Looking at the major announcements coming out of the massive video-game
conference E3 this
week, I'm struck by how much of the emphasis at the show is on new controllers
and new screens. Even though it's been years since the current-generation
platforms shipped, there seems to be little urgency toward replacing them.
Companies are mostly just thinking about how to make them available
in less expensive packages.
Instead, the big ideas center on different ways
of interacting with the same basic consoles. Microsoft probably got the most
attention with its
Kinect motion controller, formerly known as Project Natal. What makes this
different is that you don't actually hold a game controller at all: It uses
cameras to track your motions in front of your TV. With applications such as
Sports (bowling, ping-pong, soccer, boxing), Adventures (simulated river rafting
and similar activities) and Kinectimals (interacting with a virtual animal), the
Kinect looks like a lot of fun.
Sony countered with the PlayStation Move, a motion controller that
can be paired with the company's Eye camera, which allow the system to recognize
depth, along with another controller that allows you to shoot with it as if you
were holding a gun. The Move is due out in September. Nearly everyone who has
seen it has compared with the Nintendo Wiimote, which arrived almost three years
ago.
The Wiimote and the original Wii stood out with
the Wii Sports package and later with Wii Fit, which used a balance board
controller. These were big hits, but they were tied to the original controllers.
Sure, plenty of other games have incorporated the Wiimote, but few of them
really used it as much more than just another hand-held controller. Motion
controllers so far have mostly found a few niche applications, just like other
peripherals: steering wheels, mock guitars, and dance pads.
I think the big challenge for the Wii, Move, and
Kinect will be to change the way people interact with the consoles in a more
general fashion, not just for a game or two. Many of the people I know who love
the Wii start out standing up, swinging their arms and really getting into the
remote. But they end up not too long afterward sitting on the couch and making
small movements. I wonder if that fate awaits the Kinect and the Move as well.
We are, after all, a nation of couch potatoes.
Meanwhile, also at E3 this year, Nintendo moved things in a different way with
its 3DS
handheld gaming system, which includes a glasses-free 3D display. That
technology is very neat, although of course, it works only with small screens
that you need to hold pretty close to your face. But I was interested to see
that Nintendo is giving users control of the 3D effect.
That device, which doesn't have a ship date yet,
also includes a 3D digital camera, a motion sensor, and a gyroscope. (Between
the 3DS and the iPhone 4, gyroscopes seem to be this year's hot embedded
hardware trend. And again--the Wiimote started it.)
Sony pushed 3D for the PlayStation 3,
specifically for new games that will work in 3D when hooked up to a 3D TV. It's
a nice idea, similar
to what Nvidia has been pushing for PCs for
some time. I think gaming and sports are the two things that will really drive
3D TV adoption.
What will make all of this work--or not--will be
games and other software that use the new technology in ways that go beyond the
obvious. I was intrigued by the Yoostar
2 demo, for instance: This game puts you into classic movie scenes, sort of like
video karaoke.
But will motion control turn out to be a good way
of controlling shooters or adventure games? Will we really see new kinds of
games? With included cameras, will the systems be able to recognize you when you
sit down to play? And will people really use these controllers all the time, or
will they just be an occasional addition to the basic controller?
These are the questions we can't answer yet. I
suspect it will take some inspired software to make the new controllers a part
of our everyday lives.
