Topic: Wii MotionPlus - It works... But does it, really?

Nintendo has proven that the technology of MotionPlus "works". Your motions in Wii Sports Resort are accurately recorded in (nearly) every game.

While it works flawlessly most of the time, the calibration tends to mess up quite often in more intense games. Sure, it's easy to overlook this in such casual games as Golf and Bowling, but it gradually becomes more than an annoyance in more intense games, such as Swordplay.

Would this tech hold up in a Zelda game? Imagine this scenario: You're at a boss and down to your last heart. You come up for the final strike against the boss, and the calibration bugs up and you end up dying. If Resort's Swordplay minigame is any indication, this will probably happen quite often. Sure, you can re-center your remote on the fly, but in an intense sword match you'll often take a hit or two while centering the cursor on-screen.

The question is, will Nintendo be able to solve these problems? Frankly, I'm worried. I was fairly optimistic when I saw the tech demonstrated at past E3's, and while it works most of the time, these issues could be deal-breakers in more (dare I say) "hardcore" games.

It's a new device. From now on, only improvements in the games themselves can cure these small problems

It'l probaly be improved by the time the zelda is released.

@irken004: I believe that's what people said when they first got their hands on Wii Sports. Sure, we've seen some unique uses of the remote, but ultimately Wii Sports demonstrated everything that the Wii Remote was capable of. I fear this is a similar case.

@malnin: They can't improve the hardware. Hopefully they'll improve the software.

i dont have a wii but will get one soon

Ok, to make things clear...

Motion plus is a gyro sensor, meaning that it's an incredibly sensitive tilt sensor that works on all Axis. however this alone wont deliver true 1:1 control, the Motion Plus doesn't quite know where the wii remote is in space, therefore it's not as accriate as people think it is, however, using the sensor bar and Motion plus, I've heard you can pull off interesting things with it. Plus there's a software company that has built a near "Playstation Wand control" system with the Motion Plus. Like with all new Nintendo products, it needs a bit off time for people to look into it and experiment with the tech, remember facetracking? to be honest I wish there was way more Wii games that use it apart from Boom Blox, but hey, it's out there, we just need the devs to work hard on it!

At least we can all rest easy knowing that will never will be down to the last heart in a boss fight in Zelda - they're too darn easy.

@septicLemon that Sony wand-junk was at E3, it was only moderately impressive

Well it needed the PlayStation eye to work, Nintendo said at E3 that they're not interested in using 3D cameras, though I have a bet by the time the WiiHD is shown, they'll use a camera of sorts.

the wii remote alredy has a built in camera and is more advanced then the crappy controler! natal will fail too!

Possibly, but I doubt it would be for interaction with the controller. I'd love online web chatting while playing a game with it though.

Workin' a treat in Tiger right now, never have to re-calibrate. Fore!

That's the thing know, in Tiger you recalibrate each time you pull the B trigger to start a swing, clever huh?

Thing is, I wish all games would find a good way to recalibrate like that...

Of course it doesn't mess up, it uses MP in its most simple form. Also, it re-centers your position every time you press the B button to take a swing - you can't do that in a hectic duel to the death.

EDIT: Blast your fingers, Septic!

Well in sword fighting, you can recalibrate by either pausing the game and laying it down, or you point at the sensor bar and hold down on the dpad.

Didn't know that, cool. Now I see your point. Fore!

@SepticLemon: Yes, I know that. If you use the Down D-Pad method, you have to be pointing at the center of the screen. Have you tried it in a really intense match? You lose fairly quickly unless you're lightning fast, and even then it's very risky.

Pausing the game in the middle of a duel is hardly ideal.

we're gonna see(not gonna see) much behind the curtains improvements, with better zero-pointing (see d-pad down-move automated without the sensor bar) and doing so without us even knowing that.

on Wand and Natal: they dont suck. that's just fanboy bleh! they worked quite well for an earlie status. but they mostly gonna flop in this gen 'cause they just were'nt pack-in's from the start.
that's what concerns me also about WM+... as it is optional.
Nintendo saying:"Let's wait for number and see then" does'nt make it bette.
There is still no second WM+-Game from Nintendo comming? What's that?

@Machu owch that ball hit my head!

from the E3 demo, the PS3 wand seemed like it was more advanced than the wii motion plus as a standalone unit. I was actually quite impressed. But as Neo said, it's going to go the way of...oh...every add on ever released for any system. 5 decent games, another 20 semidecent games, and that all-too-familiar-feeling of "wow...a device that didn't get enough support"