Wii Sports Resort

By Oli Welsh Published 16 July, 2008

MotionPlus gets an A+.

It's fast. That's what really strikes you, almost more than the increased accuracy: with the Wii MotionPlus dongle attached to the base of the Wii remote, there is absolutely zero perceptible lag translating your movements to the screen. No woolliness, no wobble either. It is fluid, smooth, instantaneous, natural.

Wii MotionPlus is what we were promised, what we expected, what we wanted all along. It's what the Wii remote was always supposed to be - and just in time, as all that enthusiastic novelty was starting to wear off, and frustration setting in at its shortcomings. Whatever magic Nintendo has packed into this mysterious little plastic cube - we have absolutely no idea, and can't get an answer - it works.

It isn't perfect, not quite. There are some slight hitches in the animation still, a few barely noticeable flickers of uncertainty. It's hard to be sure from a half-hour play test, but Nintendo's claim of 1:1 fidelity may be mildly - only mildly - exaggerated. Still, we've gone from an experience that was maybe 60 per cent convincing and satisfactory to an easy 90 per cent plus. It's a huge leap forward.

Nintendo can be forgiven for not making a similar leap in the software. Wii Sports Resort - which will have a MotionPlus dongle packed in with it when it launches next spring - is, in two of the three games we tried, a case of "look: this is what we meant the first time".

'Wii Sports Resort' Screenshot 1

After 'shoot the monster in the face', dogs are the second biggest theme of E3 2008. A distant second, admittedly.

The motions involved in Disc Dog - in which you throw a frisbee at a target for your gambolling puppy (puppii, probably) to catch - are strongly reminiscent of Wii Sports' Bowling. But this time there's no lining up to be done, not even a button to release to let go of the frisbee. The direction, attitude and timing of your throw are dictated by your positioning, movement, aim and wrist action, and nothing else. It's far less cumbersome and fiddly, a very liberating feeling.

The game is extremely simple - you get seven or eight throws, the target shifts position each time, your puppy will catch the frisbee within a fairly wide area, but precise throws win cuter animations and more points that are totted up at the end. There's a perfectly relaxing soundscape of breaking waves and little flute riffs.

Sword Play, meanwhile, recalls Wii Boxing in its split-screen, first-person, energetic and visceral duel. Before you get to the fencing with family-friendly wooden swords, however, you get ample opportunity to play with the real thing. After a few practice swishes, logs and giant pencils fall from the sky for you to slice up however you like, purely for the - admittedly glorious - fun of it.

This is when MotionPlus is simultaneously at its most impressive and disappointing; strikes don't do what you want them to do unfailingly, connecting only two-thirds of the time, but when they do connect, it's with astonishing, surgical precision. Cleaving a log into four by splitting it vertically and then chopping laterally before it even begins to fall is without doubt the most satisfying interaction we'll have this E3 (including social ones, but that's probably just the jetlag).

Then it's into the three-round bout, more crisp and tactical than boxing - largely thanks to a more definite block command, on the B button - and over quicker, making it less of a war of attrition and festival of lactic acid agony. You'll need to knock your opponent out of the ring to win the round, otherwise it's a draw. If it's undecided after three rounds - as our match was - there's a sudden-death finale on a tiny ring that's over in a couple of blows. Take that, lifestyle press.

The third game is more of a departure: Power Cruising, essentially a cut-down version of Nintendo's classic jetski racer, WaveRace. Remote and nunchuk are held laterally like the handlebars, and tilted to steer, with B acting as the throttle and a twist of the controllers giving you a boost. It's currently a simple single-player checkpoint dash; no word on whether split-screen will be added later.

'Wii Sports Resort' Screenshot 2

Take that, lion-faced man!

The waves are gentler than WaveRace's, but the handling is unmistakable, and hugely tactile. It was, however, harder to see what MotionPlus brought to this mini-game. Steering of this sort has been done perfectly well on Wii before. What's more, it could be accomplished with just one hand, and didn't seem any less responsive with the nunchuk than with the remote. We didn't have time to investigate this one thoroughly enough, and to be fair, it doesn't matter: Power Cruising is great.

With its holiday theme, playful presentation, oddball games and gentle sense of humour, Wii Sports Resort seems even more inviting and accessible than its world-conquering predecessor. It absolutely won't provide any more depth or sophistication, but it absolutely will provide more realism, and a more genuinely direct and rewarding control experience, thanks to the mysterious MotionPlus.

Wii Sports Resort is due out worldwide next spring.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Doctor_What #1 4 years ago

    So, between the extra controller, the Wii balance board, and a pair of MotionPlus extras the PS3 doesn't seem quite so expensive, and after the Wii goes away, it's always SingStar that lasts the whole evening.

    Sorry Ninty, I'm becoming less and less convinced by the day. I really wanted to love the Wii but the games just aren't good enough.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #2 4 years ago

    So we get 1 free in the box then have to buy more if we want to play it multiplayer?

    Plus i take it the will be releasing new Wii Condoms as it doesnt look like it would fit on with the current one.

    Will they be makeing Wii Motes with this technology just built in? Because the thought of now havin g to buy a Wii Remote a Nun Chuck and a Cube that should of been there in the first place sounds extremley expensive

  • qster #3 4 years ago

    I was going to swap my wii for an xbox 360 this week.......argh.. do I, don't I? >

  • Killerbee #4 4 years ago

    Nice.

    As long as they flesh out these games a bit and the remaining few they haven't shown are up to scratch, this is looking good.

    Of course, the sooner they get that Motionplus thing working with a Star Wars game, the better. :)
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 11:51

  • Darren #5 4 years ago

    So this WiiMotionPlus dongle thingie is admission by Nintendo that the original Wiimote wasn't accurate enough then? It is in effect a hardware "patch"? ;)

  • Artemus #6 4 years ago

    Sounds quite good, but the amount of peripherals that are being added to the Wii is slightly worrying. You going to have to fork out quite a bit if you intend to play this in mulitplayer.

  • the_dudefather #7 4 years ago

    hope they bundle at least 2 in the sports pack

  • gingerlink #8 4 years ago

    I reckon with the timing of the announcements, Nintendo are going to try and get the motion plus used in clone wars, which ought to be very good. We'll have to see what happens, but it's the obvious choice.

    @Doctor_What

    I've just thought, with that new microphone that was announced in conjunction with animal crossing, I'm now slightly worried over what someone's going to come up with in regards to a group singing game.

  • rudedudejude #9 4 years ago

    Next Year!!

  • Horse #10 4 years ago

    Wait. Wait. So the motionplus yoke has another port in it's bum that the nunchuck can plug into? It's not one or the other?

  • CallousB #11 4 years ago

    At least one good thing to come out of their conference then.

    I know 50% of Wii owners will probably buy the game..but it would have been nice to see this given free to every Wii owner(although admittedly it would probably cost them $ 300 million +). I would guess Red Steel 2 will use it.

  • presh #12 4 years ago

    golf game using Motionplus please!!!!

  • Bartacus #13 4 years ago

    NintenDoh! finish your hardware design before you release a product next time. Better graphics in the box would be a help too.

    Expensive underpowered fad of a console.

  • frostcircus #14 4 years ago

    I'm not a fan of the massive amount of peripherals (on all platforms) we've been seeing recently, but this one looks pretty decent.

    Also, putting 'worldwide' and 'spring' in the same sentence doesn't seem right.

  • justMe #15 4 years ago

    Game of the year 2009! :)

  • dino_smith #16 4 years ago

    @ bartacus how can you saw the Wii is unfinished hardware?, ninty never said it was going to have next gen graphics, just fun gameplay.

    anyway Ms take the crown for under developed hardware, i'm on my second xbox, 1st one went back twice in 24months!!

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #17 4 years ago

    If it's free with the game then I've no worries.

    The Wiimote has been fine for all the games so far, so if this free addition makes it better then I can't really see what the moaning is about.

    Once they annouce how much a standalone attachment costs, then we'll see about moaning! ;)

  • Razz #18 4 years ago

    Sounds awesome. I wonder how much the unit will sell for seperately and if Nintendo will manufacture enough to cope with demand.

  • Bartacus #19 4 years ago

    I was looking at their prototype controller being unfinished. Needing an extra piece to finish the design is poor really it should have been included in the 1st place.

    Its all extra expense to support such an underpowered platform.

  • Canyarion #20 4 years ago

    I hope they include improved versions of the original Wii Sports.

    "Also, putting 'worldwide' and 'spring' in the same sentence doesn't seem right."
    Haha, I hadn't thought of that yet. :-)
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 12:49

  • IneptPercy #21 4 years ago

    'Sounds awesome. I wonder how much the unit will sell for seperately and if Nintendo will manufacture enough to cope with demand. '

    The problem with wii hardware now is the ebay scalpers, I am pretty certain due to them demand is higher as people can't gets thing as they are all on ebay, like most I refuse to pay a penny over what I should be doing.

  • CallousB #22 4 years ago

    "it should have been included in the 1st place."

    Probably..but it depends if the tech was available at the time....and more importantly the additional costs.
    People balked at the original cost of the Wiimote and nunchuk..if the cost of the tech at the time was an additional $20-$30 then it would have really hampered the multiplayer side of things.

    What might have cost them $20 -$30 2 years ago ...may only cost $5-$10 now.

  • Muddtallica #23 4 years ago

    Bartacus: The controller wasn't unfinished; it functions perfectly reliably and performs more than adequately with all of the software that has been designed for it. The new attachment is an improvement, not a fix.

    Honestly, you speak as though you've never seen a hardware revision before. Did you boycott the original DualShock for the same reason?

  • robson_wii #24 4 years ago

    Does this hardware provide better motion sensing for existing games or will only new games, designed to use motion plus, benefit from it?

  • ManicMarvin #25 4 years ago

    "Whatever magic Nintendo has packed into this mysterious little plastic cube - we have absolutely no idea, and can't get an answer - it works."

    It's a gyro.

    http://www .invensense.com/news/071508.html

  • Matfink #26 4 years ago

    Two questions...
    Is the sword game one-for-one entirely, or half pre-canned like the boxing, and does this new controller suffer from gimbal lock like the last one?

  • bitesize #27 4 years ago

    Does this hardware provide better motion sensing for existing games or will only new games, designed to use motion plus, benefit from it?

    yeah exactly what i been wondering... presumably there's some extra tech in the cube so will be an extra data stream of positional data (rather than just improving the sensitivity of the existing data stream) - in which case only titles written for it will work with it... but i'm only guessing.

  • monkie_king #28 4 years ago

    Presumably it's going to cause a bit more battery drain to keep the gyro spinning. Shame they didn't just do this in the first place -- accelerometers are insufficient when you have to make guesses based on what gravity seems to be doing.

  • keyboardmonkey #29 4 years ago

    Balls!

    /owns 4 controllers, knows that having only 1 MotionPlus dongle will cause huge arguments.

    Nice captions to the pics, especially the first one. made me giggle a bit

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #30 4 years ago

    Wii MotionPlus is what we were promised, what we expected, what we wanted all along. It's what the Wii remote was always supposed to be

    After convincing everybody that that's what wii did the first time, though, I think they'll have trouble taking the line

    "Yeah, but last time we exaggerated a bit, this is real motion sensing, that'll be 60 quid, please, plus 25 for a second MotionPlus sensor"

    Wii Fit was an easy sell, just like the Wii was originally, it was easy for the casual games buying public to understand. This, though, and the potential compatibility issues between future games that support it, require it or neither are just going to make people confused. I think its take-up will be more akin to the zapper than to Wii Fit.

    And the mini-games that come with it sound quite niche and dull, apart from the fencing.

  • K-Project #31 4 years ago

    Fucking frisbee throwing? An extra plug in bit for frisbee throwing?

    I'm a fan, but they're talking me out of it very quickly indeed. I'm not up for this at all, so I think I'll put the pennies towards a PS3.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #32 4 years ago

    @ Mentalist(air)

    It's free and they've not announced all the games yet.

    I'm not saying it's the second coming of Christ, but some the misinformation spouted in these comments is laughable.

  • tobsen #33 4 years ago

    Interesting... any half-decent remake of the fantastic Waverace would make me buy a Wii on the spot.

  • 3william56 #34 4 years ago

    Unoriginal b*stards, copying Nintendo like that.

    Oh.

  • BadBoyBonner #35 4 years ago

    Lets hope they FINALLY release Wii Airplane in this package. The Island this game is based on (and used in Wii Fit) was made years ago; I am getting fed up of having to run round it, flying would be much nicer!

    Come on Ninty share the goods.

    Wii Airplane links
    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=MG201q53b8U
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=MG201q53b8U
    [/link]
    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=5xctEPmZMNg
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=5xctEPmZMNg
    [/link]



  • DarkColouredCoffee #36 4 years ago

    Sounds like a case for operation .M.E.H.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #37 4 years ago

    It's free

    It's not, ONE is bundled with the game, at $49.99.

    Which probably works out at £40 for Wii Sports Resort in the UK (same as Mario Kart), but that could mean extra motionplus-es will be anywhere from £10 to £35. I'd guess £19.99.

    I'm not saying it's the second coming of Christ, but some the misinformation spouted in these comments is laughable.

    There are issues with multiple controller types already for Wii without bringing in a distinction as subtle as what motionplus represents. Just look at the balance board / no balance board dichotomy on that bollock-whipping skiing game.

    Nintendo are obviously looking at the great success they've had with Wii games that bundle new control methods with them. I just think this might be a step too far.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 14:32

  • BadBoyBonner #38 4 years ago

    I would imagine £9.99 is the ceiling price for this to become mass market. £4.99 would be great but as Nintendo have rarely (if ever) sold anything at a loss it's not as likely at that price point.

    Really depends on the cost of the Gyro chip, which has been out for a couple of years now and used in applications such as cameras to avoid the "shakes"; hence it will (or should) still allow the handset to vibrate.

  • Rash' #39 4 years ago

    I find it amusing how some here are insinuating this tech should have been there to begin with, like the tech was viable to such a commercial extent. Honestly, I despise some of these fickle posters. I agree however that now the tech is more feasible, there should be a concerted effort to make it standard.

  • secombe #40 4 years ago

    I find it amusing how people constantly shoot down whatever Nintendo have up their sleeve next without playing it/getting close to it. The DS was written off against the PSP, the Wii was written off against everything (boy did those 2 Cubes taped together comments grate after a while), Zelda was written off as a Cube port (like that makes any difference to the enjoyment of a game), Mario Kart was written off due to the bikes and for a potentially crippled online mode etc, and ends up having a rather genius and rock solid online mode that appears to be immensly popular. Attach rates get ripped to pieces despite titles for Nintendo systems (many exclusive) pretty much dominating worldwide charts week on week. And my favourite one, the Wii written off for not having 'traditional' games for the 'veteran' gamers, despite many Wii titles offering the exact sort of gameplay found in THE original games such as high score gaming, multiplayer gaming and simple, fun concepts.

    I sense a concern amongst many so called 'hardcore' gamers that 'their' industry is being changed beyond recognition and eaten up by the casual masses. A place like this is always going to have a very skewed vision of the market as a whole, and the general opinion here seems to be about as accurate as the so-called analysts in the long run, and of course on the interweb people never admit they were wrong.

  • Sid-Nice #41 4 years ago

    I'm not Wii-motely bothered what Nintendo do; to me this is the last Resort.

  • bdaggers #42 4 years ago

    Nice find Manic Marvin - how the hell did you get that when the mighty EG has to guess ?

    /adds kudos

  • bdaggers #43 4 years ago

    Nice find Manic Marvin - how the hell did you get that when the mighty EG has to guess ?

    /adds kudos

  • smelly #44 4 years ago

    @Doctor_What (quote)
    "So, between the extra controller, the Wii balance board, and a pair of MotionPlus extras the PS3 doesn't seem quite so expensive,"


    Remember.. this is just and ADD-ON to EXISTING controllers..

    They're NOT making you buy a whole new controller with the extra thing built in...

    *cough*rumble*cough*

  • smelly #45 4 years ago

    "I sense a concern amongst many so called 'hardcore' gamers that 'their' industry is being changed beyond recognition and eaten up by the casual masses."


    I'm a hardcore gamer.. and I *AM* concerned.

    You hardly ever see "proper" hardcore games like mario anymore.. it's always mainstream shit like grey shooters (which can be completed with no real effort) and football games.

  • TravisTouchdown #46 4 years ago

    Spill.

  • Muddtallica #47 4 years ago

    K-Project: "Fucking frisbee throwing? An extra plug in bit for frisbee throwing? I'm a fan, but they're talking me out of it very quickly indeed."

    Your reasoning here is both sound and logical, because it is quite clear that Nintendo spent millions of dollars' worth of R&D on the MotionPlus attachment solely for the purpose of accommodating this frisbee-throwing minigame, and it will never be used for any other games ever again.

    Sid Nice: "I'm not Wii-motely bothered what Nintendo do; to me this is the last Resort."

    I quite like that one, actually. :)

  • smelly #48 4 years ago

    >Because I've been playing for something like 20 years

    then you'll know that modern games are unchallenging rubbish :-)

  • Sid-Nice #49 4 years ago

    "Whatever magic Nintendo has packed into this mysterious little plastic cube - we have absolutely no idea, and can't get an answer - it works."

    It's a gyro.

    Maybe if the Eurogamer staff were threatened with a gyro once a fortnight then they might work a bit harder. :)

  • JayScott #50 4 years ago

    Muddtallica: 'Bartacus: The controller wasn't unfinished; it functions perfectly reliably and performs more than adequately with all of the software that has been designed for it. The new attachment is an improvement, not a fix.

    Honestly, you speak as though you've never seen a hardware revision before. Did you boycott the original DualShock for the same reason?'



    I'm sooo glad someone finally mentioned the DS3 bullshit. Talk about expensive hardware revisions. The damn thing retails at $100 in Australia.


    @ smelly

    Games are unchallenging? Never played CoD4 on veteran then.

    @ secombe

    Good to hear someone in here who actually makes sense.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/08 @ 03:54

  • sneetch #51 4 years ago

    @smelly
    "Remember.. this is just and ADD-ON to EXISTING controllers..

    They're NOT making you buy a whole new controller with the extra thing built in...

    *cough*rumble*cough*"

    Yep, I think it's better as an add on Smelly, but the difference is that you don't need rumble to play a game on PS3, you will be needing this to play some games (possibly the game will let you flail around ineffectually without one wondering why the wii remote isn't working properly). Until we see a price I'll remain on the fence, I can easily see them charging €20-30 for this doohickey separately. Even if it's just a tenner then your "typical" 2.4 kids family unit (you know, the ones from the ads) is in for a bit of a hosing when this comes out.

    I'll pick up one, when the first decent game to use it comes out (which from the look of things is unlikely to be this Wii Resort thing) but with some grumbling.

  • TravisTouchdown #52 4 years ago

    Naan's a dumpster! I don't think he understands games in the slightest, and I would suggest that he should be ignored by all - however superior his posts may endeavour to sound.

    The Johnson.

  • HammyWammy #53 4 years ago

    I personally believe it's a great thing that you could push foward and enhance your console. Even though nintendo did say that the wii was real time action ready for the lunch. However, games like wii sports resort that come with the motion plus as a package, just like wii sports, Links crossbow & wii play are just demos and should be given as free downloadable content. What do you guys think?
    Edited by 3 at 16/08/08 @ 22:17