Poll: Do we need a Wii-like controller?

[Guitarmasterx7]

So me from a year ago would probably kick myself in the balls for suggesting this, but I'm thinking in the future a controller similar to the Nintendo wii might be necessary.

My logic has to do with technology like the Oculus rift and the Virtuix Omni. Here's some footage if you aren't familiar with them.
Can't speak for the omni, but it's been pretty unanimously reported that the Oculus works extremely well, let's assume for the sake of argument that the omni does too.

It seems like at the point where you're seeing the game world in the first person and walking around on a big treadmill thing that simulates actually walking around, holding a controller in your hands might feel a bit awkward. So if/when this technology takes off, will a split motion sensitive controller like the wiimote or playstation move be the necessary evolution of the controller? Or do you think it was a fad that's run its course and we won't be seeing it again.

 

[Pink Gregory]

I 'unno, I don't really reckon 'full immersion' (can't think of a better term) might appeal to everyone. Motion controls, or at least the attempts made to move into them, strike me as a comfortable distance between a controller and 'full immersion' devices like the ones you're suggesting.

Personally, I don't really see them as evolutions, rather choices of a control method, but I understand I'm probably in the minority in having no interest in Oculus Rift-like devices. That being said, I can advocate the further development of motion control, after all we don't really have as refined a system as their controller equivalents.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Wii-like in the same way Rift is VirtualBoy-like, they may be based on the same idea but there is a critical pivot point where tech actually becomes useful.
That is why Rift is such a shell shocker, it's no random spazzy eye sore, no this thing is precise and it is immediate with full view cover and an immense view range with accurate stereoscopy that compromises nothing of your image.

And even things like Razer Hydra that has 100-1000x the precision of your ordinary console flail that just isn't enough, our limbs twist and turn in odd ways and we need yet more accurate data on what it is they are doing.
Perhaps STEM (essentially Hydra 2.0) with it's 5 control points and claimed higher accuracy can do something in that area, but if it's not precise enough that will just be more flailing frustration you can experience at a console near you.

 

[jpoon]

Personally I would say no. I never liked the Wii controllers, the motion controls never added enough and a vast majority of the time made games even worse. That could change if they made a motion controller that didn't suck, AND you had the Rift.
Until then, keep motion controls as far away from gaming as possible.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Personally, I think motion controls could have their place, but the issue is that practically everyone, when they see a new control method like it, just exploits it to the point of being annoying. It worked in some games, such as Super Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (though Corruption still felt a little gimmicky at times), but on the whole we'll need to move beyond using it as a gimmick before it is "needed" for complete immersion.

Still, I don't think anything is below the ability to improve gaming, including motion controls and touch screens. I may not personally like some of them, but I can see there being potential, and motion controls are no different. Who knows, maybe one day entire games will be built around this entire combination, and then a day will come when they are actually good and not just some stupid gimmick.

 

[Maxtro]

I'd say drop the Wii controller and use a kinnect. That way you theoretically don't have to hold anything in your hands and you can fight using your arms.

 

[Dragonbums]

If we are going to have a full immersion like a lot of people want in videogames, then yes motion controls are going to have to be a part of that.

Wii motion controls was a big step up from the Power Glove back in the day, and it wasn't until the motion plus was implemented into the Wii motes did the tech really start to shine. Unfortunately most devs sans Nintendo actually took the thing with any modicum of seriousness and all they did was "waggle" physics, making the pretty decent motion tech of the Wii look like a joke (try out Skyward Sword with motion plus. Very accurate.)

Alternatively the Kinect can also be pretty useful as well. Let's see how good the Kinect 2.0 is. Both are valuable venues to continue development in. Some people like holding things. Others like free style. Two different playing options in the motion controls department.

 

[Dragonbums]

Oculus Rift with STEM system. Wii-like is a horrible descriptor since the tech in the Wii-mote is pretty much CRAP. The tech in the STEM and before it (Razer Hydra) is much much better, and will be awesome. I think the Kinect really cannot replace actual buttons and sensors for how ever many limbs you want to track.

Personally, it wasn't the Wii motion tech that was crap. It was the devs who didn't really try to do anything with it that made it look like crap.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes I had that weird shaky effect with the regular Wii motes and if I got too far off the sensor bar I ran into configuration problems here and there, but when I played the games that actually took the motion controls seriously they were pretty darn good. The add on of the Wii motion plus made it that much better. (Hence why I got it with Skyward Sword.)

 

[fix-the-spade]

So if/when this technology takes off, will a split motion sensitive controller like the wiimote or playstation move be the necessary evolution of the controller?

No.

God No.

Given that Occulus Rift covers your vision and affects your spacial awareness (read, completely removes it), the very last thing you need is a controller that makes you flail about whilst you have no idea where your arms are relative to the edges of the room, other people or even yourself. It's a recipe for absolute disaster and a ton of hilarious youtube videos, plus the space needed to even use it would be enormous.

Also, except for a few very simple games, motion controls are always counter intuitive. The number one complaint about Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 and Twilight Princess was that they all would have been better with a Gamecube controller. Twilight Princess is better with a Cube controller. Motion controls don't accept 'the motion' you need for a set action, they respond to a pre-defined by the developer motion, if yours is a little bit different from what the game wants then you have no useful input.

If you want to make the input work you'll have to match the desired motion, good luck correcting it without being able to see your hands. I know some OR software has some hand visualisation, but it's not 100% accurate and not in perfect real time, so it won't work either. Most people can orientate and operate a controller without looking at it.

The death of the Wii and abject failure of Move are good for games as a whole, they were a novelty rather than a truly effective method of control input for a video game (apply this to Kinect as a control method too).