Nintendo may soon release a new Wii Remote that has the MotionPlus accessory fully integrated into the controller -- or, that's what a new retail listing would appear to suggest.
"Unfortunately we have nothing to announce on this today," the company has said,
declining comment to Edge Online. But a listing from retailer GameStop
shows a box shot of first-party title FlingSmash, which clearly advertises that the game comes with "Wii Remote Plus" inside, with a black Wii remote pictured.
It would be a logical move for Nintendo to upgrade its controller. Although the Wii launched in 2006, it wasn't until 2009 that the company released the small MotionPlus hardware accessory, designed to attach to the existing Wii Remote to increase its precision and allow it to detect more detailed movements.
The initial Wii Remote hardware provided for optical sensing and accelerometer features, but the MotionPlus added a gyroscope functionality, making it ideal for games that would benefit from more accurate mapping of wrist tilt and twist movements.
Although the accessory was initially sold bundled with a few prominent sports titles like
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and
Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo began selling MotionPlus with all new Wii consoles starting in May of this year. As the MotionPlus is now virtually a standard accessory, an eventual integration is plausible.
It's especially so given that Nintendo's rivals in the hardware market are launching their own motion sensing controls this year. In particular, Sony's PlayStation Move uses the PlayStation Eye camera to offer gesture-based control using a handheld pointer with buttons, a strategy that could appeal to the Wii user -- while providing for field depth sensing as well, a capability that the optical-sensing Wii Remote can't provide.
FlingSmash, the title advertised to ship with the "Wii Remote Plus", is up for pre-order on GameStop's site, and the listing indicates a ship date of November 7.
