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May 3, 2011

Little late, Nintendo: Wii Vitality Sensor still coming, says Iwata

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I guess you could say its still got a pulse,
am I right? Eh? Eh?
Anyone remember the Wii Vitality Sensor? You know, that thing you clamp onto your index finger so that it can gauge your pulse? Yeah, I barely do, too. Details on the device have been mostly nill since its debut at Nintendo's E3 2009 press conference. The only details we've gotten since then were from a patent that uncovered a bit of how the Viality Sensor will be used in games back in October of last year. Given the dearth of info, you'd think the thing was quietly canceled or something.

Not so, surprisingly enough.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated today, as part of a Q&A with investors, that the peripheral hasn't been canceled and is still on track for release... eventually. What's the hold up? The individuality of human biology and the difficulties it provides.

As the quote Joystiq pulled puts it: "This is a totally new type of entertainment," Iwata said, "and there are large individual differences in the biological information of humans. For example, if it was acceptable that only 80% of the users thought the result was natural, then we could propose this to consumers right now. However, we are aiming for a level of quality in which 99% percent of consumers feel comfortable, and that is why this project is taking time to complete." He also added that he "cannot clearly say when we will be ready to put this on the market." So a release window is still up in the air.

It's also unclear whether or not the Vitality Sensor will still be Wii peripheral or not. With a new console on the horizon, I'd think that it would at the very least be compatible with the new platform. But then, it might be something that Nintendo will hold back purposely to try giving the Wii some extra life, much like how the PlayStation Move and Kinect were made with the intent of expanding their respective platforms' lifespans. Who knows. Here's hoping this year's E3 will shed some light on this matter.

Source: Joystiq

2 comments:

  1. I'm willing to be this vitality stuff is going nowhere. I'm surprised they're still bothering with going through with it.

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  2. I imagine it's just a case where they've poured too much money into it at this point to just scrap it. They never have seemed like one to just waste time and resources on something like this only to drop it, especially after they've already showed it off to the public once.

    ReplyDelete

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