NEW YORK—An oasis of sand, plastic palm trees, a kiddie pool, and interactive game kiosks cropped up on Military Island, Times Square on Wednesday.
Passersby were invited to don leis, sip tropical (non-alcoholic) drinks, and play games to participate in Nintendo’s promotion of its new game Wii Sports Resort™.
Wii Sports Resort™ billed as an “escape to reality” is the latest in Nintendo’s series of a motion controlled video games.
With a sensitivity-enhanced remote, called a Wii MotionPlus Accessory™, gamers of Wii Sports Resort can choose to play 12 games including table tennis, basketball, archery, canoeing, golf, wakeboarding, Frisbee, bowling, sword play and cycling.
“At the very moment when the wisdom of releasing the Wii is beyond dispute, it can be argued that the Motion Control Revolution has stalled—failed even—and that Wii Sports Resort is the next best hope (the last one?) to save it.” wrote Stephen Totilo at kotaku.com.
What ever the future of Motion controlled games may be, they are currently successful.
According to Nintendo’s website, their original motion controlled game Wii Sports™ attracted new players of all ages, and Wii Sports Resort™ now offers more entertainment for skilled and new players. The wand-waving crowd yesterday certainly spanned ages and seemed to enjoy their experience.