The Fall and Rise of Motion Control For Games 131
Eurogamer has a story about how the design of motion-control input devices has evolved over the years, ranging from the Nintendo Power Glove and Sega Activator up to modern devices like the Wii Remote and the upcoming projects by Sony and Microsoft. Now that the technology has caught up with the ideas, EA CEO John Riccitello said he expects motion-control gaming to rapidly expand, eventually occupying half the total games market. He said, "We almost invested to create a platform extension like that for some of the games we're working on. We're very pleased, frankly, that it showed up at Microsoft, because I'd rather them pay for that. They can leverage it better, and we can build software. But I felt the market wanted that technology and I'm glad it's coming."
Re:Motion gaming on consoles already is 50% (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Daw... (Score:3, Informative)
This is why i feel Sixaxis is so underrated. Its a great blend of regular controller with some light motion control when appropriate. The only game ive seen abuse the sixaxis is Lair.
Agreed (Score:3, Informative)
The Sixaxis, as utilized in the otherwise middling PS3 Super Smash Brothers clone Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, does exactly what I'd hoped Nintendo would have done with SSB on the Wii.
The controls are generally as you would expect, but there are some wonderful little motion-based touches: Want to try pulling off a particularly big whack? You jolt the controller in the direction you're punching. Ground-pound area-of-effect attack? Jolt the controller downward as you punch.
Oh, and there's a "meditate" mode where you can float in the air, trading off becoming a sitting duck for some health regeneration -- you do this by flipping the controller upside down. Brilliant!
Re:Daw... (Score:1, Informative)
Its used in a lot of games actually. In Killzone for sniping, Uncharted uses it for aiming a grenade toss (and a few other areas), LBP uses it for head and body angle. Burnout used it for something as well, but I turned it off when I found the option so I am not sure what, exactly, it did.
I agree with you about it though. As long as its just a here and there implementation and not the main way to control the game, it can be fun.
Re:I remember the power glove (Score:2, Informative)
PS2 (Score:1, Informative)
Does anyone else prefer just a standard controller?
The PS2 joystick is awesomely perfect.
PS3's R2/L2 are too far from the plastic, reducing response, it's heavier, and the sixaxis sometimes bothers when trying to play and sleep at the same time.
The XBox controller is a joke, it has SEGA like arrows, when you press right and it presses right+diagonals+up+down because of being physically connected, and playing Virtua Fighter is horribly difficult, even comparing to the PS2 joystick, and don't talk about the arcade version!
It also has the left analog in a hard position to reach, making one touch the arrows (at random).
The Wii controller is perfect for what it is for, Mario Galaxy, SSB, etc. But for action/RPG/FPS games is just dysfunctional.
Re:I want a kunfu game where I really fight stuff (Score:3, Informative)