#wiimotionplusquote

PEOPLE:

Kuniaki Ito. Responsible for the Wii MotionPlus electrical circuitry.

Satoru Iwata, age 49. President of Nintendo.

Junji Takamoto. Wii MotionPlus hardware project lead.

QUOTE: Ito: When the gyro sensor's casing absorbed moisture from the air, it would affect its sensitivity. … If it absorbed so much as a tiny amount of water, it would swell up and put pressure on the sensor which would prevent it from functioning properly. … In order to prevent that, you have to ensure that when it's being manufactured, it is in a completely dry environment. But even if you do that, it's inevitable that when players use it, it will absorb some moisture. …

Iwata: How did you solve this tricky issue?

Ito: We made it absorb moisture right from the start, but in a controlled and efficient manner. … So we boiled the entire circuit board.

Iwata: Circuit boards aren't normally something you boil, you know! [laughs]

PEOPLE:

Eiji Aonuma, age 46. Producer of Skyward Sword.

PEOPLE:

Keizo Ota. Programming support on Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. SDK Developer for Wii MotionPlus.

Satoru Iwata, age 49. President of Nintendo.

QUOTE: "Ota: The sensitivity of the [Wii MotionPlus] gyro sensor's detection ability could be adversely affected by changes in the surrounding temperature. … Normally, if something is not in motion, the data being sent back should read zero. But in the case of the gyro sensor, even when it's perfectly still, data that reads one or two will start to be sent back after a while.

Iwata: So although no one is touching it, it's behaving as if it were in motion.