Is motion sensing a fad, or is it perhaps the future of the video game industry? The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but with Wii MotionPlus, Project Natal and Sony's PlayStation motion technology all gathering steam, for the moment all three console makers are intent on taking hold of the motion-sensing market. David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream (which is working on the much talked about Heavy Rain, due out early 2010), is no fan of the direction the industry seems to be headed in, however.
Speaking to Kikizo recently, Cage seemingly echoed sentiments IndustryGamers expressed in an opinion piece about a month ago. "I'm not sure all people want to play jumping and running in front of the television, because I think some people just want to relax and just play, enjoy and experience," he commented.
Cage continued, "It shows Microsoft wants to go the Nintendo way, probably, go casual, compete with Wii Fit, and there's nothing wrong about it - there is a market for casual gamers. But this is definitely not the direction I would like this industry to go, because I think it should go in the direction of movies - more creativity, more new ideas, more authors - rather than going in the direction of toys. And from a technical point of view I must admit I'm still slightly sceptical about what they've shown."
We tend to agree with Cage in that certain gaming experiences simply require controllers, and people just want to sit back and leisurely play a game sometimes. At the same time, however, we don't think the game industry should be aspiring to be the next Hollywood either.
Another interesting, unrelated tidbit from the full interview is that Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) sought out Cage at one point to talk about cut-scenes, and how to make them more interactive rather than passive.
3 Comments
July 15, 2009
The industry needs to find middle ground, the Wii has quickly become what most people think of as a "casual gamers system" and iit seems that developers as well as "hardcore gamers" are freaking out because they see Sony and Microsoft heading in the Wii direction, But i think there is middleground to be had here, i was at E3 and played games like the new red steel and left feeling confident that with enough work other companies can implement motion controls in games for the "hardcore", as well as the "casual" crowd. There is NO reason why Motion done right wouldnt make games more immersive given the developers willingness to finance the very same things in a heavy rain type game, with motion controls added. I just think that we are at the begining of a new interface that will only get better, when we came to the D-pad NES controller from the Atari joystick and paddles, did gaming sufferor become better? Same can happent here.
July 19, 2009
He is totally right. I guess Motion-Sensing is just a hype as it's got the wow factor or a little bit of science fiction. Motion-Sensor-Control is a perfect opportunity to get non-gamer in front of the TV, because everybody can easily adopt the controlling - it doesn't matter which sex and how old you are.
March 26, 2010
Motion-Sensor-Control is a perfect opportunity to get non-gamer in front of the TV, because everybody can easily adopt the controlling - it doesn't matter which sex and how old you are.
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