Topic: Motion Control Downsides

One thing Ive noticed with Wii and again now with Move as well is that there are major downsides to motion control that make me think that motion control as a whole will not become the mainstream of home console gaming.

Let me explain, Ive been sick (no pity party here ) for the last month or so and I had surgery yesterday. Now and during the last couple of weeks its just so hard to pull myself up to physically play a game at times. As much as I love Sports Championships Ive barely gotten the time I would like with the game because of this. MAG is a easier one as I can kick back and relax but Im taliking actual motion control.

I think this will be a huge issue for Kinect wich will require constant movement and the gamers arms to be constantly held in the air. What is enjoyable for an hour or so can quickly become uncomfortable and any kind of illness can keep you out of playing your consoles entirely if they were completely controlled my motions.

What do you guys think?

I think it works great with some games but not so great with others.  I don't think there'd be any way to do a fighting game with motion control without breaking someone's face or your furniture.  Motion controls are also kind of superfluous in platformers.  Some sports games work better with controllers too (I'm thinking of Madden or other games where you're controlling plays for a whole team).  I love them for FPS type games, party/mini games, racing games, and sports simulators though.

It's all about making the controls fit the game and then making sure the control scheme is polished.  Wii Sports did a lot with very little in the sense of accuracy with its motion controls, but how many games have Wii motion plus to work with and are still broken?  Hopefully Sony's quality control will keep broken games off the PS3, but since they're still fairly new territory (and offer a wider range of input than a standard controller), I'm sure things will continue to improve as developers get more and more practice working with the types of controls.

Hope you start feeling better soon Slappy.

For the first month or so I owned my Wii I was all about getting up and making big motions: after that I found it infinitely more comfortable to sit down, arms crossed, and enjoy my games that way.

I think Kinect will be an interesting piece of technology in that regard - I intend to do 80% of my gaming on my backside from now until I die, and if I'm really ill and bed-ridden I damn sure don't want to be denied my gaming. Let's hope Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony remember the sick and the lazy!

@ post 2

"Hopefully Sony's quality control will keep broken games off the PS3"

Sony quality control? first I'd heard of it, did you not own a PS2? lol

I'm intrigued by Sony's concept approval system - I wonder why more format holders don't implement one?

what's a concept appoval system?

and whatever it is, how the hell did that kung fu on an office chair thing get through it!?

It basically means developers have to pitch their ideas to Sony before they can get approval to develop them for PlayStation formats. It's been around for ages now and although I totally agree it hasn't necessarily resulted in console libraries composed 100% of amazing games, it's still an interesting system that might mean we see fewer Wii ports than perhaps we'd expected.

I just dont see a home console thriving without some sort of standard controller. Move and WiiMote both work really well as full motion control and as laid back sitting on your butt controllers.

Even outside of this whole sick/surgery ordeal. I build ships as a Pipefitter for the Navy for a living. Im up and down hundreds of steps a day often times with 150+ pounds of pipe/valves or whatever Im needed at the time. When I get home I dont feel like bouncing around too much. Im a very active person and very physically fit as well and Ive found the majority of motion control gaming (Sports Championships, Wii Resort) happens on the weekend. Maybe its just getting older too

@billy.... you know, Kung Fu Rider apparently is finding a audience of sorts. I cant remember where I read it but there are a lot of Move owners enjoying the game somehow. Though I do have to admit, it could be WAY worse that what it is.

Kinect is a value-add - it's not meant to replace gaming ENTIRELY, but when you are feeling healthy and fit, it's a far better technology to be using for dancing and fitness games than a controller.

I think most people realise that. No one ever made the claim that motion controls were going to replace controllers entirely.

@waltz... oh it has been made by many people, but I wasnt so much talking in aspects of Move/Wii/Kinect but more into the future generations of home console gaming when technology is far greater than it is even now and motion control could be implemented even better than by todays standards.

@Iz.... yeah that too. ACTUALLY if you guys got the Wii at launch you remember when there wasnt a cover for the WiiMote. Me, my wife, broinlaw and his wife were all playing a heated game of Raving Rabids and my sisterinlaw literally slammed a WiiMote without the cover on it into the back of my broinlaws head. Talking about funny, it was hysterical!

Downside no. 374.a section 12.b: Having to swing the controller(I would have said Wii Remote, but since Move exists...) when you've just got up