With both Project Natal and Sony's motion controller set to launch next year, motion sensing/tracking will soon become a major focus for all three console manufacturers in the game industry. Nintendo kicked off the trend with its incredibly popular Wii, but the success of Nintendo's platform has also had the unfortunate consequence of leading people to believe that motion sensing games will be mostly casual.
Softkinetic, which today launched a development studio dedicated to creating motion tracking experiences, doesn't believe that motion tracking games need be casual, however. In an interview with IndustryGamers, CEO Michel Tombroff noted that the Wii has affected people's mindsets when it comes to motion controls.
He admitted that the first wave of titles from Softkinetic will be more casual, "but as the 3D gesture recognition technology becomes adopted more generally it will be used in new forms of applications (interactive TV applications, deeper games, etc.)." He continued, "Everybody has the Wii experience in mind – and therefore the associated notion of casual games – but this has primarily been due to the limitation of the Wii platform’s limited capabilities as well as the focus of Nintendo’s marketing. But 3D gesture applies to many genres and should not be limited to casual games."
While we agree up to a point with Tombroff, we also wonder how motion controls will be integrated into hardcore gaming experiences without feeling "tacked on." As we've said in the past, we're perfectly content with traditional controls.
3 Comments
September 23, 2009
I think there is room for both in the market,(traditional/motion) I think the market would become stagnant and would not have moved on from the same gamers weve had for the last 30 yrs if a new step in immersio was taken, I see Motion controls in all manners at this point, i see it as a HUGE step forward in gaming controls WHEN DONE RIGHT, I rently had the oppurtunity to preview Redsteel 2 with motion plus and while i will say it had kinks to iron out, I feel this is a good example of a "hardcore" game with good motion controls that arent just "tacked on". unfortunately, Wii is going to get the Bad rap for 3rd party coming along with BAD uses for the motion tech cheap games like GAME PARTY are just a bad way to say.."here this is the future of motion controls." i think As a TRUE gamer that owns every conole from Atri2600 up to PS3, I can honestly say I would be missing out this generation if i only owned ONE console be it wii or ps3 or 360, I think this generation is GREAT because to get a full gaming experience on the higher end of the good games, You neeed to have a combination of ither a PS3 and wii or 360 and Wii. If you truly need to talk about motion controls on wii you dont point to the bad stuff, you point to the games that are done right, and well, the same with the other consoles, if i truly want to show off how great my PS3 is i dont pop in a copy of the latest shovelware, i put in a top notch game. So overall, Motion is a brand new way of changing something we love and thats why people (core gamers) get scared, People fear change, but f it wasnt for change we'd still be plaing with a stick on a box with one button, thanx to change we have Dpads, Shoulder buttons, face buttons, Analog sticks, Rumble, IR pointing, and motion. I welcome it with open arms.
September 28, 2009
I think motion controls will open up things that people thought would be impossible. For instance, I'm a break dancer from the 80's and I love wrestling games, so I think that a Natal enabled Smackdown vs. Raw that allows me to teach my wrestlers my patented moves for their entrances would be beyond amazing.
October 5, 2009
Malcom, While i see where youre going with this, and it sounds great in theory, i dont think thats where natal is headed, i mean i think its supposd to help you escape reality and allow you to do things people wouldnt otherwise be able to do, I cant break dance or do anything "cool" like that, so if i Have to program my wrestler to do things i can in real life.....well hed be doing a lot of punching stomping and pinning... I think reaching a balane betweent escapism and motion controls will be what really shines, but get ready for all the Wii ports and mini games like ricohet to be the first wave of games that come to natal and sonys wand.