Yesterday I was listening to IGN's Game Scoop podcast. On there, Nintendo editor Craig Harris made an interesting comment that got me thinking. During a discussion about the PlayStation Move's "modest" debut, Craig Harris brought up how while everyone is playing catch-up with motion gaming, Nintendo isn't focusing so much on motion any more. The example he used was that nearly all of Nintendo's major releases for the holiday season are traditional games with no special use of the motion controller. Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Goldeneye are those games.
Now of course I realize that there are games that do have special uses of the Wiimote. Games like Epic Mickey and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword have great use of motion and in a unique way. But looking through a list of Wii releases for the next few months, those are the only two big Wii titles that use the Wii-mote that way. Other high profile titles for the Wii, such as The Grinder and The Conduit 2 are just standard FPS's that use the Wii-mote in a standard way.
If you look at where Nintendo stands now, you can probably see that they are definitely focusing more on their newest handheld device, the 3DS and on 3D in general. Nintendo has definitely been doing a lot more to push the 3DS into people's view than they are with Wii/Wii Motion Plus. I even wonder, is Nintendo done with the Wii?
The system has been out for four years now (just nearing that four year mark) and Nintendo's console cycle could very well be coming to an end within the next year or so. Nintendo pushed motion as the next best thing and it worked. Now it's run its course as Sony and Microsoft attempt to play catch up and they move on to bigger and better things (though to be fair, Sony is also working on 3D, just not in the same manner). 3D is what's next for Nintendo and if they treat it anything like the Wii, it'll be in the hands of every man, woman, and child about a year after its release. 3D technology though has been around for some time, Nintendo is simply updating it. My question is, what will they do next?
