The past month has seen not one, but two interesting products hit Nintendo's Wii console, both with a telling look into how companies might deal with motion-control in the future. Nintendo of course led the charge with their 1:1 motion-sending add-on, the Wii MotionPlus adapter, while third-party supplier Nyko released their anticipated Wii Wand. Only it turns out the two aren't playing nice together, as Nintendo failed to provide full access to Nyko's design team so that MotionPlus adapters would function properly with the less expensive WiiMote replacement.
We reached out to Nyko and this is what they had to say:
"In our ongoing effort to be first to market with new technology, our release of Wand was prior to the launch of Wii Motion Plus and thus, we were unable to confirm compatibility. These types of compatibility problems are unfortunate but fairly common as new technology emerges. After extensive testing we discovered there is a minor issue with initial units of the Wand that affects compatibility with Wii Motion Plus. The issue is being addressed and all future shipments of Wand will be fully compatible with Wii Motion Plus. Nyko is instituting a firmware update program, at no cost to the consumer, for any user encountering the issue. A press release announcing the program and its details will be distributed soon."
Although it wouldn't be fair to fully review the Wii Wand controller until its working 100% (particularly with Wii Sports Resort just around the corner), we can say that our initial tests with non-MotionPlus gaming works just fine, and is just as comfortable and precise as you'd expect from the company that released the wonderful KAMA Nunchuk some time ago. Let's hope next time a substantial hardware change happens, Nintendo is a little more prompt in getting compatibility specs to third-party developers, especially those who have been there since day one.
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