E3: biggest surprise was from Nintendo

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by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 17 July 2008

Page 1 of 4 ! For all the talk of new wireless motion controllers from Sony and Microsoft, the company that brought out a new motion controller was... Nintendo! That aside, it looks like there were plenty of new games launched, new online content, upgrades and a push towards more co-operative gameplay. Related stories Dell records boom growth in Asia Pac and Japan Sony ZX1 is TV sex on a very thin stick It’s the end for the “Frickin’ Laser” Canadians going crazy for shiny Apples? Apple streaks ahead of competitors in customer satisfaction Well, the rumoured new motion controllers from Sony and Microsoft did not appear at E3 2008. Instead that task was left to Nintendo, bring out the “Wii MotionPlus” attachment for the existing Wii remotes. These devices give the Wii remote much more accurate motion control in combination with the existing accelerometer and sensor bar. Nintendo says “this allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion”. In practice this means accurate sword or lightsaber fights (minus the feel of the actual impact a sword would have against another sword in real life), accurate putting in Wii Sports Golf and more accurate wireless motion, period. The only drawback? It’s not backwards compatible with existing Wii games, and will only work with games that have specifically been written to take advantage of the MotionPlus hardware.  That’s definitely a shame, and means that some games will require you to buy the add-on if you want to play them. But at least Nintendo is bundling the Wii MotionPlus with “Wii Sports Resort”, a “sequel” to the original Wii Sports game, which Nintendo says provides “incredibly realistic motion experience in new games including Sword Play, Power Cruising and Disc Dog.” Nintendo’s other announcements essentially revolved around some new games, something that’s always important. One game, Animal Crossing, gets to use a new WiiSpeak microphone so you can talk to other players online, while Wii Music lets you “jam” in a band playing all kinds of different instruments for a bit of “family fun”. Also chasing the casual gaming space so dominated by Nintendo of late is Microsoft. Sony, of course, already has its Buzz and Singstar games, among others, to stake a big claim of its own in casual “family” gaming. Continued on page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 4 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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