So it’s been suggested I do something Christmassy today, given we’re now within a week of the big day. That is pretty tempting, but given me and a few other writers have been putting some effort into making sure you have some content to read over the Christmas period I’m a little bit tired of Christmas stuff. So instead today we’ll talk about something that has very little to do with Christmas – where motion controls should be used.
Lets get the obvious out of the way first, motion controls are not appropriate in every single title ever. There are of course the games that started to crop up a lot more this generation where the controls are obviously appropriate, titles like Wii Sports or Sports Champion. These kind of titles have, for the most part, been vastly improved this generation and become a hit with a whole new segment of the market. Even many who consider themselves ‘hardcore’ gamers can enjoy these sort of titles, and they’re certainly improved for having the motion control in there. I don’t really want to be perfectly charging a bar by holding X down, it really is a lot more satisfying to move the controller like you’re actually throwing a Frisbee.
The real question is do we want them in games that don’t have an obvious place for motion control, or have been built from the ground up to take advantage of motion control (like Flower). We’ve always had light gun games (the Magnavox Galaxy, the first home console, had one), but I’ve never thought “You know what? I wish SOCOM/Killzone/Random FPS played like this!” There’s never been a point where I wanted the experience from Time Crisis in more ‘traditional’ shooters.
Of course Move and even the Wii give us much greater fidelity than a light gun does, but the basic mechanic is still pretty much the same. You’re still pointing to shoot, the only difference is you’re less on rails when the mechanic is taken into a fully fledged FPS. Initially that made me pretty wary of the concept, but our very own Alex says that it works pretty well in Killzone 3 so perhaps it’s not all that bad.
There is of course the Kinect issue to be considered. With it’s different take on motion control it’s had a lot written about it, something that Microsoft are probably revelling in. There are a lot of possibilities for the camera, and I don’t think we’ve come close to seeing what it’s capable of in the long run. The open-source community is already showing us new possibilities for the hardware, and that’s just in terms of UI design. Given time I think we’ll see some new gameplay mechanics for this hardware, much as we did with flOw and Flower’s utilization of the sensors in the SixAxis controller.
What I don’t think we’ll see, at least not for a while yet, is more games in the vein of Joy Ride. The control scheme, frankly, isn’t very good, it’s not comfortable for any prolonged period of time and it really shows exactly where not to go with Kinect. Whilst I’m a Kinect advocate based on my own experiences (and may well own one soon), Joy Ride is just not the way to go with the system.
As for moving Kinect into more ‘hardcore’ games, I don’t know what we’ll see. Maybe Gears of War 3 or the next Halo will include it in some kind of augmentation role, adding a new dimension to the game. I don’t think we’ll see it used as the primary control scheme in a shooter for a while, but it’s not really designed for that in the same way that the Wii or Move aren’t really designed to do fitness games. Sure people have found ways to do it, but it does seem that the detection in Your Shape is already better than titles on the other systems even if it is lacking in other areas.
The main thing to keep in mind is that, in many ways, we’re just at the beginning of seeing where all of this is going. Maybe in ten years we’ll be playing all of our games motion controlled, or maybe we’ll understand where it works and where it doesn’t more fully. I don’t think it’ll ever go away though, at the very least we’ll always see more sports and party titles.
StevenHibs
I just bought the Move yesterday, interesting article
ratkiller75
Game companies seem too obsessed with using their motion controllers. Sometimes it is a lot easier and simpler to use a conventional controller but I think that overall motion controllers are a good step forward.
cam the man
I’ve nothing against motion controllers, they’re a clever bit of tech, it’s just not the way I want to input my movements/controls into games.
MaD dOctoR 79
which is why The Move is an optional controller on most titles, (obviously not Move based games like The Fight) if you want to play KZ3 with the Dualshock, you can, if you want to use the Move instead, you can.
That’s the best way to do motion controls for big games, give it as an option and don’t force people to use it.
cc_star
Will be interesting to see if Move can overcome Cursor Drift so its playable in some of the more core games we’ve been sold it on, will also be interesting to see what the devs for Kinect can come up with, some of the hacking & homebrew is astonishing & MS are supposed to be doubling the resolution at some point so it can recognises slight movements with finger-tips
I firmly believe that motion gaming is best played in a group/family/social situation and some genres work better than others in this situation, and it will be that factor which limits motion gaming in the future rather than any pluses or minuses of the various tech on offer.
TSBonyman
I’ve only noticed that cursor drift thing once and it was startlingly apparent on that occasion but mostly i seem to have escaped that issue. Have you tried pressing the reset button on your ‘dildo’ ? ;)
cc_star
Not a prob in games like Tumble or Sackboy’s Prehistoric thingys to point at the PSEye & hit Triangle (or whatever) but a different story in core game types where accuracy is everything & a split second is the difference between life & death.
I’m not fussed myself, I’m more than happy kicking back with my DS3 in core games, leaving Move for family situations, but someone who plays MAG a lot has told me that some aspects of it are unplayable, which could come as a disappointment to people who have been sold Move on its ‘core’ capabilities
MaD dOctoR 79
CC_Star in the Shoot, re-calibration is stupidly easy you can do it without stopping gameplay, you just center the move (screen, or wherever you feel the center is) and hit the circle button that’s it, almost the same as Resident Evil 5, before aiming center the move, aim and fire either of these could easily be adopted by fps games, and you actually have a better response time with the move.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL0Ue7HvfYc go to around 10:50 the guy shows a comparison between the move and the dualshock (and yes I know it’s not an fps, but you get the idea)
fattyuk
without singling out the move to just 1 game….. I cannot wait for killzone 3 with it’s own gun accessory, not only just for the main campaign but the online mulitiplayer aswell! I geuinly reckon it’s going to be epic.
1 thing that I will be interested in is how kinect will work with a COD motion control game. As it’s the inevitable that there will be one!
Charmed_Fanatic
Didnt like the Wii, but due to the accuracy, i LOVE Move.
bunimomike
I love playing my FPS titles on the PC and avoid the consoles wherever possible (with the same titles). However, bringing touch-based gaming (on iDevices) into the mix, has opened up Move’s ability to feel natural and easy to use. For the first time since console controllers appeared in our homes, we’re now seeing an alternative for a select few genres. If Kinect’s accuracy was that of Move’s it would have touch-based gaming stitched up like a kipper, I’m sure.
However, I share the same worry that everyone else does. Don’t crowbar motion controllers into games that simply don’t require it. Choose the game you want to develop then graft on the best controls for that game (depending on the platform you’re working with). If Sony approach someone like Insomniac or Sucker Punch, then it’s up to them to say “no, we don’t want it screwing with our premier titles. However, we will create a new title that suits Move down to the ground”.
It’s all about being sensitive to the platform, the game-type and the controller.
dude90
My older sis got a Wii its not bad but I prefer the Move.
TSBonyman
Motion control is a perfect fit for sports and party games but at the end of a hard days work i just want to sit down and unwind with some games. Thankfully Move has plenty more besides sports and party games so i’m well catered for.
I’m not completely lazy though, i’ve picked up Sports Active2 (doesn’t use Move- has it’s own sensors and cardio-meter) and that really does give you a proper workout – i’m aching all over! :)
Considering the minute wrist adjustments/movements i have to make when aiming in Resi i can’t wait to try a FPS with Move controls – if only they could patch KZ2 while we’re waiting for KZ3 but i know KZ2 wasn’t designed for Move so it’s not as easy to implement. I would try the Move controls in Mag but it’s online only so not for me.
In 10 years time we could have Kinect 3.0 and probably a new Eyetoy camera, even Nintendo could add true z-axis detection so motion gaming might still be popular then but i can’t see it ever really replacing ‘proper’ gaming. I find i need to be in different frame of mind for exercise and gaming and if moton gaming is too physical i will quickly tire of it.
4lf13
I think Microsoft missed a trick making the kinect just for gaming. People have hacked it and are using it for very innovative things. If this innovation was used for other things, i.e. computers, I thing it will be truly groundbreaking stuff.
Rocket_345
My brother has got a wii and i was never a big fan. Then when i lent move off my friend i absolutely loved it and it was the deciding factor of me getting one for christmas. As much that it is only going to be used for Move only games i cannot wait to see how it works with Killzone 3, NBA 2k11 and SOCOM 4.
Rocket_345
oh i forgot great article.