Why are FPS gamers against motion controls?

[CapnRaccoon]

I'd totally go for some 1:1 motion controls with the ability to walk whilst I play - If it was the full experience.
Problem with FPS in motion controller form is obviously not being able to move your character without a button being pressed, so you've got this sort of half motion, half controller
You're practically Stephen Hawking.

 

[Snarky Username]

Motion Controls aren't accurate at all at the moment, turning is almost impossible without either going at a snail's pace or having the remote go off-screen and become undetectable, and people just aren't used to the motion control setup compared to the mouse and keyboard/controller setup, and because of that they don't have the accuracy that they would have if they weren't using motion controls.

If there can be a way to fix the turning problem and if developers made motion controls a lot more accurate, it could become a great media for FPSs, but until that happens, they just wont have the accuracy or control of other FPSs.

Also, for everyone saying the exact same comment about how people don't want a workout from playing videogames, I really doubt you can get a workout from moving your wrist...

 

[ThisWasAWaste]

As to your last point, video games will never perfectly mimic real life because that's not the point. I don't play a video game to practice my rifle aiming abilities, I play it to have fun and relieve stress. Also, many FPSes have ironsight aiming if that's your thing, and most of the time weapons aren't exactly pinpoint accurate.

yeah true, realism isnt needed in games, but then a wiimote's hardly realistic it just adds human error and stops it feeling like you're aiming a robot-controlled turret

and what also isnt needed is tedious flicking of the analogue stick until it lines up
iron sights still require tiny slight movements unless they have auto aim in which case all skill is removed

personally i prefer to point and shoot at what i want to kill and prefer it when the skilled players are the ones with better hand eye coordination rather than the ones with freakishly unnatural thumb muscles
maybe that's just me though

True, if the controls are implemented well enough I suppose it would somewhat become a matter of taste. I would recommend one thing though, when aiming with analog sticks make sure you move your body and not just your head (use both sticks when aiming). I find this makes aiming with analog sticks no problem, at least for me. It takes some practice but I can snipe pretty damn well in L4D2 , I know if I were just using the aiming thumbstick it would be much harder. I know you may have already tried this, just throwing that out there incase you haven't...

 

[Trippy Turtle]

does anyone other then me think that the analog sticks on consoles work best just because the turning is easiest not having to lift the mouse or wait ten minutes while the wii senses it. the keyboards controls are often hard to use (for me i cant touch type) whereas the xbox control is set perfectly for split second button pressing.

 

[micky]

too much movement, i like playing cod with a bag of combos on my stomach. anyone else love combos?

 

[pyrosaw]

There just hasn't been a good one yet.

 

[Netrigan]

I fascinated by the idea, but I'm a bit cynical about it working well.

One thing that creates a bit of a stumbling block is the weight of the controller. Having to constantly point the controller at the screen is going to wear you down a lot faster than being able to rest a gamepad on your lap or using a mouse/keyboard.

The other is mapping all the necessary controls onto a different control system. Current games use the left thumbstick to move the character and the right to move the camera. If my right hand is point at the screen, how do I turn and shoot at the same time? If I have to move the gun off the screen to turn, then I can't shoot. If the game attempts to auto center, then I'll be spinning in circles a lot.

Can it work? Yeah, but there's going to be a lot of really awkward control schemes until Motion Control gets its Halo.

 

[Athinira]

Just out of curiosity, why are so many first-person shooter fans against motion controls? It seems to me that if there is one hardcore genre that could actually benefit from them it'd be shooters.

For the same reasons Yahtzee has explained several times in both Zero and Extra Punctuation:
1) The lack of force feedback will always cripple motion controls
2) Motion controls used for aiming brings trouble when you have to use them for turning (see his review of The Conduit). Until our entertainment venue is 360 degrees instead of an XX" screen this will always be an issue.
3) As mentioned already by several people, the optimal goal is for players to be able to take action with small movements, not larger ones. For FPS games, which puts great pressure on reflexes, accuracy and quick-decision making, this is paramount.

In addition:
4) Motion controls are less accurate and slower than mouse-aiming, similar to playing an FPS game on a console.
5) Motion controls aren't designed for complicated games. Games that use motion-controls often constrict the amount of alternate decisions to be made in order to keep button-pushing to a minimum and help focus the experience on the motion controls. In a shooter, you will be concerned with moving, crouching, jumping, shooting, alternate shooting buttons, changing weapons, using special abilities etc. This really only works well in one place, and that is sitting comfortably at a keyboard with alot of buttons available in a convenient manner.
6) For multiplayer FPS games, text-based chat is a must for the optimal experience. Voice isn't always the best.

Point 2, 3 and 5 are really the killers here, although point 4 is also something that weights strongly with PC gamers.

In short: Motion controls and FPS games are a perfect demonstration of a concept that looks good on paper, but is terrible in practice. Until we get full-blown 360 degree virtual reality, it's just not going to work (and even when we get that, we still have the issue of point 4 that needs to be solved).

 

[The Lunatic]

Joy sticks are already pretty inaccurate, to make it even more so, you'd basically just have to make it a rail shooter with pretty intensive auto aim.

Kinect style controls simple wouldn't work for an FPS, as well, you need to have movement in there too, and that's very hard to do without buttons.

Move? Well, it could, but, I think the technology just isn't precise enough to work effectively.

 

[archvile93]

They haven't made the controls smooth enough yet. Also, shifting the screen tends to be a bit of a hassle.

 

[badgersprite]

Bring back the light gun, that's what I say!

Really, though, I think the limitations of motion controls, even 'pointing' ones like this is that all other controls (walking, crouching etc) still have to be done by buttons, and it's not going to be fun having to shift your hands into awkward positions all the time just so you can point at something on screen. Console controls as they are are still more ergonomically comfortable and require the necessary versatility for games like this.

 

[ultrachicken]

If they were more precise, then the game would actually become MORE difficult.

I just don't like the feel of motion controls, it has nothing to do with my like of FPSs.

 

[WorldCritic]

Every Wii FPS I've played that tried to use motion controls wasn't good with the camera especially pissing me off.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Because motion controls are mainstream and popular.
Go figure.
I like FPS's though, and I wouldn't be against motion controls if they were some how made to work really well with the FPS genre.

 

[ajemas]

I totally agree with you on this one. I am absolutely horrible at Console FPSs, as I find it nearly impossible to aim with any degree of accuracy. I tend to overshoot or undershoot the targeting reticule while aiming, and forget about sniping entirely. It feels like there's a distinct gap between my actions on the controller and what happens on screen.
With the Wii-remote, however, I truly feel like I'm having 1:1 control, where I am able to place the reticule wherever I want. Metroid Prime 3 demonstrated this beautifully. (I have no problem with FPSs on the PC, however.)

 

[LightOfDarkness]

Pointing controls for FPS games will work, but then you need to turn suddenly.

Maybe if you could use a mouse and wii-mote at the same time (strapping it to your head or something, or maybe even some kind of goggle that reads your eye movement0

It has a long way to go before pointer controls work well in an fps, but it could work in the future.
As for motion controls, I'm on the fence for that. Sure, it could be more immersive if done right, and the technology to differ one waggle from another is definitely on the way, it's setting a delay in the execution of a command (think-large movement-in game action as compared to think-tiny movement-in game action with buttons).

A great example of both in action is Red Steel 2, combining shooting and swordplay, as well as the ability to switch on the fly (as opposed to Red Steel 1, with pre-determined sword fights) and making both work well (I found it easy to quickly dispatch enemies behind me with a sword after shooting the guys in front of me in the face)

 

[pretentiousname01]

Pointing motion controls is just a bad mouse.

They should just let us use a mouse/keyboard. Segregate the community based upon what they're using (controller or mouse/keyboard) and there ya go.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Wait, when people say that hardcore gamers are against motion-controls they're talking about FPS gamers, because I consider the people who play only Halo or CoD just as much of a casual gamer as anyone who own a Wii

 

[Something Amyss]

One of the biggest deterrents to motion controls for me is that when I game, I want to sit on my couch and play. If I wanted to be active, I'd be active. Shooters may actually be more organic with motion controls, but there's a simplicity both to the K/M and controller schemes. I'm not saying motion controls are bad, but it's a hard sell when incorporating it into regular gaming.