Nintendo explains Vitality Sensor delay

Nintendo has revealed that the Wii Vitality Sensor peripheral, first announced in 2009, is still in the works but a number of problems are delaying its launch.

CEO Satoru Iwata told investors during a Q&A (translated on Nintendo's website) last week that the gadget was still being worked on but required additional fine-tuning before it would be fit for launch.

"I imagine that you are worried about that because it hasn't been put on the market even though a long time has passed since it was initially announced," he said.

"This is a totally new type of entertainment, and there are large individual differences in the biological information of humans.

"For example, if it was acceptable that only 80 per cent of the users thought the result was natural, then we could propose this to consumers right now. However, we are aiming for a level of quality in which 99 per cent of consumers feel comfortable, and that is why this project is taking time to complete."

He went on to promise that Nintendo was still trying to get it right, but wouldn't commit to a launch window.

"I feel that this project has a lot of interesting potential, and we would like to continue this project without giving up," he continued, "but it is difficult to overcome this hurdle, so please understand that now I cannot clearly say when we will be ready to put this on the market.

First shown off during Nintendo's E3 event in 2009, the device will apparently clip on to your finger and somehow monitor stress and nervousness.

More information was promised at E3 2010 but that came and went without a mention.