I played the last Zelda game on the Wii, and just couldn’t get into it. The controls felt a little odd to me, and I just couldn’t get into the game. That may change in the next game however, since in a recent interview Miyamoto said that they new Zelda game will use the MotionPlus accessory, making the sword fights more realistic and less like you are pointing at the screen.

At this point, that’s all we really know. The poster released at E3 really didn’t give us any major clues about the future of the franchise, and Nintendo ain’t talking yet. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Why you ask? Well, my good friend, Nintendo is releasing a new Wii Sports Resort bundle on October 12 that will cost $60 instead of $50. But that extra $10 will get you another MotionPlus add-on, which is totally worth it. See, don’t ever say CrunchGear doesn’t love you.

Short Version: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with the Wii MotionPlus accessory is the closest you can get to a true golf simulation for $60. The already-great series gets a nice boost this year with true one-to-one motion sensing, addictive online play, and a bevy of other new features that easily justify the purchase.

Long Version: There’s nothing worse than shelling out for a new title in a sports series year after year, only to find that the “new” game you’re playing hasn’t changed much at all from the previous year. It’s my opinion that last year’s Tiger Woods game actually took a step backwards from the year before, due in large part to its cumbersome putting system and duller-than-dull audio commentary. We finally got online multiplayer in Tiger Woods ’09 for the Wii, but I felt that it didn’t bring much else to the table.

Well another year has passed (actually, not even a whole year — Tiger Woods ’09 came out last fall) and I’m happy to report that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 has really turned into a phenomenal golf game. There’s still room for improvement, but this year’s version has few, if any, glaring faults. Certainly none big enough to keep you from buying the game.

Let’s run down a big list of features, shall we?

Graphics

In-game graphics haven’t changed all that much from last year or the year before, at least not noticeably. There’s still a somewhat cartoony look to all the players and you’re not going to get advanced shading and high-definition textures like you’d see on the PS3 or Xbox 360, but this year does finally add gallery crowds. It’s a nice addition even though the people in the crowd are mostly static onlookers with a little movement here and there.

The 27 included real-life golf courses are rendered well and should be easily recognizable to any golf fan, and weather conditions play a bigger role in this year’s offering with especially nice-looking rain effects. All in all, the in-game graphics look pretty good but nothing really appears to have been overhauled.

Menu graphics, on the other hand, have taken a step forward, with big icons and animated backgrounds making up an intuitive interface. It seems simple and uncluttered, even though there are plenty of menus and submenus.

Sound

Again, not a whole lot has changed. In-game sound effects are familiar, although some whispering and shushing from the new gallery spectators has been added.

The broadcast commentary has made a fair-to-middling improvement, with Kelly Tilghmann back in the booth alongside ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, who replaces the almost-depressing Sam Torrance from last year’s game.

Van Pelt offers up some mildly funny to downright mediocre one-liners that seem as though they didn’t make the cut for an episode of Sports Center. I can’t really describe the experience other than at first being like “Oh wow, Scott Van Pelt does the voice work on this game — nice!” and then once you hear it, you’re like “Oh wow, Scott Van Pelt is much, much, much more entertaining on TV.”

To make matters worse, some of the audio is just plain off. Van Pelt will say “Looks like this putt’s gonna break right, Kelly” even though the green grid and putt preview show it breaking left. There’s also been a few instances where I’ve left a twenty foot putt a good five feet short and Tilghmann has said something along the lines of “Now that is a wonderful putt.”

At least this year, though, you don’t need to turn the commentary off. If I could offer some advice to EA for next year, take a note from MLB 2K9. It’s got some nice, natural commentary that makes it seem like you’re watching an actual baseball game. With this year’s Tiger, I still don’t feel like I’m watching golf on TV quite yet.

Wii MotionPlus

Hands down, the best thing about this year’s game. There’s no reason you shouldn’t purchase the $60 bundle with the MotionPlus add-on over the standalone version of the game. Wii MotionPlus and Tiger Woods golf go together like peanut butter and bananas. Or chocolate. Or jelly.

Want to take a 50% swing? Pull the club back halfway. Three-quarter shot? Take it back to just above your shoulder. Fades and draws finally work reliably, approach shots are easy to execute, and putting — my God, the putting. It’s finally phenomenal.

The new “Precision Putting” feature works just like your real putter. I find myself visualizing a ten-foot putt in my living room, swinging as though I’m putting a golf ball from my feet to my TV, and watching the ball in the game go ten feet. EA has done a wonderful job — total redemption from last year’s putting interface.

The one shortcoming of the in-game swing mechanic is that, compared to hitting a good golf shot in real-life, everything in the game still has to be exagerrated somewhat. You’re still going to have to swing a bit harder to hit a shot at 100% in the game, whereas on a real-life tee box you’d want to take a nice, easy backswing followed by a nice, smooth followthrough. When you swing nice and controlled in the game, you’ll often find that it’ll result in around 80 to 90 percent worth of shot power. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but it’s there.

Chipping, flop shots, and pitching are all way, way, way improved this year. It’s much easier to hit partial swings accurately. It’s quite a difference.

Online Play, Dynamic Weather

There are two classes of gamers: those who like online multiplayer and those who like to play alone. I fall squarely into the second camp, except that I’m addicted to online play in Tiger Woods 10. Why? Because you can play online, alone.

Aside from playing true multiplayer matches just like last year, you can now participate in daily and weekly tournaments where you find yourself playing an 18-hole round against everybody else. Lowest score for that daily or four-day weekly tournament wins.

Even better, you can play against all the pros in real-time as they play in major tournaments. As long as the course is in the game, you can play along and see your score on the in-game leaderboard against all the pros in the field.

Wait, it gets better.

There are also real-time weather conditions pulled down from the Wii Forecast Channel. So for instance, yesterday (June 18th, 2009) it was raining like hell on the US Open, which was being played on the Bethpage Black Course in the New York area (play actually got suspended in real life).

So I fire up Tiger Woods 10 yesterday, hop online, and it’s raining like hell in the game. The greens are slow, the leaders are only one under par, and I’m fighting for my life to avoid double-bogeying holes since the conditions are so awful.

Dynamic weather extends to the offline version of the game, too. I put in a little time on my career golfer today and while playing TPC Sawgrass, it started raining — just like it actually did in Ponte Vedra, Florida yesterday. Really cool stuff.

Career Mode

Career Mode is similar to years’ past. You start out trying to make it on the tour, adding skill points and upgrading to better equipment, winning sponsorships, and that kind of stuff. You can also jump right into the FedEx Cup, which is a four tournament elimination-style playoff.

The career mini-games also make an appearence this year, although they’re much more straightforward and subdued from years’ past. Instead of challenging golfers head on, you try to repeat great moments in real-life tournaments. So you’ll have a scenario like “Tiger Woods birdied all the par three’s on this course back in 2003, see if you can do the same.” Stuff like that. The scenarios involving Tiger begin with a video of him talking about what happened along with some clips from the tournament.

I think it works pretty well — better than previous years where it’d be like “Let’s have a chipping contest against Natalie Gulbis” or “Play against John Daly on all the par four’s on this course.” It’s more realistic now and doesn’t take as long to advance since you don’t have to wait for CPU golfers to take their shots.

Other Features and Mini-games

Most of the multiplayer mini-games and “Golf Party” stuff has returned this year. It’s fun and adds a nice social element to the game. Disc Golf, in particular, is super fun and makes really good use of the MotionPlus controller. I find it to be almost as addictive as the online tournament features. You can play all of the 17 courses with nothing more than long-, medium-, and short-range Frisbees. I thought it’d be gimmicky, but it’s actually quite enjoyable.

Conclusion

All in all, there’s plenty of “stuff” in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.  The game can appeal to just about anyone, whether you’re a serious golfer, a serious disc golfer, you have a few friends over, or you want to play online.

For longtime fans of the Tiger Woods golf games, PGA Tour 10 will remind you why you fell in love with the series in the first place. Wii MotionPlus makes an excellent debut and adds an entirely new level of depth to the game, the real-time weather and online tournaments are amazing, and the core gameplay itself is realistic and wildly enjoyable at the same time. This year’s edition is a must-buy for any true fan.

Like this video? View more here…

New to Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Wii this year is the “Disc Golf” feature, which allows you to play all of the in-game courses as a disc golfer. I figured it’d be gimmicky at best.

Well, I was wrong. It’s fun, and it’s a great use of the MotionPlus add-on. If you’ve ever played disc golf before, you’ll probably enjoy playing it in the game. If you’ve never played, it’s not rocket science: throw Frisbee at target, repeat.

Check out the above video for a gameplay demo. I get a triple bogey on the 1st hole at St. Andrews, then follow up with a birdie on the famous 17th hole island green at TPC Sawgrass.

Like this video? View more here…

But you know what they say: “People buy a lot of accessories for the Wii and often those accessories tend to be a bit overpriced, but people still buy them anyway.” I think that’s how the saying goes.

If you’re planning on buying Wii Sports Resort at $50, it’ll include a MotionPlus add-on. However, it looks like EA Sports’ Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis will NOT include the MotionPlus sensor as both items indicate that it’s sold separately. Scratch that. Bundles will be available. You can get Tiger Woods 10 with the MotionPlus add-on at Newegg for $56.99 — apparently Grand Slam Tennis is still a standalone title ($46.99), though.

I’m a big, fat sucker who’s a glutton for punishment guy who’ll get an okay deal after all, so I’ll eventually be laying out a grand total of $70 $57 for Tiger and the MotionPlus doodad.

Wii MotionPlus [Amazon via dealnews]

What’s the best way to encourage the adoption of strange video game accessory? Right, bundle it with a popular video game, like Nintendo did with the Rumble Pak and Star Fox 64 nearly 12 years ago. (God, 12 years!) Now EA is helping to ensure that the Wii MotionPlus isn’t a huge bust by shipping it with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. The game comes out this summer, but no North American prices have been revealed yet for the bundle.

As you already know, the Wii MotionPlus is a small accessory that you plug into the base of your Wii remote control that enhances the controller’s sensitivity. And what better way to demonstrate that enhanced sensitivity than with a golf game? (Of course, the new Wii Sports comes bundled with MotionPlus, too. Nintendo likes to hedge its bets.)

Do a barrel roll!

Photo: Flickr

The Wiimote add-on should be available on June 8th by itself for $19.99. However, you may want to hold off until July 26 when Wii Sports Resorts drops for $50 and includes the add-on. There should be third-party games available before the bundle pack is available if you can’t wait.

Suddenly the Wii is getting a tad pricey, don’t ya think? Nintendo is hella good at nickel and dime’n. The Wiimote is $40, Nunchaku is $20, and now add in the Wii MotionPlus for $20. All together, a fully equipped Wii controller setup now costs $80 before batteries. Ouch.

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nintendo is setting the stage for a blockbuster summer with the announcement of two hotly anticipated product releases. The new Wii MotionPlus™ accessory will hit U.S. retailers on June 8, taking the motion-sensing controls of the popular Wii™ system to new levels of precision and performance. What’s more, these control enhancements will be on vibrant display when the Wii Sports Resort™ game launches on July 26, offering a beach-themed follow-up to the groundbreaking Wii Sports™ game. Wii Sports comes packed with the Wii console. It grew into a worldwide phenomenon and continues to attract millions of new players to the world of video games. Each Wii Sports Resort game comes packed with a single Wii MotionPlus accessory.

When used with specially designed games, Wii MotionPlus tracks players’ movements in finer detail and with greater accuracy than ever before, building upon the innovative wireless function of the motion-sensing Wii Remote™ controller. Even the slightest twist of the wrist or turn of the body is replicated exactly on the TV screen, allowing users to become even more immersed in Wii game play. Designed for easy attachment to the Wii Remote controller, the Wii MotionPlus accessory will be offered at an MSRP of $19.99.

Wii Sports Resort takes the inclusive, fun and intuitive controls of the original Wii Sports to the next level, introducing a whole new set of entertaining and physically immersive activities. With the deep control enhancements of Wii MotionPlus, veteran Wii users and newcomers alike can enjoy unprecedented gaming precision as they cruise on a water scooter, duel with swords, throw a Frisbee® and much more. Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus will be offered together at an MSRP of $49.99.

“Wii MotionPlus represents a new evolution in video game control. The variety of fun games in Wii Sports Resort show off its incredible precision,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Developers around the world are busy working on new ways to incorporate Wii MotionPlus controls into inventive experiences for consumers.”

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com. For more information about Nintendo, visit www.Nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 2.8 billion video games and more than 485 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

To be honest, though, I couldn’t care less about the frisbee game or the increased sensitivity. It’s the jetski game I’m all about. Wave Race 64 has needed a successor for a long time. That and Kid Icarus. And Strider.

The company told Computer and Video Games, “No date was ever announced for MotionPlus — so technically it can’t be delayed.” Well crafted, Nintendo.

It should be noted that a quote like “It’ll be on time” or “It’s not delayed” might have done more to dispel the rumors than the actual quote, which basically tells us that it’ll get here when it gets here.

Whatever the case, the game that’s supposed to ship with MotionPlus, Wii Sports Resort, has indeed gone from a “Spring 2009” release to simply a “2009” release.

CVG [via Kotaku]

Potentially bad news for those of us patiently awaiting Nintendo’s MotionPlus peripheral for the Wii – it might be delayed. According to IGN Wii’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, “Nintendo is internally struggling with Wii MotionPlus, trying to figure out a few hiccups.”

Nintendo’s first game to take advantage of the MotionPlus add-on, Wii Sports Resort, has also had its ship date changed from “Spring 2009” to just “2009” according to Kotaku, another sign that the peripheral will be delayed. It was previously thought to be available in June.

My biggest concern is whether or not MotionPlus will be available for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, which is due on June 16th and will make use of the ultra-sensitive controller add-on. The game apparently doesn’t require MotionPlus, so it’s very possible that TW10 be released on time with our without the add-on from Nintendo.

[via Kotaku]

If the add-on is supposed to come out before the Tennis game (according to Nintendo Power), and the Tennis game comes out on June 18th, the conclusions are obvious, Watson. Of course, if that Nintendo Power article is just nonsense written by Nintendo months ago before the delay of the MotionPlus, everything changes. But that couldn’t be!

The first two EA Sports MotionPlus-compatible games for the Wii will be shipping on June 16th, according to a company press release. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis will both make use of the super-precise MotionPlus add-on for the Wii-mote.

EA Sports is promising “near-perfect 1:1 swing” mechanics for TW10 and “the deepest tennis experience ever for the Wii” with Grand Slam Tennis. I’ll be most interested in how Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 makes use of MotionPlus but the tennis game sounds interesting too with the drop shots and the lobs and the spins and whatnot. Golf first, though. Always golf first.

Still no word on whether or not the games will ship with the MotionPlus peripheral included but the fact that there was no mention of that in the press release leads me to believe that we’ll have to pay out of pocket for the add-on.

If you’re like me, you’ve been a longtime fan of the Tiger Woods games on the Wii but you were disappointed with Tiger Woods 09’s mere incremental upgrades and overly frustrating putting system. If you’re not like me, you probably yelled at me for being down on the game, accusing me of never playing golf in real life and wondering why-oh-why anyone would pay me to write about gadgets for a living. Let’s put all that behind us and wait patiently for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, as it’ll be called, which will feature MotionPlus.

I can almost guarantee that TW10 for the Wii will be an excellent game. As I said in my review of Tiger Woods ‘09, “Nintendo Wii, as a gaming system, was meant for golf.” I’ll soon say, “MotionPlus, as an add-on for the Wii-mote, was meant for golf, which as you’ll recall, is what the Wii was meant for. I mean, for which the Wii was meant. For what which the Wii was—damn it, crap hell poo.” I have some time to work on the new quote.

At any rate, the addition of MotionPlus should make the already-solid driving and long iron game in Tiger Woods even better, but what I’m most excited about is how things will hopefully improve once you start getting closer and closer to the green. Flop shots, pitch shots, chipping, and the like have always been kind of a crap shoot on the Wii. The precision and accuracy that MotionPlus promises ought to make the short game much more realistic.

Putting, too. I’m hoping MotionPlus allows EA to implement a super simple putting system. With any luck, it’ll be just like real life. If you’re 30 feet from the cup, you’ll hit the ball harder than you would if you were five feet from the cup. A nice, straightforward back-and-forth putting system – no club changes, minimal left-and-right positioning, just taaap it in. Just taaap it in.

There’s currently no hard and fast pricing for the MotionPlus add-on but word on the street is that it’ll come bundled for free with Wii Sports Resort, which is due this spring. Perhaps they’ll bundle it with other games as well.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told the Wall Street Journal the following:

There will be games that will be enhanced by the Wii Motion Plus as well as games that can only be played with it. Users will need four if they have four controllers, but we’re going to try to offer it for as little as possible. We haven’t announced the price yet, but the cost of making the Wii MotionPlus is not that much, so I think we can make it very affordable.

It’d be nice if it was priced at $9.99 or less on its own or included with early MotionPlus-enhanced games, but I’d think something closer to $15 to $20 might be more on-target.

[via Joystiq]