Console Gaming

[WaysideMaze]

Not to sound like a fanboy, but I have to agree with Yahtzee.
I like motion controls when I'm with a few friends, as a laugh. But as far as escapism within games goes they couldn't do less to attract me. I want to feel immersed in the experience, and I find that hard to do with wankers cramp.

 

[Flutterbrave]

Anybody feel like suggesting/theorising any future topics? I personally would think that the FPS genre would be an interesting one. Moviebob's shown in his game overthinker series that he's no fan of the genre, while Yahtzee, as far as I can tell, is much more into it. James, I'm not sure about but if Extra Credits is anything to go by, he does seem fairly fond of Halo, which neither Bob nor Yahtzee are exactly crazy about. And conflict like that would be very fun to watch

 

[kikon9]

Good, interesting and civilized. A nice idea, though I didn't feel like I completely agreed with any of the three. Maybe it's just because I enjoy console gaming as it is now.

 

[anyGould]

re: Wii (as a happy Wii owner)

I find it funny that the Wii got nothing but flack for doing the cheesy motion controls while the Big Boy consoles did the flashy Hi-Def graphics. And now, the Big Boys are trying to catch up (I tried a Kinect, and it's like hanging a picture - little more to the left, you say? No, too far.. over to the right...) Blargh.

But what I like most about the Wii motion controls isn't the "one-to-one motion" (although I'll take a good Wii Sports Resort swordfight every now and then) - it's the fact that we got a proper light gun again. With FPS being the big fad right now, why aren't games taking advantage of this?

 

[13CBS]

There MUST be more things like this on the Escapist.

Extra Consideration is to gaming journalism what the Avengers or Justice League is to Marvel and DC; they take some of the best and most interesting elements in their subject matter and not only put them together, but force them to interact. In the same way that Batman's grim cynicism contrasted against Superman's heroic optimism makes DC crossover events interesting, I believe that dialogue and conversation between the Escapist's elite critics (one could even call them videogame philosophers) will bring about even more fascinating insights into both the Triumvirate's thoughts on gaming and gaming itself.

That said, I think Fronzel and others bring up a good point: conversations between the three will be much more interesting if they are allowed/have the time to say more things. I was hoping that James would have more to say than two little blurbs, for example.

 

[Oliver Pink]

Good grief, if I could hear all three of those men talking on a video... it would be the Escapists own fangasm generator.

 

[FallenRainbows]

Hands up who fully agrees with Yahtzee, yet again.

I rarely do but;

*raises hand*

 

[Gralian]

I'm with Yahtzee all the way on this one. I'm afraid i don't see motion controls as more immersive. If anything, i feel it detracts from the experience. I don't want to wave my controller about and hope my avatar picks up on my vague commands and swings a sword or what have you. There are three stages to interaction. Thought, command, response. The user must be able to issue a command with minimal hassle to gain a fast response. With a button press, assuming the user is well-versed in gaming, the time taken to press the necessary button can be less than a second. But with wii-mote flailing, it can take up to one or more full seconds just to issue a command. This is unacceptable and takes you 'away' from the experience. It feels unresponsive. There's a certain zen-like nature that comes with traditional button controllers that you just can't achieve with motion controls. I do, however, think motion controls will become standard in future consoles and games as Moviebob says. I do not think it will replace traditional methods of control, however, and will be there as an optional extra / peripheral.

Great article / discussion / column / thingy, but please make it longer. As someone above me said, it came off as half transcribed and unfinished. Almost like no-one was really able to come up with a counter to Yahtzee's retort about motion controls not quite being as immersive as traditional control. I'd really like to hear some rebuttals on that. It would have been good to see more input from James, as it felt like he was drowned out by the debate between Yahtzee and Moviebob. I expected something more insightful or more substantial from him.

 

[Zaverexus]

good read, does this mean we're getting more of this..?

I hope so, this has got to be the greatest thing I have ever seen on the Escapist (so far, get them all in a room together and we'll see)

 

[el_kabong]

Good concept. I can't wait to see future editions.

 

[Weasker]

I'm gonna have to agree with Yatzee on this one. If you could transport all your psyche into the game it would render the most advanced and inmersive motion capture system useless.

 

[Levethian]

Loved this article.

Still agree that physical movement reduces immersion.

 

[ZeoAssassin]

great article but couldn't it go longer? wasn't much debating as i would like and it was getting interesting.

 

[EscapingReality]

The only way this could be any better is if we heard them discuss it vocally.

Maybe even with animations that represent each of them.

(I may or may not be thinking of something in the same style as The Ricky Gervais Show.)

Can't read this right now. So this is why God invented the bookmark.

Second all of these. I volunteer to provide some graphic inbetweening if needed.

Please, in the name of mighty Zombie Jesus, make this a weekly segment! I already come to this site too much for my own good, but giving Yahtzee and Bob a column together? Now you're just trying to make me a slave.

ROFLWUT? The same reasons I joined The Escapist man...

Anyway, am I the only one who had the Terminator theme playing in the head with the sheer idea of having James, Yahtzee and MovieBob together? It's like a vortex of awesomeness.

 

[LogicNProportion]

Now THIS is a good idea.

Moar of this. NAO!

 

[Bruden]

@Bob's comment of an all in one media device instead of a console. It's called a computer Bob, you use it for your work every day, way to totally miss that knowledge though.

Seriously, PC gaming is stagnant atm simply because everyone is happy to ape what already sells. With HD being the standard for both computers and TVs now your PC hooks to your monitor literally the same as it does to your TV, just need some game designers to point it out, incorporate the ability to use controllers which most major consoles already have computer ready USB controllers, and just come together and show the gaming world that the console is an out dated idea. Consoles are from when most people's computers were expensive dinosaurs their parents wouldn't let you touch, so game makers had to give the kids their own computer hooked to the TV.

In the tech savvy world of today most kids know how to upgrade parts on their PC, and your PC can easily run circles around all 3 consoles combined for the same price when you build it yourself. As is consoles remain due to fan boyism, and the unwillingness of PC game makers to stretch out and show that your Xbox is an expensive paperweight when compared to your computer.

 

[metacree]

Crap, I totally read that in their voices.... except James, sorry James!

 

[hem dazon 90]

Yahtzee was very informative as was James

Moviebob well...

 

[SamElliot'sMustache]

That was a good read. Looking forward to more of these, and a great point about the creative peak of the last console generation. Hopefully we'll see another boom sooner rather than later.

As for motion controls: I like Bob's idea that it should really function as a mouse/extra button, as it's the best use of the style (like the use of the flashlight in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and the batting/pitching in the Wii version of The Bigs). However, because the precedent is there for doing other actions with those controls, I don't think a lot of developers will be satisfied programming the technology for such limited function, and will try to make 'more use' of it, which leads to a lot of unnecessary waggles (a lot of the other motion control moments in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, or most Wii games for that matter). Sony and Microsoft jumping on the bandwagon three years after the fact isn't helping that format find it's place within the larger structure of gaming.