MotionPlus impact "spectacular" - Moore

By Tom Bramwell Published 13 March, 2009

Tiger and Tennis set to benefit hugely.

EA Sports boss Peter Moore is confident the Wii MotionPlus will bring the best out of sports games and get gamers off their sofas in a way the Wiimote perhaps hasn't. In fact, he believes the difference between Wiimote and MotionPlus controls in EA's upcoming Grand Slam Tennis game is "spectacular".

"In simplistic terms if you think about the normal movement you get with the Wii remote, you know you can sit on your couch and flick your wrist and you get the same reaction as if you stand up and do a full swing playing golf or tennis," Moore told FirstCuts (thanks Kotaku) when asked about Nintendo's upcoming Wiimote add-on.

"What the Wii MotionPlus allows you to do is do a true authentic sports motion. When you swing the racquet [in Grand Slam Tennis] and you bring it back for an overhead lob or smash, then that is reflected. The amount of sensitivity that now brings allows true sports motion."

Moore expects the same to be true of the Wii version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, announced yesterday.

"What you can do with Wii Motion Plus is truly bring it back, swing through the club and then it allows you to hit draws, fades and hooks. The really astute golfer can address the ball as he or she would in a real golf game," he said.

Moore was quick to add, however, that, "the game will play as well as any other game with the current Wii remote". It's just that with the MotionPlus, "it becomes spectacular".

With EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis expected on US store shelves in June, speculation is mounting that the MotionPlus peripheral, which Nintendo hopes will allow for 1:1 movement recognition, will be released around then.

For now though, the platform holder is keeping quiet about dates.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Artemis_Matsas #1 3 years ago

    Too late in my opinion. I was expecting this kind of interaction from my Wii from day 1 (i bought one at launch). Now, i have to part with more cash for a damn peripheral.
    Great!

  • Rich72 #2 3 years ago

    yes, i always got annoyed that my sister "cheated" by simply flicking her wrist in tennis and generally gave me a pasting while i was throwing my arms about.


    mmmm

    that sounds a bit wrong

  • Cadence #3 3 years ago

    Does that mean that the game has to still cope with the imprecision on the wiimote but at the same time cope with the additional accuracy afforded when you plug in motionplus?

  • CallousB #4 3 years ago

    IGN have great hands-on reports of Tiger Woods and Grand Slam Tennis. They seem to love the MotionPlus controls in both games.

  • Joppers #5 3 years ago

    Gushing report on EA tennis ... better than Wii Sports Tennis without MP, in another league with MP!

  • jonsaan #6 3 years ago

    Moore was quick to add, however, that, "the game will play as well as any other game with the current Wii remote". It's just that with the MotionPlus, "it becomes spectacular".


    /smells bullshit

  • andijames #7 3 years ago

    Great this'll ensure the wii is sold out everywhere again this xmas!

  • Bartacus #8 3 years ago

    This Motion Plus thing should be sent out for free to all the poor suckers who bought the Wii when it wasn't really finished.

  • Rich72 #9 3 years ago

    arm swinging for sure Farticus but still not as much fun as watching my mum play the boxing; that is pure comedy gold.

  • degville #10 3 years ago

    Very surprised the "OTHER 2" haven't announced or released something similar by now, maybe all the bloody patents have made it impractical.

  • darc #11 3 years ago

    "Moore was quick to add, however, that, 'the game will play as well as any other game with the current Wii remote'. It's just that with the MotionPlus, 'it becomes spectacular'."

    Talk about having your cake and eating it, too. I am hugely skeptical, not only about the hardware and the hype, but about the extent to which software developers will make proper use of the new hardware's capabilities - especially if the party line is that you can enjoy the game either way. Where's the payoff for the s/w devs' efforts? And let's face it, they haven't exactly gone the "extra mile" of their own volition where the Wii is concerned thus far, why should this suddenly wake them up? The only hope is for Nintendo to really pick up the pace on 1st party titles that don't suck. (Not holding my breath.)

  • rudedudejude #12 3 years ago

    You also need to ensure the games support all these fancy movements not al la Twilight princess attacks for example.

    /looks to EA

  • Santino #13 3 years ago

    that probably says more about some of the readers on the site than the product itself tho does it not farticus?

  • Ryze #14 3 years ago

    @Artemis_Matsas

    Exactly. I expected the same, but I didn't buy due to the launch price and games line up.

    Since launch there have been several letdowns, including the console's spec, but especailly the Wiimote capabilities.

    Now that they're hiking the price, I reckon I'll wait for motionplus to be bundled for a good price, and for more games to support it. Can't be doing with the nonsense of paying over the odds for an underspecced machine that lives off of hype.

    I also need more and better storage solutions.

  • smelly #15 3 years ago

    *sigh*.. lots of fanboys on here again.. in answer to them:

    1. Did sony send out a free controller with "rumble" enabled to everyone when they improved that?
    2. Did microsoft send out a free console to everyone which doesnt RROD all the smegging time when they improved that?

    (Note: even if you send a 360 back to microsoft for a replacement - they replace it with an old model just as prone to breaking down)


    In both questions the answer is no.. So stop your fanboy "nintendo is t'evil" crap...

  • EclipseDj #16 3 years ago

    farticusmaximus - "Seems to bore the shit out of most people on this site. The grannies and toddlers love it though."

    Really? to be honest, endless FPS and driving games bore the shit out of many gamers too. The 360/PS3 market is becoming stale IMO, As a 360 owner the is nothing that really has me excited due in 2009 or onwards.

    After reading about Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods 10 I am really looking forward to these titles!

  • darc #17 3 years ago

    "Microsoft brass = used car salesman
    Sony brass = gadget freaks
    Nintendo brass = out of touch grandparent afraid of using the internet."

    Microsoft brass = cokehead at a dinner party
    Sony brass = megalomaniac having a psychotic break
    Nintendo brass = old lady selling tea cozies at the craft fair (she only knits 3 a year, but she's so sweet no one wants to say anything)

    "2. Did microsoft send out a free console to everyone which doesnt RROD all the smegging time when they improved that?
    (Note: even if you send a 360 back to microsoft for a replacement - they replace it with an old model just as prone to breaking down)"

    Actually, yes to 2, and not really to the follow up, but it's a moot point. I don't think anyone could seriously expect Nintendo to start giving away free peripherals months after purchase. I totally expect to pay for MotionPlus - assuming there's an actual game to make it worth my while. On the other hand, I'm amazed by reports that the Wii might actually get more expensive so late in the game.

    As to whether Nint's ideas are more or less boring than the more conventional stuff MS and Sony go in for (in general, that is - Sony is actually taking a lot of risks lately), I personally think the ideas are very exciting. It's just that there's been precious little in the way of execution, or to be more blunt, games worth owning. I don't know if that makes me an MS fanboy or what. I paid as much for my Wii as anyone, so I'd love to see it succeed as a platform. Just calling it like I see it.
    Edited by 2 at 13/03/09 @ 19:14

  • smelly #18 3 years ago

    "Really? to be honest, endless FPS and driving games bore the shit out of many gamers too. The 360/PS3 market is becoming stale IMO, As a 360 owner the is nothing that really has me excited due in 2009 or onwards. "


    That MUST be true of 360/ps3 owners actually.. They must be pretty bored of their own gaming collection to feel the need to troll every thread about the wii...

  • smelly #19 3 years ago

    >Actually, yes to 2,

    No they didnt...

    >games worth owning.

    There are PLENTY of games worth owning on the wii.. The ONLY way you're not going to be happy if you bought a wii is if the only games you buy and like are masturbatory fps bore fests in shades of brown and red.. In which case - if that's the only type of game you like - what the hell were you doing buying a nintendo machine???

  • darc #20 3 years ago

    Whatever. Almost forgot who I was talking to there.

  • smelly #21 3 years ago

    Yeah someone who doesnt partake in all this "wii bashing" just to fit in with the rest of the crowd...

  • Zomoniac #22 3 years ago

    Did sony send out a free controller with "rumble" enabled to everyone when they improved that?

    No. But then Sony didn't sell their console solely on the implication that it had rumble.

  • figaro7 #23 3 years ago

    Just bundle it with a game already!

  • Stuz359 #24 3 years ago

    ^^^ It's being bundled with Wii Sports 2

  • oerhoert #25 3 years ago

    Looking very much forward to the MotionPlus. Nintendo have a culture for putting non-"finished" products on the market, see Virtual Boy, original GBA, original DS, N64 rumble pak... Then the next iterations tend to be brilliant, but that didn't stop me having fun with the first ones.

    Personally, I love the Wii. Great piece of industrial design with a varied and fun software lineup. Complements my PS3 and 360 very well it does.

  • redgiemental #26 3 years ago

    Just to bring the whole this is what should have been in the wiimote from the start thing into perspective.

    A gyroscope as small and light as the one in the motionplus didn't exist when the Wii launched so it wasn't possible.

  • Chalee #27 3 years ago

    redgiemental wins the thread!

  • canIdoyabombsforya #28 3 years ago

    "No. But then Sony didn't sell their console solely on the implication that it had rumble."

    No they said the PS3 would have dual screen gaming, then when it only came with 1 HDMI port they said you'll need 2 x PS3s!

    That is one f#cking whopper of a lie, even by Sony's standards. I remember being on Playstation forums in 2005 and so many people were looking forward to it.

    I hope Eurogamer are working on an article 'Lies in video gaming' , especially when these companies have aspirations to dominate our living rooms.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #29 3 years ago

    @farty
    "Seems to bore the shit out of most people on this site. The grannies and toddlers love it though. "

    Good for them, you snobby little toerag.
    Then they can enjoy the 7 games in the top 10 of Edge magazines 'top 100 best games playable today'
    On the Wii ! funny as f#ck.

    [link url=http://www.edge-online.com/featur es/the-100-best-games-to-play-today?page=0%2C9
    ]http://ww w.edge-online.com/features/the-...[/link]

  • ph101 #30 3 years ago

    Having read the IGN previews. Motion plus glolf and tennis look really intersted. Tennis is an almost certain purchase as is golf..
    I'm sure the motin plus will come budles with the Wii sports beach or whatever its called though - i thought that was already announced...

  • smelly #31 3 years ago

    "No. But then Sony didn't sell their console solely on the implication that it had rumble. "


    Yeah.. i forgot.. Rumble was a "last gen" feature....

    I also missed the advert where nintendo said the controller had 1-1 movement?

    But i dont know why you're complaining - its not like you own a wii, or will ever own one.. Except for when you posts in threads telling everyone how you're going to sell your wii for whatever reason you came up with this time.

  • smelly #32 3 years ago

    "I'm sure the motin plus will come budles with the Wii sports beach or whatever its called though - i thought that was already announced..."


    The only beef i have is if it's costs a lot as a standalone unit.. as i'd want to get one for each of my wiimotes for when the nephews come around.

    IMHO Nintendo would be INSANE to sell it for more than 10 or 15 bucks... Sell it at a loss, make sure everyone gets one.. then all games can support it without needing to worry about the previous controller.

    But i'd put good money on them announcing a "wii and a half" machine with lots of extras (maybe with hidef) and the motion plus built in before the release date... Not a lot of money you understand.. but some... Say 10 quid.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 01:13

  • canIdoyabombsforya #33 3 years ago

    @farty
    "My statement was fact by the way. The majority of commenters on this forum state they don't like the Wii, and it IS selling to older folk and children, so drop your holier than thou crap. "

    Where did I say to the contrary? I said it was a good thing that these people can enjoy the best games (7 in the top 10 in Edges opinion) on the Wii. It seems to me the gaming snobs think a) its a bad thing that Nintendo dominate most gaming charts and b) non hardcore gamers should be allowed enjoy them. Theres also a bit of irony there.