Motion Control Inquiry

[lenguy]

The world was first introduced to motion controls back in 2006 when Nintendo first launched their newest revolutionary home console the Wii. The months leading up the release were meet with buzz and speculation. Just how well would Nintendo's new motion control based system work? What kind of games were we to expect and in what ways would this new feature this new gaming technology? How well would it be implemented? What kind of impact would it have? Despite all the scrutiny the console has gone under by developers and consumers alike,and whether you hate it or you don't, you cannot deny the major success Nintendos new console has become. So successful in fact, Sony and Microsoft wanted a piece of the pie and developed their own motion control based devices. For Sony you have the Playstation Move(some would argue the move is just a carbon copy rip off the Nintendos Wii-mote). For Microsoft you have the Kinect(people would also argue the Kinect is just a rip off of Sony's Eyetoy). Nintendo it seems has ushered in a new generation of gaming and gamers(the casual type). Yet despite all the success the console has brought Nintendo,it still leaves many people weary and unconvinced.

Five years later, as I scroll through message boards on gaming sites and other sites, I can't help but notice the still very present amount of hostility motion controls bring. People claim they would rather sit on their couches on their lazy behinds and just relax with a regular standard controller in hand, the way gaming was meant to be, or so they say. These people don't want to stand for extended periods of times waving and flaying their arms all over the place,jumping up and down and running around. Then there are the people who claim the Wii-mote is nothing more than waggle technology and isn't pure motion control precision. Going even further, people blame the sheer amount of shovel-ware being released on the console,games directed towards the casual that don't make proper use of the technology. Others remain close minded and simply hate motion controls for whatever reason they can dig up. To these people, motion controls are simply nothing but a fad.

I for one can understand all the ill will the technology has brought, I got over it and I welcomed the new direction for gaming. I remember everybody was completely indifferent when the D.S first was introduced and its almost completely won everybody over and went on to become the most successful handheld in history(if I'm not mistaken). I think people are just afraid of change and as a result they feel the need to shun out any positive outcome that motion controls could bring. They completely close their mind to the possibilities and see things in their own ignorant tunnel vision world. Motion controls to them are view as a threat because if one thing was evident,throughout the lifespan of the Wii, Nintendo seemed to focus on the casuals and seemingly almost abandoned the hardcore. With both Sony and Microsoft introducing their own spin offs to their own motion controls, fans of these systems fear the same will happen to them. If any of you were paying attention to E3 this year,Microsoft's especially, then you know it was almost all exclusively geared towards Kinect. This display left many people concerned that Microsoft will also abandon the hardcore market in favor of the casual.

I keep saying it but gaming has to evolve past the controller at some point. I want new and exciting ways to play my games and not essentially be forced to go through the same experience(button tapping) for another 20 or 30 years before somebody gets brave enough to try something different(thank god for Nintendo). I mean I have been playing gaming since I first got my hands on the original NES back in the day and 20 years later it just feels as if I'm playing the same gaming experience since those early days only with superior graphics. Motion controls are still young and haven't been really given enough time to flourish and be perfected. Yet I know some people have already made up their minds and have decided that nothing will change their opinion on motion controls, to them, they have ruined the gaming industry as we know it.

So! Here are a few questions to think about in this discussion.

What is your honest opinion about motion controls? Has your opinion changed over the years? If so,why or why not. Are you a fan of the technology at all? Would you agree its nothing more than a fad? Will Motion controls ultimately hurt the industry as a whole in the long run? Please explain your answer.

 

[Karilas]

The world was first introduced to motion controls back in 2006

The world was first introduced to motion controls long before that.

To be honest with you I kinda stopped reading after that, a little bit of fact checking could've reminded you of the power glove, or the baseless race wheel that was thrown around in the nineties, or any number of accelerometer based devices that have been kicking around a lot longer than the wii.

Sure the wii was the first commercially successful gaming system with Motion Control as the central selling point, hell I might as well weigh in on the topic too...

Motion control as a gimmick is a bit silly, as is trying to shoe-horn motion controls into existing game engines and established franchises, but if the motion controls are intuitive enough, if the game mechanics are built around this control system and if it all works then it can be a very rewarding experience.

Example: Wario Ware - The use of the wii-mote in this set of mini games nearly always makes perfect sense, be it balancing atop a turtle, having a quick-draw wii-mote coffe-table challenge, or trying to poke someone in the nose, the action you must perform with the controller is usually similar enough to the action you would expect to perform that people can pick it up and play with relative ease.

TL;DR - Motion controls, when implemented properly can be great, otherwise, meh.

 

[lenguy]

The world was first introduced to motion controls long before that.

To be honest with you I kinda stopped reading after that, a little bit of fact checking could've reminded you of the power glove, or the baseless race wheel that was thrown around in the nineties, or any number of accelerometer based devices that have been kicking around a lot longer than the wii.

Okay you got me there, motion controls have been kicking around for a long time. I should of elaborated on that a bit more by saying it was really the first motion control product that was a worldwide commercial success that took the world and gaming industry by storm. It was the first home console that implemented motion controls as the main feature that surrounded the whole console, it directly effected how you played on every game you bought. I wouldn't know why you would discredit my entire post just from my opening line. I had a feeling somebody would call me on that though. My fault for not expanding on that and making it a little more of a clear understanding.

Back then nobody other than the gaming community really cared about those thing, sure they were cool but only in the eyes of the geeky gamer. Only a few of them really took off. The Wii on the other hand created all sorts of mass hysteria in the media and in the general public's eye not to mention shaking the core being of the entire gaming community and revolutionizing it. I'm not talking about experimental motion controls of 15 plus years ago. I'm talking about modern motion controls. In those days they were cool and fun to try while not necessarily receiving much attention or focus. These days a good portion if the gaming market is dominated by nothing but motion controls and entire games(even consoles) devoted to this technology. The motion control aspect of gaming has reached an entirely new level of awareness and public endorsement that simply couldn't be achieved in the 10 or 20 years ago.

In the modern world, people lay waste to any sort of positive remark that motion controls are a good thing. They shoot down any sort of assessment that would even so much as hint at the possibility. They treat motion controls as some sort of black death plague that's spreading all across the industry,killing off that desirable choice in their own favorable method for gameplay experience. Any way to play a game with out some kind of standard controller is some how gaming heresy. People get hostile and defensive when you deprive them of their comfort zone and acquaint them with some new format they have little to no experience with. Then after they try it and it fails to suit their needs and meet their standards because they feel its not how gaming should be experiences.Then they sure are quick to write it off and label it as a useless unnecessary crock that's bound to ruin the entire industry and is therefore foreseen to fall flat on it's face while flooding then entire market with casual filled games that that have no appeal to them whatsoever and don't even care to use the technology right(the technology they go through all that trouble to chastise in the first place).

I get it, its not for everyone, I understand that much. People simply concern themselves with something that has little to no real pull over their lives. People get upset over it,they claim to despise it yet can't seem to shut up about it. They seem to think motion controls are going to erase the controller from existence and that motion controls are going to come in and simply replace it as the one and only way to play a game when that's not the case at all,people fail to realize that its only an option(well for the most part anyway). I never understood the hate motion controls seem to generate, its all completely unwarranted in my opinion not to mention subjective and yet people have no problem presenting their opinions as fact. Its gotten way out of hand and it really irritates me to no end. They seem to block out any sort of real potential that this new generation of gaming can really bring. They are blinded by their own sheer bitter hatred and animosity to even begin to see just how this technology can be beneficial in the long run.

Oh and by the way this post isn't to completely tear into yours. I just got a little carried away with my rant there.

 

[Karilas]

I wouldn't know why you would discredit my entire post just from my opening line. I had a feeling somebody would call me on that though. My fault for not expanding on that and making it a little more of a clear understanding.

Yeah I did go back and read it after writing that line. It was late and I was sleepy!

In the modern world, people lay waste to any sort of positive remark that motion controls are a good thing. They shoot down any sort of assessment that would even so much as hint at the possibility. They treat motion controls as some sort of black death plague that's spreading all across the industry,killing off that desirable choice in their own favorable method for gameplay experience. Any way to play a game with out some kind of standard controller is some how gaming heresy. People get hostile and defensive when you deprive them of their comfort zone and acquaint them with some new format they have little to no experience with. Then after they try it and it fails to suit their needs and meet their standards because they feel its not how gaming should be experiences.Then they sure are quick to write it off and label it as a useless unnecessary crock that's bound to ruin the entire industry and is therefore foreseen to fall flat on it's face while flooding then entire market with casual filled games that that have no appeal to them whatsoever and don't even care to use the technology right(the technology they go through all that trouble to chastise in the first place).

Haters gonna hate, really. It's a bit of a generalisation. Angry gamer fanbois are always going to shit all over something new. Still, you can't deny the popularity of motion control devices, the Wii has sold immensely well, Kinect and Move seem to be making some headway too.

Also, in this field I tend to agree with Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame. The controller has evolved over the past twenty years, it's become second nature to those that game regularly and more often than not a motion control for a game is less intuitive than the original pad system. It's situations like this where motion controls are completely unnecessary. For instance FPS games. Having to lean around and point your gun off screen just to turn around is clunky and awkward, which just goes back to my earlier point about shoe-horning motion control into existing engines.

TL;DR - Most traditional console games work better with a pad, whereas for motion controls to be intuitive the core mechanics need to be built around making the control system fluid and logical.

Oh and by the way this post isn't to completely tear into yours. I just got a little carried away with my rant there.

No worries!

 

[sharpness83]

the wii and kinect are great ideas. people buy it up, then they collect dust. I would never trade in a controller for a wand. and I really dont want to dance around my house all day. I think it is here to stay but never replace traditional gaming. I have to respect you opinion Len, your from brandon. Go Jets baby!

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

From a business point, the Wii is a brilliant idea because it kept with Nintendo's strategy of targeting kids and the kids' families. The console itself, like previous Nintendo consoles, it surprisingly sturdy for its compact size.. So, it is harder for kids to break it. It is easy to set up. The games for the most part are vivid, simple, and easy to process. The motion control is fairly easy to master because they aren't asking you to pretend you are in an aerobics class. Well, some games do, but that's only so many of them.


I do think the success of the Wii caught everyone by surprise. I don't know the true story or anything, but as a consumer, it just feels like the Kinetic and the PS Move are direct results from the Wii's success. However, gamers who live and die by their 360 and/or PS3 are really the kind of people to be trying to sell motion control to. The idea is pretty grand because I am sure a lot like the idea of being able to almost literally control the sword or gun in the game.. But motion controls require that they get off their asses and burn calories.


I have the PS Move, and it is a lot harder to figure out than the Wii. I think the game developer tried to take advantage of the technology, but not everything needs to be overly contrived or complex. Going back to the Wii being easy to set up, I can't say the same for the Move. You have to install the software; figure out what a good playing distance is, capture and tune the controller. That and you could probably by a Wii for as much as the Kinetic and PS Move are going for without the system.

 

[Dagger Dias]

At first I was very skeptical of motion controls. I have grown more tolerant of them, but I will always prefer classic controls. I still dislike them but am willing to play games such as Super Mario Galaxy that require them. However, if I have the option like in Smash Bros Brawl or Mario Kart Wii, then the classic controls will always get picked. While I may not be a fan of the technology myself, I do see the impact that it has had. It has been good for the business due to appealing to a more casual crowd. More people play video games ever since the Wii and other motion controls hit the scene. The more hardcore crowd or the nostalgic crowd may not like them as much, but it has been good for the industry. I don't see these controls hurting the gaming industry in the long run because they can keep making games with motion controls for those who like it, and keep the classic controls around for those who prefer that.