Almost a month has passed since E3, and of all the news to come out of it, one seems to be in the front of gamers mind, motion control. Clearly becoming the future of gaming; Microsoft and Sony have both come to the stage with their own interpretations, with mixed impressions. Not only that, Nintendo has upgraded their version of motion control, and it has already been released. Basically, I want to look at the tech behind these three devices and consider their applications.
The Wii Motion Plus is already available in stores and it hopes to bring the 3D depth of field that hopes to improve upon the precision in the gamers hands. I decided to give it a shot and purchased some Tiger Woods 2010 and EA's Grand Slam Tennis. First of all, DO NOT buy Grand Slam Tennis, unless you don't own Wii Sports. The Motion Plus does not give your player freedom of motion, and your swings are basically button inputs, regardless of the precision. I was most disappointed by the career mode (only 4 tournaments and limited character creation) and the serve, which was completely based on timing and you cannot overhand swing at your discretion. But the Tiger is a different story alltogether, in fact, not only is the golf fantastic, but the disc golf is a welcome addition to the EA sports line up. The swing has also improved, allowing players to draw or fade with a flick of their wrist. I really think Nintendo may have the tech to spur another 2 years into the Wii's life, as long as the software is there to support it. But as for the future of motion control, the Wii will be left in the dust. Nintendo should be into some heavy R&D to compete with the next two technologies.
Moving on, the most impressive or at least, the most ground breaking is Microsofts Natal. This combination of multiple cameras and it's own microprocessor allow for the user to interact in full stereoscopic 3D, extremely simliar to the ping pong ball motion trackers used in modeling characters in games now. There 3 main tech demos being shown now include; a breakout esque full body motion game, Milo an interactive Ai, and it's application to existing games such as Burnout. First impressions of seeing it at E3 were impressive, the camera seemed to respond well to user input and the NXE was cool, being able to log you in on your face alone.
Milo on the other hand creeped me out, the premise of coming home from work and hanging out with some British tween boy does not appeal to me, but the concept of interacting with ones face and voice may peak my interest yet. If I relate using the tech in the last conversation I had with an NPC in the latest RPG, I think that aspect holds potential in changing the way we play games. Making the way studios develop new games with the Natal, what I am most optimistic about. If they make games we want to play, then the hardware will sell. Although, games that I enjoy may not interest others.
And thats why Sony is making the tech I want now. Mash up of both technologies, by incorporating a camera and remote. Albiet the remote is not the most asthetically pleasing ( many have compared it to a sex toy), I cannot deny the application of necessity, Buttons. In my opinion, games and their interactive enviroments are still far to complex to interact with using only our bodies.
Looking at a game like Zelda, the idea of sword play seems realized by sony's tech demo, and with the ability of the camera to provide facial recognition or even head tracking, it's really the best of both worlds. This is what I want in my motion technology, to play Fable 2 and interact in some high fantasy story. And if any of these techs provide this, I would be satisfied. To read up on more Sony tech, please check out my E3 Wrap Up.
After the industry debating this left and right, I am done with all this motion technology. Hopefully I can spend the next couple months on the couch, moving only my fingers...and maybe an eye or two.
*All pictures are result of a Google image search
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