Motion Controllers: For Future Generations, or Just a Fad?
The Video Game industry has come a long way, especially in recent years with this generation of consoles. Each major company pushing the competition forward, bringing video games to where we stand today. A major question has been coming up, not only with fans, but also with publishers, who seem to be either for or against it, is the introduction of motion controllers. Is this the future of video games? Or will this die out in future years to come, being left in the dust?
The arrival of the Nintendo Wii brought many people with uncertainty of what Nintendo was trying to do, not having flashy graphics but with a family oriented console based around a motion controller. The answers quickly came as the Wii could not be found on shelves, not only at launch, but for the first 2 years of its life span. It quickly ran to the front of the sales charts, and Sony and Microsoft sat back wondering where they had gone wrong. Immediately they began to develop their own adaptation to the Wii controller. Microsoft revealed Kinect, a controllerless way to interact with games, linking gamer to Xbox as one. Sony reveals Move, a similar product with a motion controller for each hand, but utilizing the eye camera for an extra dimension in the playing field. Ironically as these companies revealed there answer to the Wii, sales of the Wii dropped significantly as sales of both the Xbox and Playstation began to increase. Mind you this was aided by new slim consoles with a lowered price tag. While the Wii sales decreased, a drop in grade A product developed for the Wii basically came to a stand still. No new big name titles came out on the Wii as often as the other 2 companies. This is where motion may have met its mark. It was a new idea, and it was done well by Nintendo, utilizing simple, easy to pick up and play games that attracted a large audience. With time, these games became poorly developed and became far to repetitive. Motion had hit a stand-still. Now, can Microsoft and Sony use motion to its advantage? Or will they simply follow the path of Nintendo, using motion of small, easy to play games, which over time becomes repetitive?
My own personal opinion is they may utilize things in ways that Nintendo failed to do, and new innovations may spark motion again, but in all honesty, will you pick up Gears of war or Killzone and play with the motion controller? I know I would not, it simply just does not feel right just yet. Keep in mind that Microsoft and Sony’s new controllers have yet to hit the market, and they may pull out innovation that I simply am overlooking, but as for what I can see right now, most hardcore gamers, playing games such as Halo and Call of Duty, will not use, or may not even buy these new controllers, causing the whole concept to basically become a thing of the past, leaving us with the standard controllers we are used to. I am very interested in everyones opinion on motion gaming, so please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
US_ARMY
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8 / 5 / 2010 10:16 pm
I’m going to test out the Move first at Best Buy. And, as long as it works like has been shown, I’m going to get it. Motion controllers are obviously not a fad since the Wii has enjoyed so much success for so long. Had it died off after the first year or so, then it could have been called a fad. However, the reason why I’m drawn to the Move moreso than the Wii’s Wiimote is because the Move is tracked 1:1 and is extremely precise. This really will allow it to do more things than the Wii is capable of. If you all haven’t seen the chamelion demo for the Move, go to Youtube and search for it. It shows one example of what the Move can do to differentiate itself from the Wii as well as Kinect. I’m looking forward to using the Move (if it proves to work when I test it out at Best Buy) for Killzone 3 and to create levels in LBP 2.
8 / 18 / 2010 4:32 pm
I think you should hold onto your money. You’re literally making a huge mistake. You may not have heard of the Sixense TrueMotion, but it looks a LOT better than that Sony Move. Go to the Sixense website, hold onto your money for a half a year or so and wait for the Truemotion.
8 / 5 / 2010 10:52 pm
hey, nice to see you US_ARMY, good article.
8 / 6 / 2010 4:45 am
PSMove adds a whole new concept to motion controlling. Theres a lot more you can do with it. Just look at some of the tech demos. But as far a kinect goes, i going to be just like the wii with being repetitive. it doesn’t allow for a wide range of versatility. if you guys remember the eyetoy, it wasn’t all that great. granted, kinect is more advanced than the eyetoy but it still doesn’t solve the feasibility of the system.
8 / 6 / 2010 6:55 am
Motion Controllers will be around and they won’t FAIL. These Controllers, MOVE in particular, are what they say they are. These things are controllers, they’re another way to control. Decades of gaming has evolved the “Control pad” as it’s standard default control scheme and developers have tailored video games to fit the default. Now that we are introducing an alternative to the standard controller, motion control will have to mimic, and when it does, that is when gaming and control becomes repetitive. So for The alternative to work and flourish, it is up to the developers to evolve and change. to sprout new imaginative ideas and creative thoughts, to tailor a new genre of gaming with Motion Control.
8 / 6 / 2010 7:39 am
I think depending on the reception of both Kinect and Move, Motion gaming may HAVE to become a future in gaming. Sony microsoft & nintendo cant really just come out with these motion controls and then go right back to normal analog controllers, Next gen.
I assume all the company’s will continually build upon motion controls, perhaps evolving them to something, we are’t currently thinking of at the moment. I do think motion controls will always be along side, the normal hand-held controller, for more hardcore gaming.
8 / 7 / 2010 4:52 am
Welcome back US…. you should be in the next podcast..