Microsoft's Phil Spencer believes that motion control is destined to be an obligatory part of videogames, eventually becoming as essential as multiplayer. Excuse me while I'm sick into a little bag.
"Much like with multiplayer, I think it will become the norm," claims Spencer. "If you are a racing game without multiplayer the game just didn’t sell. We think that motion control, we think voice recognition, should become a part of gaming as well."
Should it? Is motion control really as desirable a feature as industry executives believe it to be, and should waggle support be as widespread and accepted as traditional control input? I still can't help but wonder if most of these motion controllers are destined to end up in charity shops and flea markets once the craze has died down. After all, motion control is nothing new. Sega was doing it with it's Genesis Activator pad back in the nineties.
Look how successful that turned out to be.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
9:30 PM on 10.02.2009
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Anyway, Microsoft will NOT make it the norm.
NATAL will only be good for racing games and party games. That is it. Nothing else.
I want bigger, prettier, and more interesting experiences, all of which are doable without needing to flail around or waggle some silly wand. Seriously, I hate motion controls if you haven't guessed.
Motion is a GREAT thing. However it takes time to get it right. If it is used to much and doesn't feel right, than it is abused. If it is used to little and doesn't feel right, it is waggle.
Games like Super Mario Galaxy did a GREAT job of using the wiimote just enough and not making it waggle.
Metroid prime and other games use it right as well.
The thing with the wii is, you CAN play it like those commercials. Crazy ass like. Or you can play it sitting and barley moving your arms. Both are great.
As long as I have that option I am fine.
I read this articles on another site hours ago. And every second makes a difference in the news world.
Not being rude, just saying.
A majority of games require the use of dual analog control sticks, triggers, bumpers and 6 buttons. When I started it was a d pad and two buttons. So yeah I can see motion controls becoming the standard.
I'll add however that MS and Sony are both just in awe and trying to reach the same (very likely ephemeral) success that Nintendo has, once they realize their target market (core gamers) does not give a crap about waggle and excessive shovelware, they'll go back to business as usual... hopefully.
There's a reason why Jim gets comments (besides being on the front page obviously).
Join me in a waggle!
The console is NOT based off of it.
We will see some games that support it, but mostly some shovel ware.
Hell, maybe they will get three games like the PS2 eye toy! Only time will tell.
And WTF? EVERY single fanboy was bashing the hell out of motion, now that it is coming on there system, they get excited. I LOVE the wii, I am glad to see some motion haters that still hate motion because its motion and not just because its Nintendo.
Well, playing games like imagine babyz will be possible to play on 360 and PS3 in the near future! Thanks to NATAL and the wand!
Hopefully shovel ware will have easy ass achievements!
After that, that camera and voice tech will, at best, add a little something to the games that use a standard controller and can also take advantage of natal.
Think of the Wii, people still hold on to their Gamecube controllers when they sell their old console.
Waggling a remote in a masturbatory fashion to make Link catch a fish (or recharge your beam katana) will never become the "NORM".
On the flipside, if the content of the game was good enough, I'd suffer through whatever control scheme it was, waggle my own cock to control the action or whatever. (Actually, that would be like combining two hobbies).
That said, my experience with the Wii makes me freaking dread Natal and the Playfail Wand. Because I expect the content will suck ass.
That all depends on the developer. Now I don't see how the hell a developer can really customize NATAL controls though...
But look at games that are coming out in the near future. Game like "The GRinder" They will use the wii mote the RIGHT way.
Now Megastryke (waiting for him to pop in), I never said I'd quit gaming, I'm simply saying that if the majority of games are as gimmicky/low quality as current market trends show, I'll simply prefer to play the hundreds of games I have in my personal collection: and that's just a preference based on how much I like traditional controllers. To say I'd "quit gaming" would be dramatic, as I'll always have legacy games I own legally playable through emulation.
I enjoy being able to play the NES metroid on my wii without waggle.
And like I said, games like SMG master the wii mote. They don't abuse it at all, and it is nice to do a flick and see mario in action.
(head tracking 3-d display in an FPS)
(and of course minority report style avatar shopping)
And sony will make "4D" games! hahaha, oh sony, you and your bull shit claims!
See Little King's Story for the Wii, and Mega Man ZX for the DS. Both do not use the Wii-mote or stylus, respectively, at all, and are excellent titles. They offer a break from over-"waggle" and over-"wiggle" if we choose to do so.
If motion controls can offer a traditional experience as an option (PS3 Motion's RE 5: Director's Cut? Will it have the option not to use the wand, and include the full original control style? I hope so.), I will be down. But, if Natal abandon's the 360 controller option, you can kiss my business goodbye.
How is the future of video game control "minute"?
I want the option to use a controller for games like Red Steel, which are waggle heavy. That's my opinion as a consumer. Consumers like options.
so hopefully motion control will be accessible, but not "standard."
Hell, any game can have terrible controls.
Like I have said again and again. It is how the developer makes it right or wrong. It is up to them.
But with NATAL, it is up to...NATAL.
That being said, give me motion control that actually works, and consistently, and I'll be the first one to throw away my controller.
Besides, I doubt controllers and button pressing will go out of style any time soon.
Tell that to Nintendo. Just make sure to not wake them while they're sleeping on their beds made of solid gold from their Wii sales.
I actually think Microsoft is right here. Motion control will become the norm eventually, if not next to traditional controls. It just won't be Natal that standardizes it, since Natal can't do jack crap compared to Nintendo's and Sony's offerings.
Multiplayer is inanely more applicable. it's the roots of gaming.
I can see all systems now coming with motion controls, but not all games. Motion controls fail in comparison. We all know this. Why doesn't Phil Spencer know this?
I do agree that the consoles aren't made for the currently-being-worked-on motion control solutions, but remember -- Sony is adding a ton of support for PS3 games that are already out. They're doing what people wanted Nintendo to do with GameCube games, but didn't. That's admirable, to say the least.
I love the Wii. I'm one of the few people around here who actually bought the Wii for something other than the Homebrew Channel -- I bought it for the games. Novel idea, huh? But I must admit, Sony's wand controller looks like the Wii on crack, and I can't say I'm not excited about that.
@dwolfwood
Honestly, Natal didn't even look good for OS browsing to me.
Being able to chill back on my couch and touch a few buttons to have fun and entertainment is way better. I <3 Traditional Controls.
"Much like with multiplayer," said Spencer with his head buried deep in the mound of Cocaine on his desk,"I think it will become the norm. If you are a racing game without multiplayer the game just didn’t sell." Phil paused here, something was missing. Realising what it was, he called his legion of small Filipino boys into the room and began sodomising them. Satisified, he continued, "We think that motion control, we think voice recognition, should become a part of gaming as well."