super Mario Smash Bros."), and now we'll let you in on our three-game session with Nintendo's ace-in-the-hole, Wii Sports Resort.

While you've probably heard a lot about this game, did you know it's including updates of classics like bowling and golf? While we didn't spend time with those, we took on whole new challenges that provoked a bit of smack-talking between Jeff and Scott.… Read more

There's a lot you don't know about New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Last night in New York City, Nintendo treated two of our CNET editors to some lengthy hands-on demos of major upcoming titles for the Wii and DS. We'll have impressions of our time with Wii Sports Resort and other games later on, but first we wanted to talk about New Super Mario Bros. Wii.… Read more

The 404 367: Where we get mushy with Russ Frushtick

Our good buddy Russ Frushtick of MTV Multiplayer (formerly of UGO) comes onto the show today to talk shop and give us the inside scoop on Project Natal, "Ghostbusters," and the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus.

We're always stoked when Russ Frushtick drops into the studio because he always brings us the best news, and today is no different. Russ recently accepted an offer to work at MTV Multiplayer as the only guy covering video games! Now that he's the head honcho, we feel extra special that he's willing to talk with us about E3. Granted, E3 was awhile ago, but Russ gives us his take on Project Natal and how he thinks it will effect the industry as a whole. Believe it or not, I'm actually kind of psyched to play the handball game despite how weird I'll probably looking flailing my arms around like a maniac in that 3-foot square. Russ also talks about the Milo demo, where you apparently have to establish a relationship and "connect" with a young boy in order to win the game? Maybe they should've called it "Project Wilson Tang."

After the break, we jump right back into more video game talk. We chat about the a game called Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. From how Russ described it, it sounds pretty cool: you just wander around and when you encounter a problem, all you have to do is write in what you'd need to get out of it and the object appears onscreen. And the game has 10,000 words you can write in! Listen in for more details about Prototype and a hilarious rant about the Wii MotionPlus.

EPISODE 367 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

First Take: Wii MotionPlus

When Nintendo announced Wii MotionPlus at last year's E3 2008 press conference, it certainly raised a few eyebrows. First off, we wondered why this technology wasn't included in the original Wii remote to begin with. Would every game be able to take advantage of MotionPlus?

We've had a few days to play around with Wii MotionPlus along with a few games that take advantage of what it offers. That said, we're not convinced that these games maximize its capability and therefore we're not giving it a score yet. We're going to wait until Wii Sports Resort is released--the first game that is supposedly fully optimized for MotionPlus--before we make any final judgments.

Regardless of a final score, we got to experience what MotionPlus is mostly all about, and for the most part, it does offer an impressive 1:1 representation of your movements on screen. We tested it out with two early games that can use it, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis.… Read more

Wii MotionPlus could be a game-changer

The MotionPlus, a $20 accessory designed to improve motion detection for the Nintendo Wii remote control, will easily sell 10 million units after its market debut on June 8, an analyst contends.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter told Edge this week that the majority of those sales will occur when the accessory is bundled with Wii Sports Resort, EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 later this year.

He contends that 20 percent of U.S. and European Wii owners will buy those three titles, helping the Nintendo sell 8 million units of the Wii MotionPlus in just a few months. Pachter predicts another 2 million units will sell with new Wii consoles.

EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich, also interviewed by Edge, isn't so quick to agree. He estimates that only 3 million units of the accessory will sell by the end of 2009 and that sales will reach 10 million units during Nintendo's next fiscal year, which starts in March 2010.

Although they don't agree on exactly when the 10 million mark will be reached, the analysts both predict that the accessory will be popular.

"I expect MotionPlus to be a sneaky success and ultimately attach to at least one third of the (Wii's) installed base," Pachter told Edge.

"Our forecast could be conservative," Divnich added. "Yearly sales could balloon much higher."

In addition to selling well, the MotionPlus is set to transform the Wii experience.… Read more

Is MotionPlus too little, too late for Nintendo?

With the arrival of Wii MotionPlus, Nintendo promises even more accurate motion control for Wii games that are developed with the hardware in mind. Unfortunately, this means that all games developed up until now cannot benefit from MotionPlus in any way, shape, or form.

But is all this too little, too late for Nintendo? There's no denying that the Wii is popular; it's the best selling console by far this generation with supply only just recently catching up with demand. But as far as the idea of motion control is concerned, is it as satisfying as we all … Read more

MotionPlus to be bundled with EA Sports games

Last week Nintendo announced a June 8 release date for MotionPlus, an attachment device that promises more accurate and precise motion control. While you can't use the technology with preexisting Wii games, you'll certainly be able to take advantage of it with the 2010 EA Sports lineup of titles.

In fact, EA has just revealed that MotionPlus will be bundled with select games from the publisher. In the U.K., you'll be able to purchase Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis with the accessory, but only with the Tiger Woods game here in the … Read more

Is the Wii as affordable as it used to be?

Nintendo announced the Wii MotionPlus Tuesday. It will cost $20 when it's released on June 8. The attachment, which is connected to the Wii Remote through the nunchuk port, will "bring 1:1 motion" to Wii gestures, Nintendo says.

The Wii MotionPlus will only work with games that are coded to support it, so older Wii titles are out. Virtua Tennis will support the MotionPlus when it's made available on May 19. EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 will also work with the accessory when the game hits store shelves on June 16. Wii Sports Resort, which will come bundled with the Wii MotionPlus, will cost $49.99 when it's released July 26.

Nintendo might run into problems with this accessory if it's trying to maintain its grip on affordability and value in the gaming space.

Nintendo goes out of its way to tell us that the Wii provides more value than any other console on the market. According to the company, the Wii not only boasts the best gaming experience, but it does so at a price--$250--that's far more affordable than competing products.

But now that the Wii MotionPlus is thrown into the mix, the cost to the consumer for a fully configured Wii controller just increased from $60 ($40 for the Wii Remote and $20 for the nunchuk) to $80 ($40 for the Wii Remote and $20 each for the nunchuk and Wii MotionPlus). Assuming you still use the Wii Remote that came bundled with the Wii, you'll spend $260 to have four remotes all sporting a nunchuk and Wii MotionPlus.

Isn't that a little steep?… Read more