Will MotionPlus kill the Wii Balance Board?

When the Wii Balance Board and Wii Fit launched together last spring, there was excitement and anticipation in many quarters about the potential of the device to really inject some magic into immersive gaming - being able to step into World of Warcraft-esque adventures and pipe dreams of Mirror's Edge-alike parkour action amongst others.

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The reality has been that the vast majority of games have either supported the Wii Balance Board as an optional extra in certain modes, or simply adapted it to ideas where its weight-detecting ability is most easily applied - see the likes of Skate It, We Ski, and Shaun White Snowboarding.

No developer has really taken a leap of faith with the Balance Board in order to create something really imaginative and unique. And looking at the line-up of 2009's Balance Board-compatible games announced so far, this trend of playing it safe prevails with Marble Saga: Kororinpa, EA Sports Active and Cardio Workout to name but three not looking likely to cause much of a surprise.

With the innovation of Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus nearing and all of the new opportunities it opens up for developers, could it be that the Wii Balance Board's potential is doomed to made little of (or made of even less) in future? High Voltage did half-jokingly mention that they thought about including the Wii Balance Board in its upcoming first-person shooter The Conduit, but that idea never materialised, and we've not heard a peep out of any other developer stepping up with something more imaginative. That said, there's nothing there to stop other developers going for it - even combining the technologies of MotionPlus and the Balance Board.

Nintendo itself cannot be ignored either. To introduce the Balance Board and utilise it only in Wii Fit and Wii Music really isn't good enough for all of the millions who have shelled out, so here's hoping that the rumours that it adds to the Punch-Out!! Wii experience do eventually materialise. We wouldn't say no to some Pilotwings and Wave Race Balance Board action either!

The point is that it feels that the Wii Balance Board really hasn't been given the time to shine yet. We welcome the introduction of MotionPlus as much as the next gamer, but want to see it working in tandem with the Balance Board to create some really great new games - not just acting as the Next Big Thing on the Wii's road to world domination, leaving the Balance Board fade away in the same way as (in Nintendo's sights so far at least) the Wii Zapper has.

Posted by Andrew at 17:31