Resident Evil Creator Predicts Ten Years Before Motion Controls are "Mainstream"

[Logan Westbrook]

Resident Evil Creator Predicts Ten Years Before Motion Controls are "Mainstream"

Resident Evil and Vanquish creator Shinji Mikami doesn't think hardcore gamers will warm to motion controls until they can follow your eyes around the room.

With imminent release of Sony's Move and Microsoft's Kinect, motion controls is a rather hot topic at the moment. Some developers, like Peter Molyneux [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102677-Molyneux-Dont-Judge-Kinect-by-its-Launch-Titles] or Greg Zeschuk [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102059-BioWare-Motion-Controls-Will-Make-Games-Better], see a lot of potential in the technologies, but Mikami believes that motion controls need more development before they become "mainstream."

By his estimation, it will be more than ten years before motion controls are really accepted, and they will need to be much more sensitive before they will really be able to replace a controller. "When the technology gets to the point where you can just flick your eyeballs around and the computer can pick it up, you won't need a controller anymore," he said. "Obviously it's going to take a while to get there."

Presumably, when Mikami says "mainstream" he's referring to "mainstream hardcore gamers," as the Wii is enjoying a great deal of mainstream success. Ten years seems an awfully long time for people to get used to motion contols - that would be a significant way into the next console generation - but it definitely will take time, something that even supporters of motion controls have suggested.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=262695]


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[Elec0]

Interesting.

Also:
"...they can follow your eyes around the room."

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I don't want them to ever be "mainstream".

The day they start making games primarily for motion controls is the day I stop buying new games.

 

[Terramax]

I think Yahtzee said it best when at the moment it feels more of a chore to play games with full body movement than any fun. A step backwards. I'm sticking to pads and keyboard + mouse until computers can mindread.

 

[RvLeshrac]

I don't want them to ever be "mainstream".

The day they start making games primarily for motion controls is the day I stop buying new games.

That day will come, sooner (unfortunately) rather than later. And you say you'll stop buying new games, but that's a load of crap.

I've heard that song before. WoW players who say they'll quit, those who get burned constantly by new games being crap (myself included) and swear off New purchases...

As soon as someone releases something you want, you'll be right there in line with everyone else.

 

[Jared]

I would even think longer than that - As I know I dont want it to be mainstream ><

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

When it becomes normal, I quit gaming.
I cannot stand motion controls. All the Wii games I play with the gamecube controller.

 

[BlueHighwind]

Um.... They are mainstream, dude. Hate to break it to you. Sorry, man.

 

[auronvi]

I predict that... they die out in 5. So how is that going to work?

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I don't want them to ever be "mainstream".

The day they start making games primarily for motion controls is the day I stop buying new games.

That day will come, sooner (unfortunately) rather than later. And you say you'll stop buying new games, but that's a load of crap.

I've heard that song before. WoW players who say they'll quit, those who get burned constantly by new games being crap (myself included) and swear off New purchases...

As soon as someone releases something you want, you'll be right there in line with everyone else.

Except that I've already tried the Wii, and found it no fun at all. I never played WoW. I'd never swear off all new purchases because of a few crappy new ones. But motion controls are not fun to me, at all. I put up with it for a few Wii games, but my overall experience was vastly diminished because of the motion controls. If they start forcing that on me for more and more games, then yes, I'm going to stop buying those games entirely. Maybe I can just hope that there's always a "controller only" option.

 

[Dioxide20]

Unless they are done flawlessly, as in never have to repeat a movement in order for it to register, I just can't stand motion controls.

 

[kintaris]

Oh for God's sake!

"When the technology gets to the point where you can just flick your eyeballs around and the computer can pick it up, you won't need a controller anymore,"

Is everyone mental? I could control my computer with just my voice right now, but guess what? I still use a fricking keyboard. Because its a more reliable system, because I have complete tactile control.

It's not about these controls becoming 'mainstream' (as others have said, this is already the case), its about them becoming practical. Hell, even Nintendo realises it's not always practical - that's why Super Mario Bros. uses the Wiimote like a damned controller.

Sorry, but these opinions irritate me. There is a place for motion control and I love some motion control games. But it's not going to completely take over the industry in ten years.

That day will come, sooner (unfortunately) rather than later. And you say you'll stop buying new games, but that's a load of crap.

I've heard that song before. WoW players who say they'll quit, those who get burned constantly by new games being crap (myself included) and swear off New purchases...

As soon as someone releases something you want, you'll be right there in line with everyone else.

That's all very well, but we're talking about the kind of fundamental shift in the way we play games that hasn't been seen in all of gaming history. You can't compare that to begrudgingly playing a sequel you said you wouldn't play. You can't even compare it to the invention of the analog stick, which was only an addition to the basic method of interaction. Motion control as the 'norm' changes our fundamental interaction with the medium and as such is going to be a strong point of controversy for a very long time.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

As someone who isn't bothered by motion controls, 3D, touchscreens or other "gimmicks" my peers seem to revel in screaming about and hating, I'm with Mikami on this one. Motion controls, currently, are good for certain games - I found Metroid Prime 3 pretty damn good for it, and both Mario Galaxies were helped by the aiming ability, even if it was secondary to the primary platforming (which controlled no differently to classic Mario 64 controls). However, they're not refined or precise enough to be used in hardcore or even just "moderate, immersed" games, especially not in their current forms. RTSes seem like an ideal fit for a motion controller - after all, a mouse is a form of motion control. But as it stands, not precise enough. FPSes are a reasonably good fit, but it's neither the precision of dual-analogue nor a mouse. Once 'motion controls' become fine enough to do eye tracking, they'll be significantly less obtrusive, awkward, and clumsy like their current counterparts. They'll be as instinctive as the pull of a shoulder-trigger or the flick of an analogue stick. But that time is a half-decade or two off yet.

In the meantime, we have dual-analogue pads, keyboards and mice, and a wide variety of games for all platforms, as well as new motion-control games and hoards of casual gamers, a percentage of whom are picking up more complex controls and moving onto 'hardcore'/'mainstream' games. It's a good time for gaming - but it'll get better.

I doubt motion controls will ever completely dominate, either. But they'll definitely become more prevalent, or perhaps wax and wane, or maybe just become an expected secondary thing. You'd complain if you were handed a pad without a D-pad, even though a lot of games don't need it nowadays! I suspect that's what motion control will become like.

Oh for God's sake!

"When the technology gets to the point where you can just flick your eyeballs around and the computer can pick it up, you won't need a controller anymore,"

Is everyone mental? I could control my computer with just my voice right now, but guess what? I still use a fricking keyboard. Because its a more reliable system, because I have complete tactile control.

It's not about these controls becoming 'mainstream' (as others have said, this is already the case), its about them becoming practical. Hell, even Nintendo realises it's not always practical - that's why Super Mario Bros. uses the Wiimote like a damned controller.

Sorry, but these opinions irritate me. There is a place for motion control and I love some motion control games. But it's not going to completely take over the industry in ten years.

Totally with you on this. I expect in 10 years, they will "take over the industry" in the same way the joystick, D-pad, and analogue stick did - it may well become our primary control method, it may be relegated to a secondary control. But it'll definitely be around.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I predict that they will be mainstream with the casual gamers upon launch. As for the hardcore gamers, who have been gaming for a bit over a decade (at least) now, they will never replace the controller.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

I predict bullshit. Because motion controls are already mainstream with Move and Kinect and the Wii! Unless he meant when motion controls would be accepted by us gamers. In which case it's funny. Because again, it's starting to sound like bullshit.

 

[starwarsgeek]

I predict that they will be mainstream with the casual gamers upon launch. As for the hardcore gamers, who have been gaming for a bit over a decade (at least) now, they will never replace the controller.

For the most part, we've replaced the joystick--in favor of the D-pad--and then the D-pad, in favor of the analogue stick. These are still controllers, they just add a new component (at least in the Wii and Move cases; kincect does completely rely on motion controls). Are you sure the streamlined ease and variety offered with motion controls will never catch on?

 

[Breaker deGodot]

He's probably right. However, I don't fucking want them to be mainstream, thank you very much.

 

[Snotnarok]

They'll never be mainstream, they'll always be on the sidelines because no one wants to play a game by jumping the fuck around. Hm, I feel like playing [game on Wii] ....on second thought I just want to sit back and play something.