I need to vent this...
Every person I know who owns a Wii barely plays it anymore. Every household of casuals I know who bought a Wii because of Wii Sports never touches the thing these days.
I used to defend the Wii to a Gamestop employee I know, but more and more, I lose the arguments, especially after the employee points out that tons of Wiis are being traded in on a regular basis. Why? The kids got bored with it. In the long run, it turns out that the novelty wears off and people would just prefer to sit idle and play their games without having to flail all over the place.
Yes, I feel the Wii's motion control had a great deal of potential, but it's potential that few if any devs aspired to. I can't recall a game after Wii Sports that REALLY sold the concept of motion control by using it to add depth to a game instead of just adding waggle (I don't count pointer games because it's basically just mouse functionality). Here we are, three years later, and motion control is basically sitting dead in the water.
But Natal REALLY scares me, because MS only has two options when they release it:
1. Release it as an add-on to the 360, inevitably dooming it to failure as few devs will make games for an optional peripheral (the same problem Wii Motion Plus will no doubt face).
2. Release it as the primary means of interface for the Xbox720 and rebrand the whole thing for casuals. If MS gives devs an option to not support it, they probably won't, so they'll need to force devs to incorporate Natal features and screw over the majority of the hardcore fanbase who enjoy games with depth.
The only thing that makes marathon gaming sessions (the kind that we all know and love) actually possible is the fact that all it takes is ever so slight tensing of the finger tendons (or pivoting of the wrist with a mouse) to do so. That's all the energy output it requires to play a long, in-depth game.
Remove the controller and EVERY command must be a gesture. Is Natal going to sense when I slightly move my index finger to pull a trigger in a FPS? Doubtful. For that matter, how am I going to aim at an enemy while strafing to the left, switching weapons and jumping, all at the same time? That's something that most FPSes require a player to be able to do in order to play effectively.
Am I going to lean my whole body to the left while pointing my left index finger at the screen like a gun, pumping my right arm to change weapons and jumping up and down to make my character jump? Answer to a rhetorical question: I sure as hell won't, and neither will any other FPS player.
Most people might not see the danger here, but MS will inevitably need to push Natal onto developers in SOME fashion in order to ensure that good games are made for it. Otherwise, they risk being in the same boat as Nintendo where they've personally made some decent motion-controlled games while most other devs have only made crappy, waggle-ridden garbage for the system.
I get a headache just thinking about it. Sure, I'm probably overreacting, but MS is (was) the last bastion of hardcore console gaming.
EDIT: Yes, I'd love to believe this won't affect gaming, but think about it: MS has poured millions upon millions into R&D on Natal (and is still pouring more into it, no doubt). Does anyone think they're just going to launch it, see a negative reaction and then slink away from it in shame? No, they're going to stick with it, even if that does mean making Natal-ready games the standard.
EDIT2: Yes, I have a PS3 and it has a lot going for it right now, but http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/06/02/sony.ps3.motion.wand/
EDIT3: I'd like people to do some serious consideration of the word "potential" because I hear it an awful lot. But here's the thing, I heard it an awful lot back before the Wii came out and everyone was talking about how motion control could take games in new and exciting directions.
Why do people think Natal will be any different? At least with the Wii, you have controllers with buttons, making the system a hybrid of motion control and standard controls so developers wouldn't be forced to go full on into motion controls. What's the end result? Waggle. Sure, devs COULD have used the motion sensors in conjunction with the buttons on the controller to add layers of depth to the game, but no, we didn't get that.
The "potential" of Wii motion control is so unrealized that Nintendo has felt the need to release WMP to hopefully convince developers to try something interesting with it.
So, no, there is no "potential" with Natal and what developers will do with it. If developers were itching to abandon archaic controllers, they'd have been like pigs in slop when it came to the Wii. The Wii is cheaper to develop for due to not needing HD graphics AND it has a larger install base by 20 million units. If that wasn't enough, there's always WiiWare where you can test a game concept with little worry about recouping losses on printing discs.
And yet, we haven't seen these bold, experimental games from developers. For the most part, all we get are shallow, mini-game, waggle-fests and the occasional rare gem like Little King's Story (which uses zero motion control).
Explain to me why developers who could work with incredibly low risk on the Wii to create something new and unique decided not to, yet we expect these same developers to jump at the chance to make full-body waggle games on Natal.
Every person I know who owns a Wii barely plays it anymore. Every household of casuals I know who bought a Wii because of Wii Sports never touches the thing these days.
I used to defend the Wii to a Gamestop employee I know, but more and more, I lose the arguments, especially after the employee points out that tons of Wiis are being traded in on a regular basis. Why? The kids got bored with it. In the long run, it turns out that the novelty wears off and people would just prefer to sit idle and play their games without having to flail all over the place.
Yes, I feel the Wii's motion control had a great deal of potential, but it's potential that few if any devs aspired to. I can't recall a game after Wii Sports that REALLY sold the concept of motion control by using it to add depth to a game instead of just adding waggle (I don't count pointer games because it's basically just mouse functionality). Here we are, three years later, and motion control is basically sitting dead in the water.
But Natal REALLY scares me, because MS only has two options when they release it:
1. Release it as an add-on to the 360, inevitably dooming it to failure as few devs will make games for an optional peripheral (the same problem Wii Motion Plus will no doubt face).
2. Release it as the primary means of interface for the Xbox720 and rebrand the whole thing for casuals. If MS gives devs an option to not support it, they probably won't, so they'll need to force devs to incorporate Natal features and screw over the majority of the hardcore fanbase who enjoy games with depth.
The only thing that makes marathon gaming sessions (the kind that we all know and love) actually possible is the fact that all it takes is ever so slight tensing of the finger tendons (or pivoting of the wrist with a mouse) to do so. That's all the energy output it requires to play a long, in-depth game.
Remove the controller and EVERY command must be a gesture. Is Natal going to sense when I slightly move my index finger to pull a trigger in a FPS? Doubtful. For that matter, how am I going to aim at an enemy while strafing to the left, switching weapons and jumping, all at the same time? That's something that most FPSes require a player to be able to do in order to play effectively.
Am I going to lean my whole body to the left while pointing my left index finger at the screen like a gun, pumping my right arm to change weapons and jumping up and down to make my character jump? Answer to a rhetorical question: I sure as hell won't, and neither will any other FPS player.
Most people might not see the danger here, but MS will inevitably need to push Natal onto developers in SOME fashion in order to ensure that good games are made for it. Otherwise, they risk being in the same boat as Nintendo where they've personally made some decent motion-controlled games while most other devs have only made crappy, waggle-ridden garbage for the system.
I get a headache just thinking about it. Sure, I'm probably overreacting, but MS is (was) the last bastion of hardcore console gaming.
EDIT: Yes, I'd love to believe this won't affect gaming, but think about it: MS has poured millions upon millions into R&D on Natal (and is still pouring more into it, no doubt). Does anyone think they're just going to launch it, see a negative reaction and then slink away from it in shame? No, they're going to stick with it, even if that does mean making Natal-ready games the standard.
EDIT2: Yes, I have a PS3 and it has a lot going for it right now, but http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/06/02/sony.ps3.motion.wand/
EDIT3: I'd like people to do some serious consideration of the word "potential" because I hear it an awful lot. But here's the thing, I heard it an awful lot back before the Wii came out and everyone was talking about how motion control could take games in new and exciting directions.
Why do people think Natal will be any different? At least with the Wii, you have controllers with buttons, making the system a hybrid of motion control and standard controls so developers wouldn't be forced to go full on into motion controls. What's the end result? Waggle. Sure, devs COULD have used the motion sensors in conjunction with the buttons on the controller to add layers of depth to the game, but no, we didn't get that.
The "potential" of Wii motion control is so unrealized that Nintendo has felt the need to release WMP to hopefully convince developers to try something interesting with it.
So, no, there is no "potential" with Natal and what developers will do with it. If developers were itching to abandon archaic controllers, they'd have been like pigs in slop when it came to the Wii. The Wii is cheaper to develop for due to not needing HD graphics AND it has a larger install base by 20 million units. If that wasn't enough, there's always WiiWare where you can test a game concept with little worry about recouping losses on printing discs.
And yet, we haven't seen these bold, experimental games from developers. For the most part, all we get are shallow, mini-game, waggle-fests and the occasional rare gem like Little King's Story (which uses zero motion control).
Explain to me why developers who could work with incredibly low risk on the Wii to create something new and unique decided not to, yet we expect these same developers to jump at the chance to make full-body waggle games on Natal.
