Nyko's Wii Remote Charge Station Won't Work with Motion Plus

I just ran by the Nyko meeting rooms to find out about their Wii Remote Charging Station. That's the thing that comes with replacement rechargeable batteries and allows you to dock your remotes in a holder to charge them when not playing. Personally I find mine irreplaceable, mostly because I can never remember to buy batteries.

The thing when I demoed Wii Sport Resort I noticed that the controller was longer now and asked Nintendo if the charger would still work. Ask Nyko was their reply, so I did.

Unfortunately, it won't work, at least not while the Wii Motion Plus device is attached. The Nyko guys told me they were already looking at ways to solve the problem. They added that they believe the Wii Motion Plus attachment doesn't contain batteries, meaning it likely draws power from the Remote, which would likely reduce the battery life for the controller.

Bad news all around.

Wii Motion Plus is a surprisingly robust upgrade to the current Wii remote, I discovered yesterday while playing around with three of the mini games in upcoming title Wii Sport Resort.

When the game ships it will come with a single Wii Motion Plus add-on and a disc with ten or so games. They haven't made the final decision on which and how many games will be in the final product, Nintendo's David Young told me.

Wii Sport Resort, which will include single player and two player mini-games, will not work without the Wii Motion Plus, so those people who want to play the two-player games will have to buy an extra Wii Motion Plus add-on separately.

Nintendo had only three games on display at the show this week: Disc Dog, Power Cruising and Swordplay.

"Motion Plus" Wii Remote To Debut With Wii Sports Resort

At E3, Nintendo announced its first title that would make use of the new precision-enhancing add-ons for the Wii remote — it's called Wii Sports Resort, and Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway said it was "literally a day at the beach."

They demonstrated water-skiing and disc dog minigames — that's Frisbee with a pooch. Dunaway demonstrated that when she rotated her wrist, the movement is mimicked in the game in real-time thanks to the Motion Plus addition. Meanwhile, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime played with the jet ski by "revving" the engine with a turn of his wrist.

They also chopped wood with their hands karate-style, and fought one another.

"It's kinda cute," said Fils-Aime.

Motus: It's Up To The Console-Makers To Make Motion Control Announcements

This morning, Motus Games officially unveiled its Darwin motion controller on its website, with videos including one showing the Darwin being used as a lightsaber with LEGO Star Wars. It had us wondering - is this the long-rumored Xbox 360 motion controller?

"We're leaving it to the console-makers and publishers to announce whatever they want to announce," said Motus chairman Satayan Mahajan. "There's a lot of rumor — some of it true, some of it not true."

Is This Xbox 360's Motion Controller in Action?

Darwin is definitely not a Microsoft product, but it's also definitely an Xbox 360 motion controller.

Motus Games' Darwin was officially unveiled this morning on their website, the light saber-esque controller snaps in two uses a number of sensors to track where it is. It does this, according to the company, without the use of the IR receiver that the Wii uses. Motus claims it is far more accurate than the Wii Remote. The device may also work on the Playstation 3, though the developers are being deliberately vague about that.

There's still a lot more we don't know about the device than we do know about it. According to the site, which makes no mention of working with Microsoft, the Darwin isn't ready for sale yet bit is "currently making its way into the hands of developers and publishers" and they're expecting it will hit stores in less than a year.

The devices two units are packed with buttons. The top controller includes a power button, left, right arrows, D-pad, A button, wireless connection and battery indicator and upper and lower triggers. The bottom controller has a power button, left, right arrows, analog controller, upper and lower triggers and wireless and batter indicator. Both include straps.

The site also shows the device in action, playing with Lego Star Wars II, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 and Harry Potter V: The Order of the Phoenix. Hit the jump to watch the device in action.

Is this the device we've been hearing rumors about? Not sure, but I kinda hope not. It's just too complex looking for my taste. We've asked Microsoft for comment.

Rare Denies X-Waggle Rumor, Chastises Kotaku Comments

Rare is denying that Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is a motion-controlled game, hoping to kill the rumors once and for all.

"There’s no truth to the Banjo motion control rumor," said Rare's George Kelion. "Banjo has been designed to be played using a game pad from the outset."

Microsoft yesterday denied that a suggestive comment made by Ken Lobb in a clip video referred to motion control.

Kelion admitted that while he's not privy to every design detail about the game, on having played the title, he played it with a normal controller and noted the absence of motion control input.

But is Rare doing something with the fabled X-waggle? "No idea," said Kelion. "And that's the truth."

"People shouldn’t take rumors that gestate in comments sections so seriously, even on respectable news sites like Kotaku. They can often turn out to be red herrings, as is the case with Banjo and motion controls," he said.

What's Coming From Microsoft At E3?

E3 2008 is less than a week away, and come Monday morning the internets will be buzzing with the latest news from Xbox 360 producer Microsoft. While we know they'll be plugging their biggest titles - Gears of War 2, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Fable II, and Viva Pinata - what big announcements could we see from the latest of the big 3?

Rumors have been stirring since December about a potential motion control apparatus for the Xbox 360, and instead of fading away like bad rumors generally do, more and more fuel has been added to the possibility as time went on. With the latest speculation indicating a new motion-controlled friendly redesign of the Xbox Dashboard, E3 could very well be the time for the big reveal.

Stix - A Wiimote For Your PC

This August PC gamers can briefly jump on the motion sensing bandwagon before shrugging and going back to keyboard and mouse control with a new line of vaguely Wiimote-looking controllers from GoLive2. Called Stix, the press release calls them motion-sensing touch-screen controllers, though the lack of an actual screen makes me think they meant touch-sensitive.

"Stix will completely change the way people experience online and PC gaming," said Brian Zheng, President, Plahut. "At purchase, Stix will be compatible with thousands of free online and retail games, and we're adding more games to that list daily. The fun is endless with Stix, and the wide-range of free, supported games makes this product perfect for every member of the family."

The Stix controller will come in two flavors at launch, the 2D motion sensing Stix 200 and the 3D Stix 400, both supported by the online gaming portal at http://Sphere.GoLive2.com.

Getting a Wiimote to work with your PC is really only fun for the novelty of it all. These look more like a me too than anything else. I mean, if I wanted to sit in front of my PC and shake my hand back and forth I'd...nevermind.

Rumor: Details On Sony's Motion Controls, No "Break-Apart"

An anonymous industry source has told Kotaku that reports of a "break-apart" motion controller for the PlayStation 3 that splits into two parts are not entirely accurate.

The control system, said the source, actually consists of a smaller-sized device that can attach to the body - and multiple devices are intended to be used in concert, such as wearing two on the hands to move a character's hands in-game, or four, on hands and feet at the same time to move a character's body.

Though the source admits the technology might have evolved since the last time it was seen, the source disputes the idea that any of these pieces merge to form a single controller. It is also unclear how the individual pieces will be packaged, whether individually or in sets.

Sony declined to comment on "speculation."

No Plans For US PS3 Eternal Sonata Release "At The Moment"

Timed Xbox 360 exclusive Eternal Sonata is getting a PS3 release with extra content in Japan. But what elsewhere? According to a Namco Bandai US spokesperson:

I can’t speak for any other territories, but I believe Eternal Sonata is only announced for the PS3 in Japan right now... We have no plans to release the game on the PS3 in the US at this moment.

So no plans "at this moment." But tomorrow? The day after that? Next month? Who knows?!

Namco Bandai Eternal Sonata PS3 Japan Only [videogaming247 Thanks, nekotails!]

Capcom To Announce "Or Something Like That" Soon?

Bionic Commando Wii? Unannounced. Lost Planet Wii? Ditto. "Or Something Like This?" Will be announced soon. Via a Q&A with Capcom's Christian Svensson. Read on:

Question: Are we going to see Bionic Commando, Lost Planet or something like this on the Wii?

Svensson: Possible... the "or something like this" part we could talk about in a couple weeks perhaps.

We cannot wait to learn about "Or Something Like This." It sounds like a fantastic game.

Capcom To Announce New Wii Game [N-Europe via Infendo]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Multiplayer Makes LucasArts PR Snappy

There are some touchy questions. Questions that might turn people curt. Questions that need to be asked. Questions like: Is there any specific reason why there is no multiplayer in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the PS3 and Xbox 360? Adam Kahn, Senior PR Manager at LucasArts, answers.

To be specific, there's no multiplayer in the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions, because there is on the Wii, PSP, and DS. As far as specific reasons are concerned, we don't really like to get into the reasons why we don't do things because I don't think there's really a satisfactory answer that people would really be happy with. So, there isn't multiplayer and that's kind of how it is...

Star Wars Feature [TVG via Go Nintendo]

Some portion of the £200M that Grand Theft Auto IV is projected to earn will find its way into the treasury of the U.K.'s world-renowned Oxford University. That's because the game's Euphoria engine was developed by two Oxford students using research at Oxford's zoology department.

The university's technology transfer company then teamed up with Natural Motion, the company the two students, Torsten Reil and Colm Massey, created to build and sell the engine. As such Oxford retains a share in anything Euphoria and Natural Motion should earn down the road. Such as ... Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Multiplayer, always on the prowl for an interesting angle, recently posted a story about how Age of Conan managed to make their horses look so real. Tracey John says they actually did horse motion capture and even got the proof to back it up.

Pretty nice results if you ask me. Check out the full post for plenty more pics of Ping-Pong laden horses and neato graphics.

A Horse Covered in Ping Pong Balls — The 'Age of Conan' Mo-Cap Shoot

Rumors have abounded regarding an upcoming motion control device for the Xbox 360, purportedly codenamed "Newton" — first, a loquacious anonymous source told MTV that such a controller is in development with support from developer Rare, and next 8bitjoystick pegged patents from Gyration, the same company responsible for Nintendo's Wii remote technology, as the likely tech behind Microsoft's top-secret project.

Gyration, however, unequivocally denied yesterday that it has any such project in development with Microsoft. However, talking to Rare, Microsoft and a company called Motus revealed more items of interest regarding the "Newton" — the picture seen above is Motus' "Darwin" controller.

Backbreaker Is Looking As Painful As Ever (In A Good Way)

'The Power of Free to Play'

Adrian Crook had an interesting presentation at the GDC Worlds In Motion Summit on the issue of free to play games - where they've been, where they're heading, good things, bad things .... He's put up the slides and speech over at his website, and while the narrative redux is apparently not as zippy as the original presentation, it is an interesting listen.

Crook points out some growth challenges to free to play, though he notes these are definitely not deal-breakers for the business model. First, there are virtual property challenges. "At some point that's going to be decided by the courts. Hopefully we're out ahead of it," Crook said, pointing out Eric Bethke's forward-thinking endeavor to create an avatar bill of rights. Second, there are differing broadband speeds. And rising development costs will become an issue now with the advent of Electronic Arts' highly-polished Battlefield Heroes. Larger-scale F2P products are going to raise the quality bar, Crook says.

The talk clocks in at a little over half an hour, but if you're interested in the free to play model, it's definitely worth taking a look at.

The Slidecast from my F2P GDC Presentation [Free To Play]
Adrian Crook Talks Free To Play [Worlds In Motion]

According to XboxFamily.com, the Xbox 360 could soon be getting Microsoft-endorsed motion controls. Rumor has it that Microsoft has licensed Gyration to build the peripheral, a company you may know from building a prototype for Nintendo of the now-famous Wiimote. (That's the original prototype pictured here.)

But really, do we need more motion controls right now? I mean, we could certainly use some that work better, but especially if Microsoft is building a separate controller that will only be used for a handful of games, it's doubtful that we'll see anything better than we've already got on other systems.

Microsoft Plans Motion Sensing Controller [via g4tv]