Is Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo Forgetting Hardcore Gamers in Favour of Motion Control Gaming?

Back at E3 this year, the big three gaming companies, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all debuted their plans for the next year. All of the announcements followed the same particular trend.. Motion gaming. Nintendo planned on releasing their latest console called the Wii U, a completely redesigned device that utilises a new controller with a built-in touch screen display. Microsoft showcased more titles for their latest platform Kinect (a device that captures the users movements and actions, making people the controller) and Sony try to push their Move controller (based on the Wiimote, it interprets the user gestures and movements into the game). It seems like the big three are forgetting about the people who used to buy their products ten years ago, the hard-core gamers. In a bid to push their new devices to the main stream public, there was very little mention about games that didn't involve waving your arms in front of a TV screen or jumping up in down in your living room. Call me old-fashioned, but I care about games that are filled with game play and a deep story rather than games that leave me a in a sweat and looking like an idiot.

Ever since Nintendo released the Wii back in 2006, Sony and Microsoft have been playing catch up, desperately trying better Nintendo's attempt of making gaming available of the masses. Video games have long been associated with a small group of people, generally male and in their early teens. However Nintendo broke that trend and made a console designed for the mass market, bringing mum and dads, grans and grand dad's in on video gaming. To be fair to Nintendo, they have done well with the Wii. It was a great success, selling 89 million units so far (33 million more that the PS3 and Xbox 360) making it Nintendo's best-selling games control. As far as Nintendo is concerned they had achieved what they set out, making Video gaming more appealing to the main stream market.

However as a by-product of making video gaming more appealing to a wider audience, (In my opinion) the games became easier and less appealing to the hard-core gamer. I think, in a trade-off between making games more appealing to a wider audience, Nintendo have alienated the people who might have bought their controls 10 years ago. The question is, while the big three pushing their latest devices, how long will it be before we see established PS3 and Xbox franchises such as Final Fantasy, Call of Duty and Gears of War adopt motion controlling. I cant imagine playing my favourite games without a controller joystick in my hand. For example at E3 this year, Lion head studios (The developer of the Fable series) announced they would be releasing Fable: The Journey. The new title in the series would abandon the traditional controller, in favour of adopting Microsoft Kinect. Watching the trailer it looked very promising, letting the user cast spells and fire guns by just using gestures with their hands, until it became clear that you didn't control your characters movements, just where he fired his guns. Essentially the game's character was on rails, in a fixed place until you defeated the enemy's on the screen. The ability to roam around freely and adventure on your own (One of Fables previous selling points) has been removed in favour for motion gaming. I don't think I'm the only person to feel cheated that one of my favourite franchise title's gameplay had been watered down to take advantage of gimmicky motion gaming.

To close, I hope Sony and Microsoft don't forget about their loyal following that appreciate games which involve depth and gameplay and don't sell substandard games in order to appeal a wider audience. Call me old-fashioned or a skeptic but I would prefer playing Skyrim or Call of duty sitting on a sofa and not waving a remote in front of a TV, and I hope I'm not the only one.

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Liam Miller
Jackal Computers
http://www.jackalcomputers.co.uk/

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Are Motion Controls the Future of Gaming?

In our current console generation, I can see a trend towards adding motion controls to everything. With the rise of the Kinect, Wii, and Move, it seems that every new game must have either motion control support, or a token element of motion control. In Halo Anniversary, they added Kinect support in the form of voice-activated reload, grenade throwing, and an "analyze mode" where by shouting analyze, the game scans objects and adds them into an in-game codex. Now while you don't need a Kinect in order to play this game, it is suggested. Is this a marketing ploy, another bullet point for the back of the box, or is it actually beneficial to the gameplay. With Halo, a game that has been hailed as one of the most innovative and trend setting of the past decade. Does this mean that every game that has taken even a little bit of influence from Halo is somehow incomplete, less of a game than they would be if they took their inspiration form the newly Kinectified version of the game.

Currently motion controls feel more like a hindrance than they do a liberator in games. Very few of the popular motion controlled games are actually better for having these controls. Players are limited by what they can do with a Wii-mote as compared to what they can do with a mouse and keyboard or controller. The limits that they impose are greater than those that they remove.

But even with these complaints, I can see the possibilities. When they originally announced the Kinect, the first things that I imagined were the computers from Minority Report. I hoped for those kind of intuitive controls and possibilities on the Xbox, but alas, they are not quite to that point yet. But the day that they do reach that point of control, and that kind of interface, is the day that I can see almost total adoption and integration of motion controls, in almost every game, and to almost every gamer, hardcore or casual.

I love video games, but I don't want to stand in front of my TV, waving a plastic wand in the air and hoping that the character on screen does what I say. Added to that is the fact that it is impossible to not look ridiculous while playing any of these games, I'm serious. If you doubt me, look it up on YouTube, you'll know what I mean then. But the point is that these games aren't fun for me, and for many other people, so why should we have to change the way that we play just to please those of us that do like this play style.

In the end, we have to remember that we've seen this kind of thing before. Does anybody remember the Virtual Boy. How about virtual reality arcade games. If not, there is a reason for that. These things failed for several reasons, not the least of which is the limitation that the controls instill in the games. I caution the three big console companies to be wary in their design decisions, for they are not always wise. Don't put all of your eggs into the motion control basket, lest it go the way of the past several iterations of so-called "innovative" technology.

Tom Blaich is the current staff writer at http://www.games-cave.com/. He produces all of the sites content, from great reviews, to fantastic articles, news stories, and top 10 lists. If you love video games, then feel free to check him out, he would really appreciate it.

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