E3 2008: Wii Motion Plus 'precision' add-on intro'd

Nintendo unveils new accessory for Wii Remote which will provide "more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation."

LOS ANGELES--As the latest NPD sales figures show, the Wii is far and away the most popular console in North America. However, that doesn't mean the platform is immune from criticism. One sore spot with many is the Wii Remote controller, which translates real-world motion into in-game action. Though revolutionary, the Remote has been accused of not being as precise as other systems' controllers or the venerable-but-surgical keyboard and mouse.

The Wii MotionPlus

Though it's never admitted any problems with the Wii Remote, today Nintendo announced a new peripheral designed to enhance its "precision." Called the Wii Motion Plus, the add-on (pictured) snaps into the base of the Wii Remote, much like Nyko's litigiously challenged wireless Nunchuck attachment.

According to Nintendo, the Wii Motion Plus "allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation" making "every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm...rendered identically in real time on the screen."

Nintendo gave no reason as to why the Wii Remote would need fine-tuning, nor did it offer any details about the Wii MotionPlus' price or launch date. The company did promise more details at tomorrow's E3 Media & Business Summit press event, which GameSpot will be streaming and live-blogging starting at 9 a.m. PT.

160 Comments

  • -HCMF-

    Posted Apr 10, 2009 8:07 am PT

    neato i guess, but this also means must buy for each additional controller. oh nintendo you clever money making machines....

  • nunchuckgun

    Posted Apr 10, 2009 2:01 am PT

    so what exactly is that thing? a weight? i dont get how its supposed to better the remote?

  • mrsnowy

    Posted Mar 22, 2009 9:10 pm PT

    soooo where does the nun chuck go? on the bottom of that??

  • surfxthexcrowdx

    Posted Dec 30, 2008 6:42 pm PT

    I just hope it wont be that expensive, I dont want to pay more for my wii controllers

  • SPaM782

    Posted Oct 30, 2008 8:27 am PT

    That wouldn't suprise me.

    They done it with the Nintendo 64 with the Expansion Pack needed to play Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Perfect Dark.

  • fpsgunguy

    Posted Oct 29, 2008 9:04 am PT

    i wonder if they'll just make new games with wii motion plus compatible or if they make it so that games made before motion plus become more accurate 2

  • samir192

    Posted Oct 27, 2008 3:55 am PT

    I dont really have problems with the Wiimote's precision.

  • someguy503

    Posted Oct 24, 2008 3:24 am PT

    Augh, they should've just had this thing built in the controller in the first place! All these Accesories are too expensive, I sense that most games will Require M+ and if you want your friends to play your gonna have to get 3 other ones... *shudder*

  • volcomstoner180

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 10:49 am PT

    this is much needed...cant wait

  • kriz786

    Posted Jul 20, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    OnyxPhoenix12 There already is a slot on the bottom of the motion plus unit for the nunchuck

  • Doug-Thompson

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 8:07 am PT

    Too late for "The Force Unleashed," probably, but the dream of a lightsaber game someday just got closer.

  • LorenaLarue

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 12:57 am PT

    The biggest dissapointment when the Wii was released had to be Red Steel and its gesture activated sword fighting. Hopefully this will help the Wii on the way to a true sword fighting game.

  • OnyxPhoenix12

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:37 pm PT

    Hm. Regarding the nunchuck problem they might have an additional socket like one of those plug-in air fresheners...

    Wonder how much it'll cost..

  • LuiS-07

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 6:59 pm PT

    Nintendo must be hiding something.. i've only had a problem with the precision when the battery is low.. but Xalenite is right.. more precision wont hurt.. .. it'll be good for defend your castle for wiiware

  • Xalenite

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 6:43 pm PT

    Being a lot more precise never hurts but, like others have said before, I would've preferred a whole new controller. Like what Sony did for the DualShock 3. Why? Having that add-on will probably be ALOT better for those sword fighting games but with in installed, we can't plug in the nunchuk attachment

    I want to move around while I swing my precise swords
    Can't do that without a nunchuk.. unless you expect me to stop swinging and point at the screen to move

  • Stabby

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:26 pm PT

    If this can make easy controls of Godzilla Unleashed then by all means wow!

    Lol, JK!

  • The_Dubage

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:26 pm PT

    ...I don't know...I have my doubts.

    I mean, sure, I can see the possibilities, but it seems as though the current possibilities were never really realized...now what?

  • japanesegoth

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    they might as well just make a new controller too.

  • spuddyt

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:45 pm PT

    SWORDS!!!!!

  • arc_salvo

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    Sounds good to me, especially if it allows for more accurate movement for stuff like Sword Fighting. Personally though, I'd like to see more stuff come out for the Wii Zapper. I'm more of a gun guy than a sword guy, although I really love having both most of all.

  • pencilpusher69

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 12:45 pm PT

    Well, for anybody who hasn't seen it yet, sword fighting, TRUE SWORD FIGHTING is now possible. This allows true 1:1 motion, and the controller will perfectly mimic your movements.

    There's video from the E3, if you haven't seen the fencing demo, or Wii Sports Island.

  • grigjd3

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 11:32 am PT

    I've enjoyed my Wii and I never expected it to be that percise, but this makes me question. Is this attachment going to be required for certain games? Is it going to be a real effect or psychological? I like my Wii and I like the games for it (SMGalaxy, Brawl, Kart, etc) but what does this attachment really suggest?

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 11:15 am PT

    sirdudeness:

    How? It's already the most popular platform in North America, and most of the world.

  • Kbs64

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:58 am PT

    You know the reason why Nintendo wanted to do an ADD-ON instead of a whole new controller with the "MotionPlus" technology was because they didn't want to alienate the people that already bought their controllers. Its smart!! Sony had to release an all new controller in order to have rumble. After all, do you see any ports in their original controller? Its kind of like how Nintendo simply added a rumble pack to the Nintendo 64 instead of releasing a all new controller back in their hay day.

  • jsrock_on54

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:36 am PT

    compete? is ahead of everyone in sales
    thats all they worry about

  • sirdudeness

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:56 am PT

    The wii is gonna need better graphics if it's going to compete!

  • Nintendo_Ownes7

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 8:55 am PT

    @ Jebril maybe the tech wasn't capable at the time so instead of release a console with a really expensive controller they figured they will add to it when it was capable and less expensive. Because Tech keeps getting better so maybe they weren't capable of it when it was originally released or else it was too exspensive to implement when the Wii was originally released in 2006.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 8:17 am PT

    Strange that they would release an add-on instead of a new controller all-together. Sony did it with the DualShock 3, why can't Nintendo?

    I think it would be a good idea for them to add this tech to the existing controllers and put them out. I guess we'll hear the details here in a little bit when the conference starts.

  • DrKill09

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 8:00 am PT

    Does it work with the nunchuck?

  • jab692

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 7:53 am PT

    This should be compatible with the Nunchuk. There's a port at the bottom of the MotionPlus. The IGN photos show it better.

  • LordSpleach

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 7:17 am PT

    Hmm.

  • gonzalezj1

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 7:16 am PT

    It's probably going to be a pack in with some game Nintendo's developing.
    My guess is that they had an idea for controlling a game but the Wiimote was working well enough and rather than changing or dumbing down the controls, they just make an add on.
    Here's hoping this finally means realistic sword-controlling awesomeness.

  • Mauller

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:38 am PT

    It looks like it's compatable to me X-Remnant. If you look at the photo you can see the port at the bottom for the plug.

  • X-Remnant

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:32 am PT

    So wait, It's not compatable with the nunchuck? That's pretty worthless, in my opinion.

  • Gencoil

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:55 am PT

    I think it would be better if they integrated this improved technology into a new line of Wii remotes instead of releasing it in the form of an add-on. Think of how many accessories this is going to be incompatable with, simply because the Wii remote won't fit inside them anymore!

  • Smallville123

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:23 am PT

    With all the flack the dualshock got for taking out and putting rumble back in its funny to see nintendo fans welcome something that should have been in the controller since day 1.

  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 12:28 am PT

    gues what, i see nintendo victor ,

  • Jebril

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 11:04 pm PT

    They shouldve just designed the controllers better originally

  • WiiMan21

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 9:44 pm PT

    I'm down with this, I can see them using this with the new Zelda game thats in creation, I hope they announce something good tomorow morning! =D

  • cspark809

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 9:29 pm PT

    is this really going to help? nunchuck have more problem than wiimote. What about the nunchuck? I really didn't expect much from the start when wii was first anounce, come on people. Its only 250 dollar machine. I thought it was good enough for this price... I jus hope it work wel for us and for nintendo.l...

  • so_hai

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:41 pm PT

    Try and jam that into your Wii wheel.

  • dsplayer1010

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:39 pm PT

    My guess is that it will come with Wii Music

  • phatsy

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:34 pm PT

    cant they just get things right the first time

  • ciphfer

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:31 pm PT

    It better be cheap...I mean REALLY cheap!

  • Mii_Wii_and_RPG

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:18 pm PT

    This is going to lead to some great, fun and innovative games! (hopefully)

  • teknicz

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:14 pm PT

    What problem? Everything worked just fine for me already. Are you people doing flips and somersaults while playing?

  • bobsmith915

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 8:00 pm PT

    If they make a Star Wars game with first person lightsaber combat, I'd definitely buy one

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 7:49 pm PT

    Well im glad that they are fixing this problem. I cant wait to see what they say at E3

  • lewser5

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 7:49 pm PT

    I don't see that many people would want to buy this if it comes separately. If this going to be a must buy, it got be included with a game that can show it off.

  • Zeus-Guy

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 7:32 pm PT

    Not bad, but I rather they focus on more important features, like SD cards we can save and play games off of (like the Game Cube Memory Cards).
    Like smcaudata said, games with motion sensing issues are a software problem, not a hardware problem.

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