I saw this, and my inner Nintendo fan-boy fell down and wept.

I get the feeling that no one will want this. There's a difference between buying Wii Fit to play some excersising mini games, and dropping how ever this will be to let the Wii tell you your pulse.

I lol'd SO hard. This whole presentation was seriously lacking IMHO. Oh well, Super Mario Bros. Wii looked really cool. So did Mario Galaxy 2. Don't know about Metroid yet.

Seriously, wtf?

I suppose if you had a good idea this might actually be useful for something. I mean, how about a survival horror game that changes what's going on based on your heart rate? If you're all nice and calm, it starts throwing stuff at you from all directions and eases up a little when you start to panic?

Obviously, this will be Nintendo's answer to Natal.

Am I the only one who thought Iwata was joking when he announced this?

Maybe it contacts the hospital just before I have a heart attack due to rage.

Actually,as Iwata was talking about this. All I could think of was Eternal Darkness 2.

There's uses for it if you think about it. Not many, but there are good uses for it.

The Meat: I don't understand how a pulse sensor is the same as bringing the doctor to your house. In fact, it's only 1/3 of the basic, BASIC diagnostic tests that are so simple the non-doctors are allowed to perform them on you at a clinic. (Blood pressure, pulse, temperature would be the three.) Especially when measuring your pulse is the one diagnostic you can actually do anywhere for free without any equipment.

The only thing I can think it'd work really well in is a horror title to guage how scared you are and where you have to try and remain calm.

There is no defense for sh*t like this. Don't even attempt to put a positive spin on it. There is no fun attached to this. It is crap, another pointless peripheral that will do nothing. I can put my finger on my neck or wrist for 15 seconds and count my heart rate. I don't need a $20 piece of f***ing sh*t to do that for me.

Nintendo fans, listen to your company. They are focused on the "maybe" gamers...that's not you.

I really thought this was a joke. Like... how in god's name can they actually be serious?

Its a sexy ed game/peripheral. I can already see stuff getting caught in there!

I can thank of some decent ways for this to be included in gaming. Yes.

However. Can I honestly say that I feel video games get my heart pumping with fear or excitement? Not really. Matter of factly, I don't think my heart rate increses much at all when i'm gaming. I get oo'd and ah'd, but I don't see a bus getting tossed at me, as in InFamous, and say "HOLY SHIT, BUS!" and dive out of the way.

In order for that to happen, I need MUCH more immersion. I need Nintendo to work with Johnny Lee and actually release a headtracking peripheral to make me feel like the game is actually in a 3D space, rather than something just on my screen.

Aside from this, I can only see it being realistically used in things like Wii Fit. Well that and your occasional oddity, such as Crank: The Video Game - a joke I made on Kotaku about this peripheral. For that, it could work. Could also kill a lot of people by forcing them to have high heart rates for extended periods of time, *nod*. But a Crank'ish game would fit well with a peripheral like this.. Assuming they can turn down the size. Going to be hard to use a controller with that thing around your finger.

Nintendo is better at trolling Nintendo fanboys than even Jim Sterling.

Nintendo wants to see if people are actually playing after they buy a Wii.

Part of Nintendo's Fit / health thing. Japan i think would be more open to this, they have toilets that diagnose your 'emissions' after all - the wii is being sheparded towards a multifunctional, household, interactive 'device' more than a "games console".

One for the collectors closest I guess, should fit easily next to Robby the Robot and the Virtal Boy.

. . . ok.

I am willing to entertain the idea that a survival horror game could make some really awesome uses for this, BUT the thing looks very obtrusive. I would have trouble holding the wii controller and pressing buttons with this on one of my fingers.

Grandmas can simulate skydiving in Wii Sports Resort, but because Nintendo thought that it might be TOO EXTREME, they'll also monitor your blood pressure at the same time. Coupons for Lipitor included.

WHAT POURPOSE COULD THIS SEREVE, there is no way to make something like this even remotly fun, scratch that you couldnt make this remotly useful. what were they thinking.

Now Nintendo knows how many people die playing wii in a year! =D

@Dennen Obviously you've never played Resident Evil 2 (way back in the day...)
The mirror scene, where the Licker jumps out from reflective glass? Scariest moment of anything i've ever seen.
I literally went "HOLY SHIT LICKER!!!!!" and unloaded three clips on it. It was dead after the first, I just wanted to make sure it was dead. True survival horror gets your pulse racing.
Also the RE4 scene with the Regeneradors, that scared the shit out of me- I had Iron Maiden* nightmares for weeks
*not the metal band, the monster that stuck spikes out of its body