On Motion Controls and 3D

So there has been a lot of speculation and rage in regards to both the motion controls and the 3D gaming that is coming up within the next year. Although I agree with some of the points that Joe makes, I have a few points of my own that I have thought hard about.

Tackling 3DTV first...

3DTV is square peg round hole retarded. Why the hell should I have to wear glasses to watch TV or play a video game? I already have enough peripherals, between the headset and the controller, and soon to be the motion controllers. As cool as the 3D in movies is, it can stay there for all I care. And if I have friends over to play a game with me? I need more pairs of glasses for everyone who wants to watch and not view some weird flashing image. There are only two types of 3D I'm currently excited for: Nintendo's headgear-free approach with the 3DS, and holographic 3D, neither of which are being offered as an alternative for the home theater system (the second one is pretty much a dream at this point).

As for motion controls...

I'm actually pretty excited in regards to the motion controllers that are coming out for the PS3 and the X360. Personally I think that the PS3 has nailed the motion control down without a doubt, but Microsoft has a pretty decent idea as well.

The reason I feel that the PS3 has a better lock down on the feature than the 360 is because of the integration of both the camera and the controller. With Natal, Microsoft does offer true 100% 1-1 motion controls using your whole body. Sadly though, there is no feedback or interfacing with the device. Will it really feel like you're in a game when you're unable to feel the impact from the ping pong ball you just hit back to your opponent?

As for the Wii and where it is going wrong:
The Wii controller is widely inaccurate, even with the addition of the Motion Plus device. I have a feeling it has to do with the controller not having a good reference point, due to the motion bar that has to sit on top of the TV. Also the Wii has a terrible graphical capability, which is one factor which majorly contributes to how bad most of the games are for it. It has some great games, but sadly they're limited by the capabilities of the Wii.

With the Sony Move, however, they have all of the devices working in synchronization. There is the camera which not only will provide accuracy for the controller, but will also provide the option to place yourself in the game.

On top of that, you have the motion controller, which will provide the feedback and the interface necessary to provide the best immersion in the game. Although the demos for the peripheral are rudimentary at best at this point, we're still two seasons away from the release window for the Move, and they only showed a few things that were thrown together for GDC. It was surprising that Sony announced anything at GDC, let alone had functioning tech demos to work with. And so far, from the general opinions I've heard of people who were actually at the convention, the Move will be much, much better than the Wii.


A big concern that I've heard communicated so far is that the PS3 will get nothing but minigames, much like the treatment that the Wii was subjugated to. The way I look at it is that the Wii games take very little time, money, and effort to make, whereas PS3 and X360 games seem to (for the most part) have huge budgets attached to them, with major game studios developing for them. And at $100 for a controller and the PS3ye, I'm greatly anticipating the release of the Move.

Look for more news regarding the motion controls over the course of the next few months.