Razer, Valve, and Sixense Working On Motion Control For PC Games

An anonymous reader sends along this excerpt from Shacknews: "Gaming hardware developer Razer has announced a new multi-year partnership with Sixense Entertainment and Valve Software to deliver a '...revolutionary true-to-life, next-generation motion sensing and gesture recognition controller for PC gaming.' Razer, Valve, and Sixense, along with a selection of PC OEM partners, are aiming to produce '...ultra-precise one-to-one motion sensing controllers that use electromagnetic fields to track precise movements along all six axes.' Each controller will reportedly track its orientation within a single degree, and detect positioning within one millimeter. Thankfully, the device will be compatible with both current and future generation PC games."

six axes?

[yivi]

I don't get the bit about the "six axes". I thought we had only three in meatspace.

Are they talking about something else and I am not getting it? Or they are just being silly?

Regards,

I.-

Re:six axes?

[imakemusic]

I might be wrong, but I think it's three axis of movement and three of rotation. I've always thought it's a bit misleading...

Bah

[oGMo]

Being a long-time gamer and programmer, I did still got interested about Wii and Natal. It was great fun to play just moving naturally. But even more so casual people saw it as more fun. Dancing, shaking, moving, whatever they do. It may not seem much, but it is for them. And it's a huge market.

I call BS. First: "just moving naturally". I have yet to see any of these games where movements are anything resembling natural. Or in any way "more fun" because of the aforementioned spastic flailing. (While "fun" is, granted, somewhat subjective, there is still consensus at some point, usually in the form of AAA titles everyone can't stop playing and will be remembered among the classics for decades to come.) This leads us to: "I did still got interested [sic] about Wii and Natal," and "casual people saw it as more fun" (emphasis mine). This is what these things come down to: a marketing tool to make people interested in something. The promise of something new. Unfortunately, that promise has not been delivered.

Re:Casual Gaming

[mewsenews]

Frankly, market is what drives development, not the elitism.

Something that is idiotic but makes money does not become less idiotic. Twilight is hauling in millions of dollars.

Hey that gives me an idea, are there any casual Twilight games?

Lionhead's Black and White

[naz404]

Well, one type of game where this would probably work out well was Lionhead's Black and White series where you controlled a hand floating in 3D space.

That being said, as a PC desktop and not a living room on-the-couch type controller, this could end up being tiring for the user to use over extended periods of time because you'll be holding your hand up all the time with no support unlike with a mouse/keyboard where your hands are resting on your desk.

I recall reading about why 3D mice failed or why Minority Report interfaces may not be as viable - it's very tiring for users to hold up and wave their hands in the air for extended periods of time.

Re:Bah

[Anonymous Coward]

Speak for yourself. I've been a Playstation guy before but decided to go with Wii this generation because of the price (might get a PS3 now that they are saner). I've been quite happy -- partly because I'm not such a HC gamer anymore and partly because there are enough good games for me: I love Sports Resort and Mario Galaxy. For the first time ever I'm also playing games with my fiancee...

You keep calling it "spastic flailing". Feel free to also stick fingers in your ears and say lalalaa, if you want.

Re:Electromagnetic tracking?

[Rockoon]

The breakthrough, if any, probably isnt the detection equipment. External fields isnt an obstacle, its a modeling problem that can be dealt with. The model just needs to include them, so in the end its a signal analysis problem (learning the proper model for the individual installation)

Re:Casual Gaming

[Calinous]

Since the days of the Sinclair Spectrum Z-80 computers, the joysticks have accrued what seems to be a keyboard (from two buttons to 15+ buttons).

Re:six axes?

[somersault]

Actually, there is still a lot of fine skill in controlling the mouse in these games, but being good while running around with a real gun obviously requires a lot more than just quick reactions, as it uses many more muscle groups, especially if you're free standing..

I was annoyed recently when trying my first CoD game to find out that you can't even turn off the auto-aim when you play online though.. some poor n00bs are going to get a shock if they ever have to play a game where they do all the aiming themselves.

Re:Casual Gaming

[Moryath]

Are they? There's a movement (combined with the drive-by-wire electronic setups of coming automobile generations) to switch automobile control to joysticks.

Bonuses:
- Allows putting the turn signals and other functions on joystick buttons, controllable with the same hand doing the steering
- Allows for easy "zeroing out" (recalibration) of the steering; no more need to go spend $$$ at the shop to have your alignment adjusted, go into recalibration mode and set the new zero point, or even let the car sense the changes as they occur. Added bonus: the car's warning system can tell you when the physical alignment has gone too far off and needs servicing.

- Removes the biggest danger (crushing the driver against a steering column) of a head-on collision.
- Removes the fire dangers of the steering column (which is a major heat-tube from most engines as well as producing a ton of wear-and-tear on wiring; you'd be surprised how many recalls there have been [google.com] due to this recurring problem)

The modern steering wheel evolved out of a time when everything was gears and levers. It was literally connected (via chain, rod, or pulley) to devices like a ship's rudder or to cart wheels. Remove the requirement of a direct physical connection (I know, I know: "but what if your power goes dead or the connection shorts out!") and any equally sensitive analog device, or even a sensitive enough digital device with fine enough granularity, will work. Given that in a car you only need about 45 degrees, tops, of directional turning adjustment in either direction, a joystick is more than sufficient.

Re:Bah

[nedlohs]

That "spastic flailing" can be the fun on its own.

When drunk for example swinging the controller like a golf club is more fun than clicking a button at the right time. And for the other drunk people in the room it is *much* more fun to watch.

Re:Casual Gaming

[elrous0]

No, profitability doesn't necessarily make great gaming. But it does drive the gaming industry. Hardcore gamers are always bitching about how the industry doesn't listen to them. But when you turn around and say things like "Mouse/keyboard are the ONLY way to control a game! Who cares about making money or what casual/console gamers want?" it makes it perfectly understandable *why* they don't listen to you.

Re:Bah

[rxan]

The failure of motion control is when it is used just for the sake of having motion control.

Here's a fundamental: don't make the player shake the controller for an action when they don't have to shake the controller at any other time. Example: Metroid Prime Corruption... why do I have to shake the controller to jump! Whyyyy!

Developers went nuts experimenting, and failing, when motion control came out. Hopefully bad use of motion control will phase out once many studios get used to making games for it.