Last year at CES, Nyko introduced the Wand, a Wiimote replacement with a feature called Trans-Port that allows the use of extra accessories with sound and vibration support. It’s a little gimmicky, but it also came out cheaper than a Wiimote if I remember correctly.

This year Nyko added to the line with the Wand+, a model of the Wand that adds, you guessed it, a Wii MotionPlus. Now, it’s not really a Wii MotionPlus since that would involve some patent infringement and whatnot, but it does support full 1:1 motion control, so you can use it with any WMP-enabled game. The unit looks to be about the same size as the original Wiimote, sans the MotionPlus dongle, so you save a little cupboard space along with the cash. Yes, the Wand+ is cheaper than a Wiimote/WMP bundle at just $40.

Anyone surprised? Anyone at all? Thought not.

This is about the most uninspiring bit of Nintendo news ever, but it’s definitely worth at least noting, and probably congratulating Iwata and company on their great success. In just over a week’s time Wii Sports Resort has sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone.

Those numbers are pretty impressive, whether you expected them or not. As several commenters have pointed out on various sites, this is a game that really goes after the casual player. I’d expect it to spread much like Mario Kart did. I, for one, really hated the Wii’s Mario Kart when I first played it. A few attempts later with a group of friends, though, and I was enjoying myself. It gave us something fun to do in between a late lunch and our evening festivities. I’d expect WSR to have the same, “not a bad way to spend an afternoon” appeal for a lot of people. It just might take some time for more of those folks to buy it.

A recent article at Ars Technica asks the question that’s been probing my mind and checking my pulse for a few weeks. What is Nintendo going to do with the Wii Vitality Sensor?

I’m sure many of you have had the same thought on your minds, but I know I hadn’t really considered Nintendo’s strategy until I read what Ars writer, Ben Kuchera, had to say. The Vitality Sensor is more than just a strange product; it’s a break from Nintendo’s traditional strategy concerning peripherals.

Nintendo has been able to sell just about anything to anyone recently, but mostly for one reason: the killer app. For the Balance Board it was Wii Fit. For the MotionPlus it was Wii Sports Resort. For the Vitality Sensor there is still nothing. No raison d’etre that makes me think, “Yeah, this is going to work.”

There doesn’t seem to be one on the horizon, either. With the other titles I mentioned, the hardware and the software were announced almost simultaneously, giving consumers dreams of a new device and the desire to stand in line just for a shot at the new experience. The Vitality Sensor, on the other hand, has everyone staring at each other, scratching cranium. The potential uses are pedestrian at best and competition for Lunesta at worst.

Miyamoto still wants your trust, though. He’s convinced that what Nintendo will do will be enough to sell the new peripheral. “I don’t have any indication for you [of what we have in the works] other than to say that we have lots of very creative ideas,” he said to the Mercury News. I think it was meant to inspire confidence, to remind the masses of just what Nintendo has done in the past. He seems to have forgotten, though, that the past has been putting Nintendo’s fat wallet right behind its fat mouth, making games that showcase the idea behind the peripheral.

If Nintendo wants my confidence, I expect them to earn it in exactly the way they’ve earned it in the past. Gamers and game manufacturers have an open relationship. There’s nothing that says we have to love everything they do, even if we have a fanboyish history of loving what they’ve done. Show me the creative genius of the Vitality Sensor and I’ll let you know if I believe it. Until then, please Shigeru, stop talking about it.