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Sony is in a bit of a bind. At TGS this year they showed off their new motion controller. But they have no idea what to name it just yet. The best they could come up with for the short-term is the “Wand Controller”. Great…
SCE Worldwide Studios’ Shuhei Yoshida said “There are several candidates for the name of the controller.” Referencing older controllers, Yoshida said that “the SIXAXIS and the DualShock 3 – while great product names – are based on the actual tech…the name we pick for the Wand Controller maybe won’t be so techy.” Sony wants to try and appeal to both the casual and core gamer (who doesn’t). By focusing less on the tech aspect, Sony hopes to wrangle in that coveted casual audience, but still needs to find a way to keep the core gamer interested. Read more →
This week I discovered a fatal flaw in EA Sports Active: you have to be well enough to play. Having been struck down by some mystery illness that the NHS helpline informed me definitely wasn’t swine flu, I found myself unable to finish the review this week. I’ll wrap up with “Week 4″ next week, but today I thought I’d discuss the problems of motion control in general. Read more →
The concept of the controller as a barrier between player and game has been around for a very long time. From early experiments with balance boards on the Atari 2600 through the Power Glove, VR, the Eyetoy and the Wii controller it has constantly re-asserted itself. With the announcement of Project Natal, Microsoft have continued this trend. As a brief re-cap, this technology as presented today at E3 will allow the player to interface with the Xbox360 entirely through gestural inputs with no other peripheral required.
If the on-stage demonstrations are to be believed then Natal will follow the players movements with astonishing precision. No longer will motion sensing be tied to a specific set of peripherals, instead the body itself becomes the controller. Microsoft clearly believe that this will revolutionise gaming beyond what the Nintendo Wii has accomplished. I would strongly disagree and do not believe that anything the gaming world witnessed at Microsoft’s E3 conference will truly change the gaming experience. Read more →
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