More on Wii's MotionPlus

You may recall on Tuesday I mentioned Wii's new MotionPlus add-on, which connects to the base of the Wii remote accentuating the device's movement sensing capabilities. Or as Nintendo puts it:

The Wii MotionPlus accessory attaches to the end of the Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion. Every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true 1:1 response in their game play.

I didn't say much more about the technology, apart from the fact that it will be bundled with (or is it the other way around?) Wii Sports Resort, the beach-based follow-up to the console's defining game.

Luckily though, Nintendo's press people in the US are extremely vigilant (it's all about engaging with the online community these days), and spotted my post, sending through some info I missed. The increased motion precision offered by MotionPlus comes courtesy of InvenSense a Silicon Valley company that develops motion sensors for mobile applications - mostly tilt control mechanisms for mobile phones. MotionPlus contains the company's latest IDG-600 multi-axis MEMS rate gyroscope, specifically designed for game control use.

Apparently, in Wii Sports Resort, gamers will have the ability to throw a disc through the air AND control the angle of flight - I don't know, maybe by wafting your arm around in a sort of wind turbulence version of after-touch.

In InvenSense's press release Genyo Takeda, General Manager of Nintendo's Integrated Research and Development Division, talks about the IDG-600's ability to "measure large dynamic motions" and its " accuracy for sensing the fast moving arm and hand motions". It's interesting because, until now, a lot of the sensitivity of the Wii Remote controller has been in the imagination of the gamer - those players who add twisting flourishes to their Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling actions have been sort of kidding themselves, filling in the sensory blanks, like those Pong addicts who were sure they could add after-touch to the ball flight.

It will be interesting to see how much complexity MotionPlus adds to the Wii 'experience'. Will it simply be about cutting the frustration brought about by a slightly inaccurate technology, or will it add layers of complexity to the controls? From the Frisbee example it would seem to be the latter. Which means Nintendo has a precarious tightrope to walk, between building on the success of its technology as a mainstream phenomenon, and alienating its casual audience through the introduction of extra spatial/co-ordinative demands. Most importantly, is co-ordinative even a word?