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.

In his latest Q&A session, Shigeru Miyamoto said he’s prioritizing the Wii MotionPlus for the next game in the Zelda series. One of the biggest complaints about Twilight Princess was that the swordplay didn’t closely enough mimic the motions of the controller.

“In this (installment of the series), we’re using MotionPlus to make you feel much more like you’re actually fighting while holding a sword in your hand,” said Miyamoto. At E3 this year Shigeru had said he wanted to make the next Zelda Wii MotionPlus exclusive, but that might not be the best idea as far as sales are concerned.

“In the previous game, you aimed at things by pointing at the screen, but this time we’ll use MotionPlus to create a much more convenient targeting system and a more pleasurable playing experience.” Sounds like music to my ears. I really despised the point-for-aiming thing, and if the Wii MotionPlus can solve some of the fencing woes, it should be a nice improvement.

The Q&A is in Japanese for now, but Nintendo usually posts an English translation shortly after.

Nintendo is happily sharing sales figures for Wii Sports Resort and the bundled Wii MotionPlus, and for good reason. Since launch, the $50 bundle has sold more than 500,000 units.

From Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo’s executive VP of sales & marketing, the news sounds something like this: “Through Monday we sold one copy of Wii Sports Resort roughly every 1.5 seconds continuously since it launched in the United States.” That’s an impressive stat, especially considering the nature of the game. Nintendo continues to successfully defy the convention of going for the hardcore market. The Wii Sports Resort sales do more than just add to Nintendo’s fat coffers, it puts the Wii MotionPlus in the hands of the public, effectively reducing the cost of all future games designed to employ the Wii MotionPlus’ advanced sensors. You won’t need to drop the extra $20 next timeyou want to play a MotionPlus enabled game.

Now, if we could only sort out what Nintendo is going to do with the Vitality Sensor.

NPD’s June report looked a little dire for most of the video game world. Hardware sales are down, software sales are down, Sony doesn’t seem to improving, etc, etc. Nintendo, however, is proving itself to be the little engine that could with this generation. Despite lagging sales numbers, the Wii MotionPlus is selling incredibly well, and Wii Sports Resort isn’t even out yet.

Let’s have a look at the numbers, shall we? You may remember the Wii only sold 361,700 units in June. Not huge numbers, and I certainly wouldn’t expect Wii MotionPlus sales to come anywhere close, especially without Wii Sports Resort. Now granted, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was shipping with the new and improved dongle, but that’s really the only game taking serious advantage of the accessory.

The MotionPlus sold almost 170,000 units in its first month, though, and that’s not counting the ones that shipped with the new Tiger game, which itself sold 272,400 units. All in all you’re talking about nearly a half a million units, and do I need to say again, Sports Resort isn’t out yet! By all accounts the game is awesome – a big improvement on the already excellent Wii Sports game. When it finally releases, you can bet you’ll see even bigger MotionPlus numbers.