NIDZUMI+

After a brief catch up on old feeds and podcasts I’ve noticed a current trend of resentment towards Nintendo’s controller upgrade. But all I heard previously before the upgrade is that the controller doesn’t offer the one to one response that the system is striving after. So what do people really want?

One quick look at Nintendo’s history and it shows that add-ons like the Motionplus just don’t work. Everyone hated the Rumble Pak’s for Nintendo 64. Even outside of Nintendo with expandable Dreamcast controllers where any add-ons past memory cards didn’t really work in practise. So sure the MotionPlus is unwanted and arguably should have been included with the system from day one. But wouldn’t have this hindered the success of the system?

For the casual market that Nintendo have conquered a less responsive and basic controller has provided for an excellent way into gaming under the Wii banner. If what would have been a complete slice in Wii Sports’ golf simulator would have actually been a complete slice, the barrier to entry would have been too high for those who tend to opt out of gaming all together.

Years on and the games haven’t really progressed as the hardcore audience would have liked as everything is limited by the controller and left feeling all too familar. Meanwhile the previously mentioned casual market have now been eased into the system and are used to basic mini-game after mini-game. They would be forgiven for expecting or wanting a bit more out of their investment. MotionPlus offers that one to one response that now everyone is looking and most importantly now ready for.

Instead of just having Wii Sports followed by a number and being essentially the same the controller has a higher threshold. We just to have place a lot of blind trust in developers and hope that they don’t make every game has hard as a real sport. The Wii should offer simulations but on lower difficulties it should allow for a massive margin for error while playing. Let’s be sparing with the new functionality as not to alienate the casual audience that Nintendo have captured.

I wouldn’t argue for a second that extra bricks on the controller are a good thing. I also would agree that for familar gamers this should have been included in the controller from day one but you can’t say that nobody is looking for this upgrade. The casuals are looking for that next level of response from the controller and the hardcore are looking for a higher depth in games. The MotionPlus’ software support might be a bit hit and miss but we’ll have to wait on that front. At least you can trust the idea in concept and you’ll expect the device to become a surefire hit once the word gets out.