Nintendo Built 3D Into the Gamecube

[UberNoodle]

3D and motion control are just gimmicks.

Same things were said about optical disc based games, full motion video, polygonal 3D, and so on. The same kind of shortsighted gamers have critics have decried every major development in gaming history.

This poster is a master in the arts of Necromancy.

OT: 3D may eventually become viable once the technology actually does what you'd want it to do, but as it is, it's more immersion breaking than anything else. Motion Control, on the other hand, has very limited application, and in those few situation where it could be meaningfully applied, they'd be great, but most games that have them simply tack it on to say they have them, making it a gimmick.

I don't really agree with how much 'gimmick' has become a buzzword on forums now. It is overused and often used erroneously. Gimmicks are by definition shortlived and truly useless things that don't stand the test of time or usage. Motion controls, I would argue, have lasted long enough to have left the lable of 'gimmick' behind. Motion controls, like any technology, can be abused and misused. I don't see anyone decrying control pads because of the high percentage of mindless and thoughtless control schemes applied to them. Of course not, there are so many great uses of that technology as well.

There are a so many great uses of motion control too, you just have to open to it. It is not all 'waggle and shake' now, and it hasn't been for a some time. Yes some games do just 'tack on' motion, but in those cases the APPLICATION ITSELF is what's gimmicky. The titles that earnestly try to use motion control to advantage outweigh the schlock from earlier days and cheap-ass products.

As for limitations, need I remind you of the expression, 'horses for courses'? Both control schemes have their strengths and weaknesses. The biggest barrier against motion are the gamers who fear it will try to REPLACE traditional control. It hasn't and it won't. It is for new experiences, ones that control pads are illsuited for.

As for 3D? I don't like it because I can see the refresh in the corner of my eyes and those glasses feel cumbersome and constrictive. There hopefully will be a better way, but there won't be if we demand the future NOW without all the essential steps inbetween.

 

[VanityGirl]

Meanwhile, back at the hall of Justice...

Captain 360 sits at his desk, twittling his thumb while everyone talks about 3D gaming.

 

[Volafortis]

snip

I did retract my statement of 3D being a gimmick, and changed it to stating that it simply is currently not advanced enough technologically.

And also, yes, it is mainly the applications of motion control that is gimmick-y. However, when 95% of games that use motion control use it in a gimmick-y fashion, it's hard not to write off thetechnology as a failure. Yes, there will be the occasional game that is truly good because of the motion controls, but in a lot of games, the control would be better without motion control, making the motion control a "useless thing". Sure the tech itself my not qualify as a "gimmick" per se, but when you consider (most of) it's applications, it becomes one.