Nintendo explains why MotionPlus tech wasn’t built in from the start

When Nintendo revealed the MotionPlus accessory for the Wiimote back at E3, I bet a lot of you had the same thought I had. “So… it’ll make my motion-sensing controller… work better? Why in Miyamoto’s name wasn’t it built in at the start in the first place?” Well according to Nintendo of America prez Reggie-Fils-Aime, it was all about the cost of the tech. Details in the full article.

When Nintendo revealed the MotionPlus accessory for the Wiimote back at E3, I bet a lot of you had the same thought I had. “So… it’ll make my motion-sensing controller… work better? Why in Miyamoto’s name wasn’t it built in at the start in the first place?”

Well according to Nintendo of America prez Reggie-Fils-Aime, it was all about the cost of the tech. Fils-Aime says that they were aware of the gyroscope tech that is now used for the MotionPlus accessory during the time of the Wii’s development. However, he explains that:

[…] the cost would have been too high for the business model. It would have been unacceptable. By waiting about three years, the costs come down substantially and it becomes a viable product.

Being a very affordable console is one of the things that made the Wii popular, so I’d say Nintendo made the right choice at the time. After all, I still got to enjoy games even without it.

But now that the tech’s here, there’s a possibility that future games might not work without it, forcing gamers to buy one whether they want to or not just for future games. If that’s the case, I wonder if they will offer future Wiimotes with the gyroscope tech already built in.

• The Conduit to support WiiSpeak, MotionPlus; controls won’t be ‘gimmicky’
• Wii successor needs to be appraised; Wii MotionPlus will be cheap
• Other companies interested in MotionPlus tech; future consoles to be more Wii-like?

Via VentureBeat