275: I Punch the Body Electric

[JohnTomorrow]

Unfortunately, motion controllers is simply a toe dipped into the future for gaming.

Motion Controlled games will never truly catch on. Whether its the Kinetic, PSMove or the simple Wii-Mote, its just a fad that is a precursor, a taste, of what is to come.

Total Immersion Entertainment. Not a bad title. Any game executives reading this, i give you permission to use TIE as a brand name. Thank me later.

The only way to truly become part of a game and use your whole body is by not using your body at all, and only use your brain. They're already tapping into the technology now - by placing a helmet or a wire mesh on your head, you can think your actions into the games, and thusly become more 'one' with the game then if you were holding a controller. You'd move realistically, with reflexes and balance. You'd be consigned by your own phyiscal - and therefore mental - limitations, but of course, it wouldn't be a game without removing some of those limitations. And eventually, there wont be a screen to watch, but you could close your eyes and see the game world unfurling around you. You'd be able to smell and taste and touch things you'd only ever dreamed of before. And then probably blow them all up.

The thing about this, though, is that this kind of tech wouldn't be reserved for gamers. Disabled people, confined to wheelchairs or beds, could use it as a means of escape, to feel like themselves again. If possible, you could even hook up a incapacitated person to a monitor, and let them have an actual conversation with family members, instead of wallowing in silence, unable to speak because they cannot speak.

Thats the future. Motion control - its just a fad.

 

[imnot]

That genesis thing sounds like a big controller you can stand on...

 

[Uber Waddles]

DDR. Nuff said.

Also, while not a movement controller, Boktai with its solar detector asked for more then gamers are used it; it required you to use the REAL sun to power gameplay mechanics. Something I thought would fail, but was really really fun.

Anything, pulled off badly, will of course be bad. But the entire medium shouldnt be damned because the Wii is mediocre and full of Shovelware: its selling, and kids and non-gamers like that crap for whatever reason.

 

[mjc0961]

When the wii first game out, and I played Twilight Princess, it proved at least two things:
1) light gun gaming is still fun, and just not possible on standard controller.

2) it's a lot of fun to let people act out non-critical actions with a gesture. For me this was clear the first time I reached up and yanked my sword from behind my back in Twilight Princess. - Sure, it wasn't fun to LEARN this action the first time. But when i saw a bad guy, reached back, and whipped out my sword - it put a grin on my face. Controller sound and rumble help. but my point is that when you train yourself to perform a motion it's much more fun and immersive than training yourself to thumb a button. see also : stabbing, tennis rackets, golf swings, steering wheels, etc.

I'll give you point 1, but I have to disagree on 2. Sure, maybe you start off playing like the Wii Remote is like a real sword, but like the article suggests, soon enough you forget that "I'm going to put the remote behind my back and pretend I'm really pulling my sword" stuff and go to Waggle Central, wondering why the hell they couldn't just put it on a button like The Wind Waker and other older titles did. It's no longer immeserive because there's no immersion to be had there. Just remote waggling instead of button pressing, and the moment where a game's motion controls devolve into just waggling is the moment where they should have just not bothered and used a button.

For motion control to mean something it has to work and be something more than just a substitute for pressing a button. For a sword game, it'd have to be 1:1 sword movement instead of just "waggle instead of pressing A" like Twilight Princess did. For a steering wheel... Well that's never going to happen with a motion controller, it's never as good as an actual racing wheel or a simple joystick. Motion controls work well with sports games, but people want more than that.

DDR. Nuff said.

What does an endless tide of quick time events with a controller slightly less stupid than the SEGA Activator have to do with motion controls? It's not using your body to play, it's pressing buttons with your feet instead of your thumbs.

 

[Brendan Main]

Also, while not a movement controller, Boktai with its solar detector asked for more then gamers are used it; it required you to use the REAL sun to power gameplay mechanics. Something I thought would fail, but was really really fun.

Or a REAL blacklight, if you're a gutless cheater.

I'm playing through the first Boktai right now, and I absolutely agree that there's a fascinating idea there. I'd actually like to do an article on it in the near future. We'll see.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

You know, in "A Clockwork Orange", which is what most people knowthe phrase "a bit of the old ultraviolence" from, it was used to refer specifically to rape, not just fighting with people. In light of this the third paragraph seems rather awkward.

 

[rossable]

When the wii first game out, and I played Twilight Princess, it proved at least two things:
1) light gun gaming is still fun, and just not possible on standard controller.

2) it's a lot of fun to let people act out non-critical actions with a gesture. For me this was clear the first time I reached up and yanked my sword from behind my back in Twilight Princess. - Sure, it wasn't fun to LEARN this action the first time. But when i saw a bad guy, reached back, and whipped out my sword - it put a grin on my face. Controller sound and rumble help. but my point is that when you train yourself to perform a motion it's much more fun and immersive than training yourself to thumb a button. see also : stabbing, tennis rackets, golf swings, steering wheels, etc.

I'll give you point 1, but I have to disagree on 2. Sure, maybe you start off playing like the Wii Remote is like a real sword, but like the article suggests, soon enough you forget that "I'm going to put the remote behind my back and pretend I'm really pulling my sword" stuff and go to Waggle Central, wondering why the hell they couldn't just put it on a button like The Wind Waker and other older titles did. It's no longer immeserive because there's no immersion to be had there. Just remote waggling instead of button pressing, and the moment where a game's motion controls devolve into just waggling is the moment where they should have just not bothered and used a button.

For motion control to mean something it has to work and be something more than just a substitute for pressing a button. For a sword game, it'd have to be 1:1 sword movement instead of just "waggle instead of pressing A" like Twilight Princess did. For a steering wheel... Well that's never going to happen with a motion controller, it's never as good as an actual racing wheel or a simple joystick. Motion controls work well with sports games, but people want more than that.

motion gaming is not ergonomic and takes up too much room. buttons are faster than some random flailing motion. the mere mention of sports-games makes me laugh. sports are IRL, the virtual version is an affront to all i hold dear and is proof that EA cares nothing for us. motion controls are worthless to me until i can preform actions that aren't scripted. example: crouch, back to wall, roll a smoke grenade into a room, fall prone rolling sideways into doorway taking out targets with surgical precision head-shots. this is something that will never be possible without some neurological interfacing and simulation force feedback. i figure it will look like being jacked into the matrix. and you know once that happens the adult entertainment industry will flood the market... especially Japanese titles! the the movie "surrogates" will be non-fiction.