The end of the waggle?! (Nintendo Wii Motion Plus Accessory)

Member Name: Degeneratemoo

Product:	Nintendo Wii Motion Plus Accessory
Date:	05/08/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Near 1:1 controls

Disadvantages: Batteries are used quicker

When the Wii first came out everyone was really excited about playing Wii sports and having the feeling that you were actually playing tennis, baseball or bowling in your living room. Since then relatively few games have actually made use of the Wii's great motion controls, often resorting to the dreaded 'waggle' that a lot of games use.

Part of the problem was the implementation of the wiimote, yes it was good but it wasn't brilliant, there were movement detection problems, missed movements and frequently (depending on the game) a lot of frustration.

Of course, some games did use the wiimote excellently (Wii sports, the Godfather, Boom blox, Endless ocean etc etc) but there was always the need for more, we wanted 1:1 controls, we wanted to see what we do in the living room represented on screen, well we've (nearly) got what we want!

The Wii Motion Plus accessory is a small square box the width of a standard wiimote that plugs in the nunchuck socket. It comes with a new rubber cover that helps with grip and also limits the damage a flying wiimote can do, it does however make your hand quite sweaty and it becomes a bit uncomfortable over time.

You're given a full video instruction the first time you use the wii motion plus (which annoyingly cannot be skipped) showing how to connect and disconnect the accessory, perfect for those who cannot be bothered to read the manual or who lack a little bit of common sense! Despite looking cumbersome, it's easy to fit and remove.

Now, any accessory is only as good as its implementation and it's worth noting that the wii motion plus will only work with new games the specifically support the unit, these currently include: tiger woods 10, wii sports resort, grand slam tennis and virtua tennis. This new accessory will in no way help older games.

As I say, the accessory is only as good as its implementation and from my experience, it's fantastic. I've got Tiger woods 10 and Wii Sports Resort and the difference in the controls is immense. Depending on what you are playing you get as close to 1:1 controls as you ever will and it just feels so good. When you swing the golf club, Tiger swings the golf club, when you twist the frisbee, your Mii twists the frisbee the same. Outstanding!

It's not without problems though, again game specific but it becomes confused where it is and frequently requires resetting. How well this is managed will depend entirely on the game. It's been shown that Grand slam tennis did a very poor job of managing this problem whilst wii sports resort did it fantastically, this resulted in two very different quality of games. In Wii sports resort whenever the wiimote goes off synch, you just point at the screen and press down on the d-pad to reset the centre, it's as simple as that. In Tiger woods you don't even need to do that (i think it resets everytime you take a shot). If grand slam tennis had a similar control, it would likely have been better, instead it relies on the wii auto centering (which it usually does well) but needs you to point the wiimote at the screen after each shot, if you're not quick enough your racket may end up somewhere is shouldn't!

Batteries do seem to be used quicker, but perhaps it's just that I'm playing more. I use rechargables and there have been reports of erratic motion plus action when the batteries get down to 2 bars of power on the wiimote, so keep them topped up.

The unit as come down in price since release and shopping around you can get it for around £14 now, it is also included in Wii sports resort and Tiger woods (and Grandslam tennis) at the moment too.

I've no idea what games are coming out that support the motion plus but it should be good to see what they can come up with.. just don't forget the keep manual re-centering inplace developers!!

Summary: A bright new era for the Wii!