Motion Plus Initially Too Costly for the Wii

One of the few announcements which Nintendo made this year to have a clear impact on gamers was the unveiling, just before E3, of the Wii Motion Plus, a new piece of hardware that a player  can attach to a Wiimote in order to get a better gameplay experience, mediated by new components which allow for the Motion Plus to match all the movement of the player with in game actions.

Reggie Fils-Aime, who is the president of Nintendo of America, mentioned in an interview that the hardware which makes improved motion detection and control possible was too costly to implement when the Nintendo Wii first came out. But “by waiting about three years, the costs come down substantially and it becomes a viable product”. One which all Nintendo Wii users will probably feel compelled to get and which the company will market aggressively in order to make sure that all its clients are having the best experience possible with its product.

For the moment, the Motion Plus will only be available as part of a package which also includes the Wii Sky Resort game. The package will only become available sometime in spring 2009. Nintendo is saying that the add on will also be sold as a standalone product, but there is no information regarding dates when it is made available in different territories or the price which will be charged for the Motion Plus.

There's a chance that the Motion Plus will create a bit of confusion amongst Nintendo Wii users, mainly because some players will get the add on when it becomes available without knowing which games will work with it and which will not. Nintendo has to make sure that the Motion Plus is marketed in such a way that it becomes a useful accessory rather than a reason for confusion.