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At this year’s disappointing E3 convention, just about the only buzz from the Nintendo keynote was the announcement of the Wii MotionPlus. It’s a gyroscope module that plugs into the base of the Wiimote which is supposed to give it 1:1 responsiveness. In other words, the players’ motions in 3D space are duplicated in realtime on the screen.

But wait– doesn’t it do this already?

Not exactly. Most people don’t realize that the current Wiimote, which uses a combination of an infrared camera and a three-axis accelerometer, is actually not that accurate at translating players’ motions. Instead, the Wii relies heavily on software to interpret the data and implement the player’s intentions. As anyone who owns a Wii can attest, it’s not always very good at this.

Current Wii games, like Red Steel, here, rely on pointing and relatively simple motions. This offers a fair illusion of responsiveness, but is far from the 1:1 accuracy that the MotionPlus promises.

So now, nearly two years into the Wii’s product cycle, Nintendo is up to it’s old tricks– with a new twist, perhaps. Sell the Wii as the cheapest next gen platform, then make people buy extra peripherals to get a fully-functional system.

It’s an interesting strategy, really. Pirates may be able to make copies of the new Wii Sports, but what about the hardware it requires?