Ever since we first played with the Wii remote and swung a virtual tennis racket or hit a virtual baseball, we threw out terminology like 1:1 control ratios and real-time manipulation. But the Wii remote never quite delivered on the promise it first showed, namely because the built-in accelerometers worked well with big, grandiose movements, but lacked the measuring accuracy to gauge and realistically translate the subtler motions. As a result, you could effortlessly swing your on-screen baseball bat in a big, arching motion, but you couldn't, say, swing a virtual sword with any sense that you had a great detail of accurate control over the action. The good news is that Nintendo is on the threshold of changing all of that once and for all thanks in whole to a little attachment that plugs into the bottom of your Wii remote. It's been coined MotionPlus, but we prefer to think of it as an integral ingredient -- that little something that's been missing from the Wii remote all along.
MotionPlus will come bundled with Nintendo's newly announced WIi Sports Resort, which ships next spring. No price point has been announced. The Big N pulled back the curtain on three games featured in the soon-to-be-gatrillion-seller, including Power Cruising (racing a jet ski a la Wave Race), Disc Dog, in which you throw a frisbee to a canine, and Sword Play, a sword-dueling component that has us excited for the future of the Zelda franchise. In short, MotionPlus is no joke and it's going to dramatically change the way Wii games are played. As an aside, Shigeru Miyamoto has already hinted that MotionPlus may be packed with all Wii remotes in the future.
Think about some key Wii games currently available. Everything from Wii Sports tennis and boxing to Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Star Wars. You can't accurately add topspin or slice to a ball in tennis because the Wii remote can't translate your subtle wrist twists. You can't swing a lightsaber around in Star Wars for the same reason. And while golf games have always seemed perfect for Nintendo's console, developers have struggled to recreate a true swing without trickery or defects.
In Wii Sports Resort's Disc Golf, your only goal is to grasp a frisbee and hurl it into the air so that your Mii-like dog can run forward and catch it. The closer your frisbee soars to a virtual target on the field, the more points you get. It's so ridiculously simple and yet it's also a great deal of fun because the controls work so well. As you grip the frisbee, you can twist your wrist left and right, up or down, and you can do so slowly or quickly, and your on-screen Mii will do the same, closely mimicking your every movement. It works. Really. And because it works so well, it's fun. You can add very subtle movements to your throws and the frisbee will react accordingly. You really feel like you're in control. That a few extra accelerometers could make such a difference is almost comical, but it's true.
Swordplay seems to be Wii's holy grail and everyone in the industry has looked at either Nintendo or LucasArts to make good on the potential. But in the past, the accuracy just hasn't been there and so we've been left with games that use waggle and yet don't even approach 1:1 movement. Sword Play in Wii Sports Resort, though, is on the right track. You and a friend duel in a small arena in a best of three competition. If you knock your opponent off the ledge and into the water below, you win a round. And if you both win a round, you'll go to sudden death, where the battlefield shrinks to a tiny platform. Now, you won't be able to control the movement of your character -- that's all handled by the game -- but you will be able block (by holding the B-trigger) and slash by making motions with your remote. Again, it's fairly straightforward but it works, feels good, and most importantly, it's fun.
Nintendo suggested that we grip the Wii remote with both hands, the top able to press and depress the B-Trigger, when playing. You quickly learn that there's a lot of strategy to the duels. We held strong to a guarded approach in which we blocked our opponent's advances and then knocked them in the head with a single blow before shielding ourselves again. A method both devastating and humiliating to our adversaries. And since the controller actually factors in the speed of your swing, when you clock somebody, you really whack them, a truth that is all the more embarrassing for those who take a good head cracking. We're looking at you, Craig Harris. The accuracy is good enough that in pre-matches, you can actually sharpen up an oversized pencil if you swing correctly.
And finally, Wave Race with Miis. Or, we mean, "Power Cruising" with a "water scooter." What? Anyway, like the two aforementioned games, we walked away very impressed. First of all, the water graphics in the mode show realistic physics and pretty transparencies, which makes us wish that Nintendo would just make a legitimate Wave Race title. And after playing Power Cruising, the potential for such a racer is limitless. The control feels very good. This is the only game in the E3 demo that used the nunchuk. Plug it in and hold both controllers in front of you as though they comprised the top half of a virtual steering wheel. Turn them both to the left and you'll swing your "water scooter" (jet ski) to the left. To the right and you'll veer off to the right. We noticed right off the bat that our jet ski was very responsive, tilting quickly and accurately to our subtle movement. And a very interesting turn of events, literally, you can even rev up your gas simply by making a revving motion with your Wii remote. It works beautifully.
Wii Sports Resort is already shaping up to be an excellent addition to the WIi library. More importantly, it has with three simple mini-game-style offerings proved that Nintendo's add-on is a resounding success. Only good things can come of it. And frankly, we can't wait to see what lies ahead.
