Regular readers will be well aware that the mission objective of this site was to bring the world (or at least a very select sub-population) geek news from around the globe straight to your internet connected device of choice. This piece will however be a little different, and may sounds like a rant but nonetheless it is something that bugs me every time I read about it.
Since the reveal of Nintendo’s Wii at E3 2005 the gaming industry has been a progressive adaptation towards motion based controllers. Sure, motion controllers had graced the palms of many a sweaty teenager prior to 2005 in a variety of forms including Microsoft’s own Sidewinder control pad, but lets face the facts, in hindsight, the Wii changed gaming, possibly forever. It was never Nintendo’s intention to capture the hardcore gaming market with the Wii, or if it was they were grossly misguided and did a great job of hiding it. The Wii captured an audience of gamers who before 2005 didn’t even know they were gamers. It captivated the entire world instigating purchases from eight to eighty year olds, and lets face it today you would be hard pressed to find anyone of full mental capacity who had never head of the system let alone taken a swing at Wii Tennis.
Nintendo’s exemplary marketing propelled the Wii into the sales stratosphere all but eclipsing the sales of competition hardware generating a fresh set of gaming enthusiasts around the globe, even if only for the first week after purchase. In an attempt to replicate this casual gaming market success both Sony and Microsoft initially attempted to pirate Nintendo’s unprecedented success with their own motion based alternative. Sony incorporated SixAxis motion control into their Dual-Shock “new” controller which predictably flopped as the half-hearted unresponsive, under-adopted piffle that it was. Microsoft attempted to use the already meagre Vision Cam to replicate the limited success Sony had enjoyed with the Eye-toy to capture the motion control market to an even greater resounding clang of the gong of failure. Its safe to say that Nintendo, as far as sales and new market penetration go, had this generation in the bag, and maybe they still do.
At this year’s E3, things changed and in my opinion for the better. Both Sony and Nintendo debuted their own real technology. Sure, they may still be attempting to capture some of the success that Nintendo has proven is out there but rather than simply half-heartedly lounging on Ninty’s Mario Kart, the two gaming giants have brought their own super-cars to the table. Have they arrived too late? Only time will tell but the technology on display by both companies was certainly impressive, far beyond that currently offered by Nintendo. In my own opinion Microsoft, for now, appears to have done a better job at making their technology more accessible, no controller at all certainly feels the right way to go for the super-casual market, but Sony may be onto something providing a vastly enhanced Wiimote to a market comfortable with the form. Either way all three companies are now expanding their horizons to widen their market penetration which can only be a good thing so gaming as a whole.
My problem comes with those who seem to be obsessed with kicking this casual technology in the teeth before it’s even out. Websites and forums across the internet are peppered with hardcore gamers crying that no-one will ever take away their controller and that no amount of motion detecting technology could ever replace their sweat laden game pads. What these people appear to have forgotten however is that the game companies have made no mention of making the controller archaic but instead are developing this technology for the enjoyment of those intimidated by control pads. I myself am a hardcore gamer, I play the odd casual game and will undoubtedly adopt Natal when it appears for the geek inside me would allow no other outcome, but you will not find me screaming from the hills about how I will never leave my pad behind. Hardware manufacturers and game developers know their target audiences and are aware that certain games cannot work as effectively without the well established control pad. Sure some adventurous sole will attempt to make an FPS using only Natal as a control mechanism and I’m quite sure the entire hardcore gaming audience will complain and flame them for their idiocy but they must remember two things:
1. The game will inevitably not have been made for their consumption.
2. Someone had to be the one to try it.
Personally i’ll be sticking with my controller until I can be convinced there is a better way to quickly and easily fire a shotgun, throw a grenade and conduct a well orchestrated headshot whilst hijacking a moving milk cart without having to dive behind my sofa to take cover. To those wining that they will never play without a controller with two analogue sticks and a host of buttons please remember your place within the evolved gaming community. No longer is gaming solely about deathmatch and ranking up, hardcore gamers now find themselves vastly outnumbered by the casual market but please be assured that you will be catered for and not forgotten, after all we are who allowed these companies to get where they are today, my bet, they’re not forgetting that any time soon.
