We'd be lying if we didn't say we're a bit worried about the future of gaming controllers. Between the Nintendo's MotionPlus, Microsoft's Project Natal and Sony's ... erm ... motion thing, our precious game pads get more and more antique looking every day. And according to a recent patent filed by Sony that Siliconera found, our precious controllers have one more thing to fear: everyday objects.

That's right, friends -- in the future, we could be using our real-life keys to open doors, our swords to slice up fools, and our guns (not outside of the US) to shoot up the screen "accidentally." The patent shows off a PlayStation Eye-based system that can recognize 3D objects and use them in-game based on various actions taken by the player -- something Microsoft claims it's Natal is also capable of doing. Various household items will be affected in different ways, the example given being a U-shaped object that, when turned upwards, becomes a sword, versus a U-shaped block when facing downwards (think Halo's Covenant Energy Sword). Apparently the system is able to scan a whole mess of objects and store them in a databank for future use. Like so much future tech we've seen recently, we're taking this one with a full truckload of salt until we get some face time.

Like trying to watch a foreign language film on a tiny TV, it seems that our buddies at Engadget can't figure out if they've got problems with the Wii MotionPlus technology, or just the way it's being used. The site recently did an exhaustive hands-on with Nintendo's new add-on, the fruits of which you can see here.

The best implementation/demonstration for the super-sensitive tech seems to be manipulating an e-frisbee in 3D space, which is almost too precious and appropriate for our brains to comprehend.

With the release of the Wii MotionPlus, Nintendo has apparently placed how-to videos with applicable games to instruct its customer base on how to attach the accessory. Destructoid took the opportunity to upload the video, which walks a fine line between airplane emergency video and a tape that would be played in "health" class.

Dtoid notes that the real horror is that once the three-minute video starts ... there's no way to exit (not even the glorious Wiimote's Home button will save you). So, if you really need to know how to shove, slide and thread your components inside the Wii prophylactic, please feel free to watch the video after the break.

It seems that the door is beginning to creak open for alternate-color Wii systems and accessories. First, Nintendo finally announces a Wii in a new color scheme (black), and now, less than two weeks later, the company has announced another color for the Wiimote and Nunchuk -- and the first new color for the MotionPlus. However, this is going to be a little harder to come by.

From June 25 to August 31, Nintendo will give away exclusive light blue Wiimotes, MotionPlus attachments and Nunchuks (and a matching jacket, of course) to five thousand Japanese Club Nintendo members who register copies of Wii Sports Resort. Not that Nintendo needed to offer any kind of incentive to sell Wii Sports Resort.

[Via GoNintendo]

After the awkward and misguided mess that was Ubisoft's Red Steel, it must sound like damning praise to say, "Well, the sequel's much better." After all, Nintendo's newfangled MotionPlus attachment has come to save the day, introducing one-to-one movement and finally delivering the sword fighting extravaganza that all those energetic Wii players have been enjoying in the commercials.

Unfortunately, MotionPlus' binding to Red Steel 2 doesn't feel particularly effective in combating the original game's flaws. It's a miss, like sticking a band-aid on someone's knee after they've been poisoned. If the MotionPlus makes a fundamental difference to the gameplay, it's not immediately apparent within the framework of a pretty insipid combat system.

Now that the whirlwind of E3 is over, Nintendo is getting back into the swing of updating the Nintendo Channel with less exciting content than last week's big reveals. This week, it's all about the release of MotionPlus and The Legendary Starfy, with plenty of video content for both. Sadly, we don't have a demo of the latter, which we were really hoping for. But, hey, you can at least play Ant Nation. That's something, right? Right?

This week, we take a brief look at a Japanese Virtual Console Arcade game that is quite a bit cooler than expected. At the current rate of one game per week, who knows when this game will reach us (or if), but at least in this case the implications it carries outweigh the game itself.

If you want us to use old games as evidence for new trends (or ask us anything else), send an email over to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com!

[Image via The Arcade Flyer Archive]

Nintendo of Japan's new commercials for the Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort use some very slick high-speed camera footage to illustrate the realistic motions used in, among other things, table tennis and golf. New in-game footage found in the commercial reveals that two of Resort's new minigames will be retreads of things seen in previous titles -- table tennis was covered in Wii Play, and golf, of course, appeared in the original Wii Sports.

Nintendo must be very confident that MotionPlus improves these games significantly. We still don't know how many games will be included in Resort, but if two of them are going to be encore presentations, there had better be a lot of games. We totally understand Nintendo wanting to take a second crack at table tennis, we must admit, because Wii Play's version is not where it's at.

[Via N-Europe]

Both Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich expect the Wii MotionPlus peripheral to achieve sales of around ten million units in the US and Europe. The two just disagree on how long it will take.

Pachter believes that the sales will happen early on, driven by bundles of early MotionPlus compatible software: "I think around 20 percent of Wii owners in the US and Europe will have bought Wii Sports Resort, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 or EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis," Pachter told Edge, "so that's around eight million." He added, "I think another two million will buy MotionPlus with new consoles."

Divnich thinks three million units will sell through this holiday season, but it will take an additional year to achieve the ten-million-plus level of sales. "For the Wii MotionPlus, we currently expect the install base to reach over 11 million units by the end of Nintendo's next fiscal year in March 2011, a 15 percent penetration."

Both analysts think Red Steel 2 is a risk that could pay off for Ubisoft. "Red Steel 2 may come along at precisely the right time, around when people are ready for another [MotionPlus] game," Pachter said. "The risk is really more a function of competition, compounded by the risk that Ubisoft could make a bad game." Both analysts believe that Red Steel 2 will be bundled with a MotionPlus.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will be hitting all major consoles and handhelds, but the Wii MotionPlus really makes it stand out on Nintendo's flagship game unit. It offers a greater degree of club control than we've ever seen in a game, though don't expect it to make you a better golfer ... unless you can somehow graft a Wiimote onto your club. You can check out Tiger's WiiMotion Plus in action here, and then head after the break to see new videos depicting the Live Tournament mode, as well as the new golfers and courses in the game.

EA just released some awesome news for people hoping to have something to do with their MotionPlus peripherals when the device comes out on June 8. The company announced that the release dates for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis are being bumped up a week, to match the release of the MotionPlus.

Even better, the Tiger Woods/MotionPlus bundle is also coming out on June 8, so the peripheral will be available with a game from day one. Nice of EA to step up and do what, for some reason, Nintendidn't.

Surprisingly, despite now being available alongside the MotionPlus, EA probably won't be able to boast the first game to support it -- or even the first tennis game. Sega hasn't announced an official date for Virtua Tennis 2009 beyond "June", but GameStop currently lists June 2.

In the past, Peter Moore has hinted at the tenuous relationship between the company he helms (EA Sports) and Nintendo's three-DVD-wide home console (the Wii). Yesterday, the leader of the highly athletic development studio fully acknowledged EA Sports' lackluster sales performance on the Wii in an interview with Eurogamer, stating, "when I look at the attach rate on the Wii of our software to where I think we should be, we're under-performing still, we need to do much better."

Moore is hoping to claim a few extra slices of that sweet Wii pie with the studio's upcoming MotionPlus-infused sports titles, Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Of course, we can't have a story about Mr. Moore without one of his trademarked Awesomely Ostentatious Quotes: "Those two titles couldn't come at a better time for us, nor for Nintendo quite frankly." Oh, yeah. That one's going up on the fridge.

As you probably already know, the latest issue of Nintendo Power blows the doors off of the recently announced sequel to the Wii's slightly disappointing, sword/gun-toting FPS launch title, Red Steel. Now that the mag has landed in a few quivering, anticipatory hands, more details about Red Steel 2 are beginning to surface.

First and foremost, the title will apparently be cel-shaded -- hinted at by the sole piece of concept art we received yesterday, and confirmed by a number of scans which are beginning to creep onto the internets. Also, we recently got confirmation from Nintendo Power itself that the game will be "Wii MotionPlus exclusive," a phrase we can only interpret to mean "you need a MotionPlus dongle to play it." (Are you guys comfortable with calling it a dongle? That's such a lovely word. Don-gle.)

We'll let you know when we hear even more facts about the game. And by facts, we don't mean "my brother's girlfriend's sister's stepmom goes to a beauty parlor where she read about Red Steel 2 while waiting for her bouffant to dry."

[Thanks, Fernando Rocker!]

Red Steel 2 is real ... and it's not really what we were expecting. The June 2009 issue of Nintendo Power will feature Ubisoft's Wii-exclusive sequel, and the cover reveals two things:

• MotionPlus makes wielding the sword feel "as real as you'd always dreamed!"
• Red Steel 2 seems to take place in the Wild West ... with swords. WTF?

Now, before you freak out, let's not forget that the Wild West and the East have merged together quite successfully in the past. If Red Steel 2 turns out anything like the Charles Bronson / Toshiro Mifune mashup Red Sun, it should be the best game ever made. Check out the cover after the break.

[Thanks, Fernando Rocker]

Thanks to a set of European trademarks, we can get a rare look at the way a peripheral's design has evolved along its development cycle. NeoGAFfer Shiggy found three trademarks for different case designs of the MotionPlus attachment. They appear in chronological order above.

It's basically the same throughout, except the bottom corners went from curving inward to curving outward! From the look of the final product, that "lip" is designed to help secure the new jacket in place. Alternate theory: the MotionPlus flares out to reduce the aerodynamic quality of the Wiimote, should it slip out of players' hands.