Wii MotionPlus impressions: it works, but so far the games aren’t worth the fuss

At first glance it’s a little difficult to understand the necessity of another motion-sensing add-on. What could possibly be inside this particular block of white plastic that’s not inside those other countless slabs of white plastic that Nintendo has already slathered on the Wii? Sure, we know in theory that the gyroscopes that MotionPlus provides allows the controller to truly orient itself in 3D space, instead of just sensing acceleration in various directions, and breaks some of that reliance on the sensor bar, but do those theoretical advances result in a true leap in gameplay? We tested it out with EA’s new MotionPlus-enabled Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis — the first such titles on the market while we wait for Nintendo to get its own Wii Sports Resort in order — and we’d say the results are pretty inconclusive so far. Check out our full impressions after the break, along with enthralling videos of both games in action.

It’s almost silly to mention the setup aspect of the MotionPlus, since there really isn’t any. The add-on comes pre-packaged in a lengthened “condom” protective cover, which makes connecting the Wiimote just a matter of threading the wrist strap, plugging it in, and pulling the rest over the cover over the assembly. There’s a little locking switch on the back and you’re done. Removing the MotionPlus is just as easy: just unlock it, press the tabs on the sides and pull it off.

Outside automatic system software updates included with both games (to add the MotionPlus support, presumably) there was nothing we had to do on the software side to activate or implement the add-on, which in a way was almost disconcerting. The games didn’t offer much info as to whether we were using a MotionPlus-enhanced control setup or not. A few screens mentioned added features with use of the MotionPlus, but seemed unaware that ours was plugged in, and Grand Slam Tennis didn’t blink an eye when we unplugged MotionPlus and went without.

Despite all this simplicity, there’s a three minute instructional video included with the games for helping figure out how to plug in the MotionPlus, which taught us absolutely nothing and yet proved unskippable once started. One thing it mentioned was placing the Wiimote face down to reorient the controller in case it got out of step, but we never had occasion to do so — it worked flawlessly through our testing.
Not as much could be said for our muscles, however, which were sorer than usual from the relatively mundane movements. The additional weight of the MotionPlus and the hugemongous protective cover (we never sent away for ones for our original collection of Wiimotes) really wore on us after a while, at least in the rapid back and forth motions of tennis.engadget