Topic: Will Nintendo Develope a New Motion Controller Just for the WiiU?

[Kytim89]

Back at E3 the WiiU was revealed and the screened tablet controller for the system was unveiled to the world. However, in demonstration videos it showed gamers playing with the Wiimote, nunchuck and Classic Controller. As a gamer myself, I sense conspiracy. A conspiracy that Nintendo inteds to have a new motion controller available for the WiiU.
 
There are some pros and cons to this theory. First, Nintendo has made bank off of their controllers and accessories, so the incentive to make more money off more advanced versions of what they already have right now. However, a new motion controller might poison the water for the Umote, so Nintendo might be less inclined to manufacture a new controller.

[TJ Spyke]

I feel my eye twitching after reading this post with so many typos (I can imagine what a English major would say).

Anyways, there has been no indication that Nintendo will release a new Wii Remote. I am not sure what they could do anyways.

[stevey]

No. Non-gamers will never accept the upgrade if their balance boards/wii-motes/nunchucks/classics need to be replaced by identical controllers. Plus, it too much like Sony's style for Nintendo to ever go with it...

[Kytim89]

No. Non-gamers will never accept the upgrade if their balance boards/wii-motes/nunchucks/classics need to be replaced by identical controllers. Plus, it too much like Sony's style for Nintendo to ever go with it...

Nintendo still has the potential to improve the controller. For example, the Wiimote 2.0 could have a built-in recharchagle battery and wireless nunchcuck. Also, a wireless and rechargable CC Pro would go a long way in attracting any hardcore gamers that may shrug off the Umote. Nintendo is a business, so it makes sense that they would try and sell as much new stuff and attract new customers as they can and get money.

[stevey]

Too bad Nintendo isn't a monopoly and can't get away with that ****....
(I already have rechargeables in my wiimote, the wired nunchuck design is perfectly fine, and the TouchU controller already servers as a wireless&rechargeable CC Pro+)

[Adrock]

Rechargeable batteries and making the nunchuck wireless are obvious upgrades. If Nintendo is going to allow peripheral backwards compatibility for casual gamers, the Wii U Remote/Nunchuck should be geared toward core gamers, all the functionality of the Wii Remote Plus (with a gyroscope in the wireless nunchuck) coupled with all of the buttons on the Classic Controller. That effectively removes the need for the classic controller and still allows for backwards compatibility with Wii games.

If Nintendo is serious about appealing to core gamers and 3rd parties who release games mainly to that audience and Wii U cannot support more than a single tablet controller, the Wii U Remote/Nunchuck essentially becomes the console's primary controller. Developers will program multiplayer games with that controller in mind since it should also come with the console and likely every single player mode will be programed with an option to use the Wii U Remote/Nunhuck in addition to the tablet controller, even Nintendo's 1st party titles. In that case, the Wii U Remote/Nunchuck MUST be able to handle traditional controls competently because Nintendo tried asking 3rd parties to support the classic controller (and even the Gamecube controller) and were met with a big "F YOU." Everyone knew the Wii Remote/Nunchuck combo was the console's primary controller and the Classic Controller was deemed extra. Nintendo should NOT assume people are willing to buy additional peripherals. 3rd parties certainly were not willing to take that chance.

Worse case scenario: Nintendo is content with the tablet controller being the "traditional controller" and expects people to buy and 3rd parties to support the Classic Controller for local multiplayer (which also lacks rumble). To me, this would be a major facepalm and an unofficial admission that Nintendo just doesn't and will never "get it." Unless Wii U can support at least 2 tablet controllers, the tablet controller is largely a single player controller or a party game side controller though online multiplayer is still an option. That just seems needlessly messy and makes it a bit more difficult to justify supporting the console.

[nickmitch]

I could see Nintendo putting out a wireless classic controller pro +. They'd probably do it to justify not having more than maybe 2 uPads to a system. Besides, no one likes having a WiiMote in their lap, and something more WaveBirdy would be great for Smash Bros.

[Adrock]

I could see them doing that too. However, it's important to preserve motion controls and it works differently on a separated controller. The point is to have the best of both worlds. I think developers would be more likely to experiment with motion controls if the controller still had all of the buttons they're used to having access to. One might argue that they wouldn't bother with motion controls at that point, but I disagree. Motion controls would be seen as a viable alternative, an additional function rather than a replacement to pressing a button. We wouldn't see it shoehorned into games like we often do on the Wii (i.e. flicking the remote to roll in DKCR). Motion controls would be when appropriate (i.e. the entirety of Metroid Prime 3).

[Kytim89]

I could see them doing that too. However, it's important to preserve motion controls and it works differently on a separated controller. The point is to have the best of both worlds. I think developers would be more likely to experiment with motion controls if the controller still had all of the buttons they're used to having access to. One might argue that they wouldn't bother with motion controls at that point, but I disagree. Motion controls would be seen as a viable alternative, an additional function rather than a replacement to pressing a button. We wouldn't see it shoehorned into games like we often do on the Wii (i.e. flicking the remote to roll in DKCR). Motion controls would be when appropriate (i.e. the entirety of Metroid Prime 3).

The game Aliens: Colonial Marines comes to mind. I would love to handle that game with a Wiimote 2.0 that has Move style controls and use the tablet controller as a motion traker similar to the one found in the movie. In fact, if there was a new motion controller and CC ro available for the Wii U then I would be more inclined to buy the system at launch.
 
Let's face it, not all games are made for motion control, and not all games will be a perfect fit for the tablet controller, but accomodating every play style would be a good idea.

[Ceric]

I be very surprised if you don't see a WiiU branded done at the very least with some coloring differences.  That might be the extent of it.

[Kytim89]

I be very surprised if you don't see a WiiU branded done at the very least with some coloring differences.  That might be the extent of it.

I could see the Wiimote 2.0 having an an improved speaker and four buttons instead of two in a similar manner to the SNES controller.
 
 

[ThePerm]

i dont evern have a wii-mote with, id imagine they will include 1 wii mote, 1 u mote just to keep controller adoptability high. The Nunchuck was an after-thought, and im pretty sure Retro said.."throw a wii mote in too", just like they said "yeah nunchuck folks"

[NWR_insanolord]

I don't think there's much you could do to improve upon the Remote+ that wouldn't break compatibility with legacy hardware. You certainly can't add buttons or anything like that.

This being Nintendo, it feels like some kind of GameCube VC-style money grab is inevitable, and to facilitate that they'd probably want to release a Classic Controller more in line with the (in my opinion, fantastic) GameCube layout. They could redesign games to work with newer controllers, but I'm sure they'd much rather get all of us to pay for a fix ourselves.

[Chozo Ghost]

I don't think there's much you could do to improve upon the Remote+ that wouldn't break compatibility with legacy hardware. You certainly can't add buttons or anything like that.

It could be done. The extra buttons just wouldn't serve any purpose. Think like how GBA playback worked on the DS even though there were now all these extra buttons, but they just didn't do anything as far as playing the GBA games were concerned. So new buttons certainly can be added, and it wouldn't break compatibility with old Wii games because they just wouldn't do anything when operating in that mode. The extra buttons would only do something with original Wii U content.

[NWR_insanolord]

That's what I'm saying though. Nintendo wants Wii remotes to work with Wii U software, and that gets broken if a game requires the extra buttons on this hypothetical Wii Remote Plus Plus.

[Chozo Ghost]

That's what I'm saying though. Nintendo wants Wii remotes to work with Wii U software, and that gets broken if a game requires the extra buttons on this hypothetical Wii Remote Plus Plus.

But the new controllers wouldn't break compatibility with legacy games. I get what you're saying about it breaking compatibility with legacy remotes, though. But what if the new redesigned wiimote was like a merging of the old wiimote and nunchuck into one single item? Imagine a Wiimote which had an analog stick plus the two buttons of the nunchuck all on the same thing. That way you could achieve the same things as you could with the old wiimote/chuck setup, but now the same controls are available in a more condensed and concise form. Wouldn't that work?

[King of Twitch]

That's a good idea, but I feel that the answer lies there, with Masaka. We must find her, access her. Talk to her. Touch her screen.

[nickmitch]

This being Nintendo, it feels like some kind of GameCube VC-style money grab is inevitable, and to facilitate that they'd probably want to release a Classic Controller more in line with the (scientifically proven fantastic) GameCube layout. They could redesign games to work with newer controllers, but I'm sure they'd much rather get all of us to pay for a fix ourselves.

Fixed.

[nickmitch]

That's what I'm saying though. Nintendo wants Wii remotes to work with Wii U software, and that gets broken if a game requires the extra buttons on this hypothetical Wii Remote Plus Plus.

But the new controllers wouldn't break compatibility with legacy games. I get what you're saying about it breaking compatibility with legacy remotes, though. But what if the new redesigned wiimote was like a merging of the old wiimote and nunchuck into one single item? Imagine a Wiimote which had an analog stick plus the two buttons of the nunchuck all on the same thing. That way you could achieve the same things as you could with the old wiimote/chuck setup, but now the same controls are available in a more condensed and concise form. Wouldn't that work?

He's saying Nintendo wants the current WiiMote/+ to work on the WiiU. Adding buttons to make a uMote+ would make that not work out as well.

[MaryJane]

I don't think they should add buttons to a new Wiimote, what would be the point then of making the current Wiimote forward-compatible? That isn't to say there won't be an improvement, but it will be an nonessential one, like the Wiimote+ where you can use it if you like, but isn't necessary.

[Kytim89]

I don't think they should add buttons to a new Wiimote, what would be the point then of making the current Wiimote forward-compatible? That isn't to say there won't be an improvement, but it will be an nonessential one, like the Wiimote+ where you can use it if you like, but isn't necessary.

If Nintendo added two more buttons to the Wiimote 2.0 that have it a similar button set up to the SNES then playing A Link to the Past with the new motion controller in a similar manner to how the current Wiimote is used to play NES games on the Virtual Console. The biggest question would be whether or not this new controller would be compatible with the Wii games?
 
It appears to me that Nintendo is trying to forfeit the motion controlled gaming concept to Sony and Microsoft. Both of those companies intend to support motion controls well into their next system, and Nintendo would be smart to up the ante just so they do not appear as though they are trying to compete with newer controllers with a dated system.
 
 

[SixthAngel]

I just hope they drop the original remote support entirely and require motion+ for it to be used.
Just making that standard would do wonders for the games that could be made.

[ishfishmial0]

I doubt this will happen since Nintendo already said that the Wii U will be backward compatible with the old ones. Introducing a new  Wii mote may only serve to confuse users.

[TJ Spyke]

They could make it like how you could use your PlayStation 1 controllers on the PlayStation 2 but couldn't be used on PS2 games (or at least most).

[NWR_insanolord]

Yes, if they wanted to go completely against what they've already said they're doing, they could make it like that.