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Wii MotionPlus was a response to Darwin says Motus

Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 11:26 am by Will Will is offline

Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus "was a response to the Darwin," according to Satayan Mahajan, the CEO of Motus. His company, founded by a team of MIT graduates out of Cambridge, has developed the Darwin motion controller after being approached by an unnamed publishing partner, and the device promises superior performance to the Wii Remote.

Although MotionPlus adds 1:1 functionality to the Wii Remote, Mahajan said he thinks it "should be a lot closer to the Darwin." He explained: "It’s still missing the magnetometers, so it’s still a system that needs that IR strip to figure out where it is, whereas the Darwin is completely self-contained."

Although Nintendo's attributed the creation of MotionPlus to requirements from developers and the decreasing cost of components, Mahajan thinks the company's been inspired by his. "If I’m not mistaken, there were a number of postings and blogs, and we’ve been hearing through our friends and family, so to speak, that the Wii MotionPlus was a response to the Darwin.


"When a few people told us that, we thought, “How realistic is that? Here we are, this little company with 15 to 20 guys in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” Oddly enough, blogs and little postings started popping up everywhere, and we thought, “Well, maybe there’s some truth to it.” Though it doesn’t really affect us."

Mahajan also spoke in detail about the capabilities of the Darwin, the creation process and future plans. On parnerships, he said, "Obviously, everyone asks, "Are you working with Microsoft, are you working with Sony, are you working with this company, are you working with that company?" And I'm like, guys, I can't tell you because if I was working with them I'd be under a nondisclosure agreement."

At the end of the day, Mahajan said he and his team are "just really happy to be in this space," and added, "Everyone we talk to expects us to bash the Wii, and all I can say are good things about them. I think they've done so many wonderful things on so many wonderful levels."
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COMMENTS (11)

Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 11:31 am by Bjay Will is offline
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Damn, I thought that was the new Wii Remote for a sec.

I really hope MotionPlus is good.
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 11:59 am by furion89 furion89 is offline
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Lol. By looking at the buttons on that thing, you can see it is for the 360
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 12:05 pm by Odnet Odnet is offline
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It looks a hell of a lot like an Xbox 360 colour controller to me. Personally I hope they get sued if they have copying any of Nintendo's ideas.
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 12:53 pm by Adam Adam is offline
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Hmm. I feel the next-gen console for Microsoft will be insane. With the motion sensing and updated power. It's motion capabilities will snap anything the Wii Remote has. Just a feeling.

But that's just progress, I suppose.
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 01:35 pm by misteromar misteromar is offline
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I thought these guys were fakes, have they shown anything yet to back up their claims?
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 01:57 pm by kksl1der kksl1der is offline
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The screenshot you in this article is the proof they've given.
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 03:11 pm by THIEF!
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Hmm, but I don't think they can claim that this device wasn't inspired to be a successor to the wii remote. Actually, there has not been much revealed about motionplus, it may well have magnetometers.

I was actually talking this over with a friend the other day. Unless I'm overlooking something really fundamental, you can use the Earth's magnetic field as an external reference when you are tracking the remote. Since using motionplus/wiimote you can discern the acceleration due to gravity, you now have two reference points to stop a 1:1 tracking signal from drifting.

I am sure that if this is possible it would have crossed the mind of Nintendo's engineers, and who knows maybe it's already been implemented in the attachment.
Posted 29th of August, 2008 at 05:54 pm by TryMe TryMe is offline
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To me, Darwin is a capital city of a territory.

I can see them suing Nintendo sometime in the future.
Posted 30th of August, 2008 at 08:44 pm by TSPhoenix TSPhoenix is offline
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Here we are, this little company with 15 to 20 guys in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Yes and nobody really cares about you much less a multi-billion dollar company. The idea that Nintendo is threatened by a bunch of guys and their little toy is laughable.
Posted 1st of September, 2008 at 09:48 am by Adam Adam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THIEF!
I was actually talking this over with a friend the other day. Unless I'm overlooking something really fundamental, you can use the Earth's magnetic field as an external reference when you are tracking the remote. Since using motionplus/wiimote you can discern the acceleration due to gravity, you now have two reference points to stop a 1:1 tracking signal from drifting.
Yep, you're right. The 'Darwin' does that. I either read it in the link in the article or a link from within the link.
Posted 1st of September, 2008 at 10:57 am by Scatt-Man Scatt-Man is offline
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All-in-all, I reckon unless this company sells its hardware to companies who know how to make and market their software, anything Nintendo's competitors dish out (provided this new technology is to be shipped to Ninty's competitors) will be moot, as consumers will realise that Nintendo's console offers this stuff out of the box. Everyone hates paying for peripherals unless word-of-mouth has convinced them otherwise. That's how Guitar Hero took off...word of mouth. I highly doubt that any purchasable "casual" peripheral from a company whose previous philosophy was that it caters to the "hardcore" will take off. I guess there's props to Nintendo on that front, but f*** you, Nintendo!

If this is a "next gen" thing (as in this new technology WILL be one of the main focuses of the next Xbox/Playstation) is yet to be seen, and if it is, they have the problem of over-saturating the games market with shit. It's been happening for years, yet now we have a new way of experiencing 'shit' with the Wii Remote. It's only a matter of time before the market these companies are after tire of these repetitive party fests and leave the gaming community as quickly as they joined. LEARN from Nintendo. People will only be pissed off for so long.

The majority of women love Singstar, and that's all they love. Yes, we all crave for another Zelda or Mario title, but these games often offer something much more than another version of Singstar can provide.

Now that I think about it, it seems much more risky for developers to try and make a game that appeals to the casual market, as once they've found a gold-mine, there's really nothing to improve from their winning game. They may have made a lot of money on one franchise, but how many sequels are casual gamers willing to buy? I'm not sure of the numbers, and I accept all LOLZ, but how much did Guitar Hero: Aerosmith sell? Yes, Guitar Hero: World Tour will sell well, but companies have a way of milking these brands way too much. It's only a matter of time. Games such as these easily stand the test of time so long as it's not overdone. Activision have 'gone there' with Aerosmith GH...such a niche market... So unpredictable.

Nintendo and other big companies really wish to cash in on the casual market. Don't they see the difficulty in needing to please the previously un-pleaseable? (casuals) These people have drifted away from gaming due to the constant evolution of gaming. Yes, simplification brought them back, but how long can you recycle these games? How much longer can you subject your fans to half-arsed products claiming they merge two communities, yet offer the "hardcore" no room for improvement in their ability. Some people like luck, others enjoy skill. The fans, Nintendo...the fans.

The 'hardcore' fans of these consoles have constantly enjoyed the reiterations of the franchises they've learned to love. These games will always be too complicated for those "casual" gamers these companies seem to be hunting after these days (so don't get me started on this "bridging game" shit). Yeah, the last Zelda was a bit on the unoriginal side, but in my view, people enjoyed Twilight Princess a lot more than what "casual gamers" enjoyed the latest version of Buzz or Singstar. But the fans of these franchises will stick to the companies who developed/produced them much longer than any Singstar fan would for their own favorite franchise.

Companies are starting to rely on these sorts of casual games in a business sense, with Nintendo at the forefront. It's only a matter of time before they lose the casual fanbase they've tried so hard (or not) to earn. And other companies are trying to mimic this?! Microsoft have a solid fanbase. They should stick with what they have, as it's more than respectable, with much less complaints than Nintendo's ever had...(hardware problems aside)
Starting on Nintendo's "bridge titles" will only make this post even more epicly longer than it is right now, so END!

Nintendo = Happily losing their long-time fanbase.
Microsoft/Sony = Trying to copy.
Casual games = Has to be running out of ideas to keep their target audiences occupied.

*EDIT AGAIN (not for typos)*
Advertising certainly isn't helping. Games which're awesome and should be displayed to the masses aren't shown at all, yet tonnes of shit fills our precious TV commercial time. Big-time companies and publishers alike really need a wakeup call, yet judging by the way everything's goin' down at the moment, nothing short of entire death will be able to convince publishers to change their cheap-arse ways.

*EDIT*
Shit that was all obvious.