Understanding Motion Control

Understanding Motion Control

Since this whole bloggardness started after E3, I will be playing catch-up for a while as far as video game posts go. But before that, I will to take this time to spread my thoughts on a game that i thought was gonna change the world of Kinect.... but didn't....at all. That's right people, I'm talking about Steel Battalion(SB)! No this wont be a review, bottom line is nothing works- but what does prove to motion gaming?




Now everyone was thinking long and hard on what to do with the Kinect when it released. The executives were sitting at the table with their chairs made of money and they're thinking, "Man, we took the plunge into motion gaming but now we dont know what the f*** to come up with!" The dancing, the fitness and wacky little games are a given, they work. But's that because they require very little precision and if you want to even mention the term "hardcore" you need precision.

So far, Microsoft's main pro for Kinect is "We do what the Wii did, but better because it tracks your whole body." It wasnt an invention that never happened before it was just done better but still has the same limitations.
We know how wii works, connect nunchuck, sesnor follows it around- badda bing badda boom.
Now, when Sony jumped in the game with the Move will always be a "the f**k?" type ordeal when it crosses my mind. I can only assume that part of Wii's weaknesses was due to its weak power and the super-giant PS3 can bring out the true potential of the nunchuck-ness....right.
But here's the bottom line, Steel had a great idea! If not great then it was unique because until now, its always been KINECT OR CONTROLLER... THEY CANNOT MIX! And Martin Luther has taught us better than that guys/gals. But if Motion Control wants to EVER stand a chance at being more than a device for a set type of games then it has to work around its major flaws.

1. Hardware: Keep in mind i'm not saying the hardware is not able to produce great games(maybe that is what Im saying) but aside from the Wii(sorta), these are baby devices. How many Nintendo systems were invented before GameCube? How many phones have a line of ancestors who took what was right and fixed what was wrong? Apple is a prime example of a company that fixes and upgrades each time a new generation comes out. I think the hardware isnt quite figured out yet or at least not in a commercial way.

2. Development/3rd Party: If you're in a game company and you want to make a huge profit a game you've been working for years, would you gamble it on being a Kinect game? NO!
The bigger game companies are "catering" to Kinect like in MassEffect 3 with voice commands. Also it was shown in the Splinter cell game in E3, as if that's just what the fans were looking for. (Oh let me say this, if one cool invention is me talking to my game with $100 device when I clearly have been using mic for years that somehow "can not" do the same, don't call that innovation.)Even the Ghost Recon *Gun Smith* idea was cool but wasnt better with Kinect. Rather than yelling what i want, I just used my pad- why use Kinect? The time, stress and money it must take to make a responsive, clean plot driven Kinect must be too high and the stakes too deep. Some say all the tracking devices(Wii,360,PS3) just cannot support high end games with its current tracking technology thus unable to induce immersion. I'm not sure how i feel about that statement but you decide. However one thing is sure, Kinect and Move needs a huge gamble if they ever want to be taken seriously by other audiences. SB seemed like someone worked hard on the concept but when it came to coding the guys were like "Oh look! The ice cream cart is outside!" and they never came back! 1:1 tracking is cool but feeling is better than seeing.... I think.

3. Feedback: Not your or my feedback, i think each company has more than enough of that but I'm talking about motion feedback. Here's the problem, you have a jedi saber fight, and you see the clashing of your sabers against each other on the screen but according to your movements you pretty much sliced through the saber and your enemy EVEN THOUGH the game is showing you hard-locked in a power struggle-_-. People praise Kinect for the "no controller" motion gaming but I cant imagine motion controlling working without some device telling you got hit, a button to state when you're grabbing something(too bad it cant really finger track) or something as simple as a vibration to indicate force. You may disagree but as of now, no one knows the right Motion Formula.

There are other issues but these three hurt all the inventions that come to us and they keeping failing! I still have faith in Kinect and Wii and I would love for the Move to surprise me but I do not ignore the obvious. I wouldn't mind if Kinect could only reach the casual gamers who don't play video games- that's fine. Then make that intention clear and don't wiggle with those who wont enjoy Kinect's target presentation.
WiiU hasn't said much of anything about the tracking but have been pushing this dual screen business so i doubt the tracking will be any better - hopefully I'm wrong. 360 seems pretty proud of its voice commands so I'm not sure where that's going. And as far as the Move, I'll wait for he big one to come.

[Side Note: I hear there's a new motion tracking device called Leap, I will be looking into this]

Despite the WIi and the PS Eye, i still feel Motion gaming is baby that's just now starting to grow but its Autistic. I believe there's a genius somewhere in there we just have to find the right trigger to tap into it! That's how I've come to understand Motion Control.
What about you, is a dead scene? Possible chance for greatness? Let me know.