Wii MotionPlus Now Shipping; Modders Rubbing Hands In Anticipation

We're hearing that Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus accessory is beginning to ship from Amazon, with preorder customers receiving emails telling them their Wiimote add-on is on its way.  The MotionPlus dongle, which clips onto the base of the Wii's controller, went up for preorder back at the start of May, priced at $19.99; it brings with it greater motion recognition accuracy.

That extra accuracy will mean that upcoming titles supporting the MotionPlus will be far better at tracking gamer movement.  At launch, said-titles will include Virtua Tennis 2009, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Grand Slam Tennis and Wii Sports Resort.  All are sold separately, though Nintendo will be offering a bundle of Sports Resort and the MotionPlus for $50.

However, the hackers who have already found the Wiimote to be a useful motion-controller for their own projects will also likely find some use from the MotionPlus.  Long-time SlashGear tipster Robert Oschler points us to the WiiLi modding community, who are looking to develop a low-cost telemetry suit (where you move, and the robot moves with you; as opposed to in the video below, where movements are triggered by gesture recognition).  Currently telemetry suits are expensive and specialist; the MotionPlus could be the first step in turning that around.