John-ShepardIt's an all new war within the console battle: the vying for third-party support for Sony's PS3 motion controller and Microsoft's motion technology, known as Natal.
Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has recently been quoted as saying that "70-80% of game companies" are already working on software for Natal, and Sony has said there will be plenty of games ready to go when their motion control system launches this year. Now, according to PSU , EA's Jens Uwe Intat has told MCV they'll have some motion-compatible software ready, and Quantic Dream's David Cage stated his team would be interested in experimenting with the new technology. It'll certainly be interesting for consumers; said Uwe Intat:
"Our studios are working with the first parties to create some interesting games for those controllers. We can expand the audience for an existing game, but it’s also a good time to come up with brand new ideas and way to play."
Cage is apparently intrigued by the motion controller for "more mature games," which probably isn't surprising, considering Quantic's work on Heavy Rain . Gamers have been split on this ever since the technology was unveiled at E3 last year; some see it as an unnecessary attempt to emulate the success of the Wii while others see it as an innovative and potentially even revolutionary step in the PlayStation 3 era. What do you say? Is this your thing or not?
I'd really like it if they could incorperate this into a little more 'mature' games. I never did care for the games on the Wii simply because they wern't my cup of tea but if they could put motion sensing into games like Heavy Rain or Call of Duty (provided they get it right) that'd be epic. I really hope they don't try to throw lame stuff at us like we find on the Wii…
it will have to be lame stuff if these "games" are to suddenly be ready in time for this year when we only heard about this stuff semi-recently.
Pretty much spot on World!
M!
Wow, how did I not think of this. Motion controls would work great with Heavy Rain. It'd make those qte scenes much more appealing. A specific example would be the scene where officer shelby has to put his hands up when the gas station robber turns a gun on him.
Last edited by Kowhoho on 1/13/2010 9:53:07 PM
Ehhh, I'm still on the fence about this…
Indeed.
My questions about the whole motion control thing start with the Sixaxis.
Sixaxis is a motion controller, it has accelerometers to detect motion and the angle the controller is being held at. Granted it doesn't allow positional tracking. But still, it works pretty well.
So, why was it so negatively received? It's almost universally panned and hated in the game player community. 360 and Wii owners dismiss it as if it were unworthy of existence and PS3 owners typically dismiss it as a useless gimmick. Yet if you've played High Velocity Bowling, you know it can be used to good effect. It's been used in games from Insomniac and Naughty Dog in interesting ways, that actually work, and add something to the game. Even so it is what it is.
So, how will this new 'generation' of motion controls change things? Natal and Sony's system (Gem or whatever Q word they come up with as a name) will use cameras for motion tracking, and will accept voice commands (Singstar and some other games already have voice commands) as well. Sony has motion tracking similar to the motion capture technology that Hollywood uses, and MS may, or may not use stereoscopic cameras to detect, track and capture motion.
In either case, what will it be used for?
Are we going to play action games by running around and shadow boxing in our living rooms? Doubt it. Are we going to sit in a chair in front of a camera and drive a car with invisible controls? Doubt it. Are we going to sit in front of a camera using invisible flight sticks to control fighters in flight or space sims? Doubt it. Are we going to romp around our living room running, jumping, rolling pointing and firing, and climbing invisible walls to control Ratchet or Drake? Somehow I think not.
The Eyepet game seems like it comes the closest to the kind of thing we will do. you use relatively limited motions, natural motions to interact with an onscreen virtual pet. You can use voice commands, and I believe that you can also use your controller. This I can understand and accept. I'm not sure how that kind of interface can be used with a human form avatar though, and somehow that thought creeps me out a bit.
Sony has probably the best motion tracking solution, borrowing from the motion capture used in movies is a solid idea. It will allow us to implement new control schemes where we wave a controller furiously around and in game we wield a sword like no one else can. But, how do you implement the rest of the control of the character? How do you move if you're furiously waving your controller around?
I know that to some extent we have to see these things to understand them fully, but all the demos we've seen have been stage demos where there has been a nice large empty space to work with. That's a far cry from the cluttered environments most games are played in.
Perhaps this is a case of the emperor's new clothes? Certainly I don't see anything coming from Natal, it currently looks like a pretty naked Xbox 360 with an Eyetoy grafted onto it. The PS3 appears little better with an enhanced Sixaxis and greater emphasis on the Eyetoy.
Perhaps I am being cynical, or perhaps I am being realistic. Thoughts?
I don't really care bout motion sensing, I'm already satisfied by moving my fingers around.
I need nothing more unless it really is THAT GOOD.
I"m still not onboard with motion control sorry
I say that guy looks funny with his dildo.
What's wrong with the dildo? It's for "mature games" after all.
lets just wait and see if it works..
I don't think Sony will have the same success with this as the Wii had obviously. But it's worth a shot. A few gems could come out of it.
Natal on the other hand looks like it's going to makes games way too simplistic that they won't even be worth playing.
If someone were to place Natal in my livingroom, the only thing it would "see" is me playing my PS3.
lol
Oh damn, that's hilarious.
When I first saw the E3 video of these guys showing off this thing. I was blown away… I haven't even had any interest in a Wii ever since I first heard about it. I wanted HD, onling gaming. The best of the best.
I want to see games like Oblivion and Fallout. Open world First Person games. Not stricly shooting really. Also, LBP …that is all.
As long as devs don't find a way to port their games from Natal to Gem I'll give Gem a try. Im just sick cheap ports (cough… Bayonetta… cough…)
Last edited by napoleon85 on 1/13/2010 10:31:53 PM
Hospitals, Poison Control, and 911 will all be overrun with calls from parents when people start playing Natal with reports of: multiple seizures, sudden onset of Tourettes Syndrome, and mild to moderate stroke.
World,
I'm thinking the perv's might just try to have their very own virtual "show & don't tell" day with Milo.
If Michael Jackson were sill around he would have enjoyed Milo.
Sorry man. Had to thumb you down for that one. Still too soon. I know it's been 6+ months since MJ's death, but some of us are still hurtin'.
Not cool World
MJ Kid Jokes are never going to be funny… if you know how it ended after the rumors, that is
oh c'mon guys no need to be butt hurt. Just meant he liked to hang around little kids 🙂
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 1/14/2010 11:10:38 AM
i have high expectations for this motion controller. i'm sure it'll be much better than that white television remote control that has a d-pad. as long as they don't dumb down the demographics with minigames, i'll think about getting it
Last edited by sonic1899 on 1/13/2010 10:38:08 PM
As long as they don't dumb them down, then I say bring on the Sonymote games.
But….. they should also include the option to turn the mote off, for those who find out afterwords that they STILL prefer the regular controller as their best choice, or for those who are dead-set against even using a Sonymote.
That way, there's no sales loss & everybody's happy.
I just don't like the PS3 motion controller being TOO accurate. Imagine playing a baseball game like in the tech demo at E3. You will need real baseball skills to actually hit that ball.
lol good one
Yeah, but wouldn't it actually improve your baseball skills?
And yeah, baseball fans now have a reason to get a PS3!
i remember hearing somewhere that sonys motion controllers will be compatible with every single PS3 game released to date.
i find that very hard to believe but if its true it would be really cool.
imagine playing killzone 2 in 3D with a motion controller.
about the closest will get to virtual reality for a long, long time.
Nope. Can't imagine sitting down for three hours playing an fps holding this thing out in front of me pretending it's a gun. My arm would get so sore I'd only be able to play once a week.
Fingers? Good. Entire arm? Bad.
I'm not really on board for the idea as a whole, but I'll rush to get ahold of anything that Quantic Dream releases, so there may be a few diamond projects that come out of all this if more talented developers like Quantic utilize this technology.
im very intersted to see wot they come up with it will be a different immersion into gaming ..too many nay-sayers on here considering nobody has seen it or wot its capable of!
I just dont see myself giving up the DualShock any time soon.
all i can say is i remember playing heavenly sword and when i was able to play a game that looked and felt that good and motion control!!?! I was so pumped that i could control the way i shot those cannons it was amazzing and always find it fun when they pop up… so the more the better and yeah the ps3 does everything…
Hmm… Trying to get gamers more active than what they have to be? I'm not so sure about this motion stuff… I'm pretty happy enough with DualShock controllers but they have to go as far as making a knock off of the Wii remote? Are there no more original ideas out there these days?
The complete motion control should remain to the Wii and not spread its motion disease to other systems. I own a Wii (I admit!) and I think it's enough motion controlling for me… Although, when it comes out, it doesn't mean I wouldn't give it a shot. Then after the first day of soreness because I was swinging my arm to run away from impending doom for hours on end… That's where I draw the line.
Our thumbs are used to the constant moving… Please don't bring our bodies into this.
it not ment to replace the controller but add a new dimesion to games. when you think of Natal it's hard to see what games it could be implemented into. However when you look at motion controller from SOny and look at thier back catalogue of games that not only could be patched to be included aswell as new IP's which we've seen Sony is unrivalled in creatingthe prospect for montion controllers gets abit more exciting. think of it as not a replacement but a different type of experience. for me i'm sold on that. think of the way it changes the dynamic on say LBP and your getting half way there to seeing the potential.
by the way it is worth noting for all these ps3/wii comparisons that the RSD have actually been working on this since the very first eye toy on ps2 and their work is starting to see fruition which actually has nothing to do with the Wii. also from a technological stand point in terms of what you can do with a Wii mote and what you can do with a motion controller are 2 very different things. with 3D tv's launching and motion controllers following unlike wii mote you'll be able to interact with the 3d space on your screen adn eventually see it in 3d. imagine if you had watching avatar in 3d and then had something in your hand that allowed you to interact with the setting. yup youre starting to get it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Gem can do. I believe developers like Quantic Dream as well as others will deliver some awesome games for these motion controllers. I'm not sold on it yet, but I have confidence that Sony won't let people down.
My opinion is "Why not?". When I play racing games, I use a wheel. Some people still prefer the DuaShock. For fighting games, I use a fighting stick. Why Not have some more casual gamers use a motion controller if it works?
If the PS3 simply does everything, games like EyePet are system sellers for casual gamers who also have an HD TV and want a BluRay player. There may even be some more serious games that use this controller well but for FPS, I can't really imagine anything better than the DualShock.
If the wii can have a baseball game and golf game working with their 8bit kindergarden level graphics, Why Not use a great motion controller with great games and great graphics? To me, it's even more a system seller for a new market than games like MAG.
I think the vast majority of these motion control games will be little kids' stuff, deigned to draw some in some of the Wii audience. It'll probably boost sales, which is good. The more mature titles will be few and far between. If I'm going to buy it, it'll need A) An extremely good game and B) an actual IMPROVEMENT in your ability to control the action. I'm not going to stand in front of my TV waving my arms around thinking "What's the point? I could do all this – better – with the DS3."
I hope I'm wrong and it's all "revolutionary" blah blah blah. I've learned the perils of being optimistic though.
With all the exclusives and big titles this year, where do you think I'll get the money to buy this????
hello ..
i want to see what Quantic Dream has to offer 😉 …
cheers!
With that ball on top of stick to increase accuracy idea(which clearly works) they should move on to gloves with balls at the tip of each finger and in the center of the hand so when you play like a shooter in 3D and you hold your hands in some position you don't have to hold anything in your hands and you'll be able to like move your left hand in reload motion to reload and such and squeeze an imaginary trigger to fire and and *head hurts from thinking, stopping comment here*…
How about you Ben, you gonna review the motion stuff?
I actually see some very cool ideas coming into affect with the motion controlling technology. I know the PS3 will do a better job than the Wii with the motion control technology because WE output quality.
You know, when this motion controlling tech comes out, the PS3 should dual slogan.
The commercial should begin and you here the PS3 signature sound and then of course the Logo. Then the first slogan appears on screen. Then the commercial starts and some people are playing with the controller to the Wii music in the background. Soon the music fades out and some less-kiddy music starts to play. As the commercial ends, my new slogan pops up which clearly sends a message to the Wii that the PS3 means war.
First, keep the slogan in affect now which comes up at the beginning of the commercial. "It only does everything."
Then, release this slogan at the end of the commercial. "And it does everything better".