Hardware Is motion gaming... dead?

[shinkodachi]

Thought I'd bring up this discussion as I have several Wiimotes just collecting dust next to my Wii U. Perhaps understandably so because Nintendo has struggled to make the Wii U GamePad relevant so the push is to make that the prominent style of play as opposed to continuing the tradition of motion controls à la Wii.

I'd say it's safe to assume motion gaming peaked in 2009-2011 with the introduction of MotionPlus to the release of Skyward Sword for the Wii, which is arguably the best show of motion gaming to date, even though the controls weren't perfect in that game. Sony released the PS Move during that time for the PS3 as well.

Apart from select titles such as Pikmin 3, Mario Kart 8 and maybe Wii Sports Club, there's almost no Wii U game that takes proper advantage of motion controls. Even in such games the option is there because that's what fans expect to have from the older Wii games (e.g. Mario Kart Wii). Playing Hyrule Warriors with a Wiimote and Nunchuk just feels out place.

What do you think... are we done with motion gaming and Wiimotes are destined to collect more dust as we move forward, or will Nintendo perhaps keep making games with motion controls?

 

[Foxi4]

Motion gaming for the masses is dead, or at the very least changing from the primary input method into an auxiliary one. For instance, on the Xbox One with a Kinect connected, you can play Alien: Isolation on a gamepad like you normally would and lean around corners using the Kinect. There's also some games which allow you to point at specific stuff to give NPC's commands, voice recognition and a lot of other cool things that genuinely mixe things up and makes the experience interesting. The same can be said for games that utilize the SIXAXIS sensors inside PS3/4 pads - you can use them innovatively if you want to. Even the PSEye got some love with titles like Wonderbook, so yeah, those accessories are still in use.

Motion detection as a primary method of input will stick around - it's perfect for games like Just Dance. With that being said, you'll mostly see it in games for kids, stuff that's supposed to keep the youngsters busy and out of your hair. Don't expect it to be implemented in a lot of AAA productions - core gamers are just lazy butts and I think the waggle fad is over at this point.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Nintendo Land and Rayman Legends are the two which make best use of it (RL for the wrong reasons, though). Oh, that Kirby Wii U game's gonna make use of the GamePad too, probably just for pointing the stylus pen around.

You know, I'm glad motion gaming is dead because I just want to play a game with a normal controller without having to touch the screen or anything.

P.S.: Been playing Bayonetta 2 (only 10 chapters left) and the game barely makes any use of the GamePad except for touch controls which I disabled and Off-TV Play besides there really isn't any point to play with the GamePad. If Nintendo made Wii U Pro Controller Plus (with analogue triggers & swap the placement of the right analogue stick with the buttons) I'd definitely buy it.

 

[Bladexdsl]

yes it is and good riddance too motion controls destroyed a lot of wii games with their gimmicky controls including skyward sword.

 

[LightyKD]

I don't think motion gaming is dead. I'm a huge fan of motion gaming and no matter what many say, the Wii Remote is just as much a "main controller" on the Wii U as the Gamepad. Last I checked, Microsoft isn't giving up on Kinect and I'm sure Sony still has some move related stuff in store. Give it time. More motion games are coming.

 

[shinkodachi]

I don't think motion gaming is dead. I'm a huge fan of motion gaming and no matter what many say, the Wii Remote is just as much a "main controller" on the Wii U as the Gamepad. Last I checked, Microsoft isn't giving up on Kinect and I'm sure Sony still has some move related stuff in store. Give it time. More motion games are coming.

Interesting point. I'm hoping Microsoft's decision not to bundle the Kinect with every Xbox One doesn't mean they're letting it die. Sony has shown little apart from "The Playroom", though I'm sure they're going to push motion controls forward come Project Morpheus and VR gaming... Exciting times are ahead that's for sure!

 

[Slartibartfast42]

yes it is and good riddance too motion controls destroyed a lot of wii games with their gimmicky controls including skyward sword.

Nonsense. Motion controls was the only reason I actually played Skyward Sword. It was my first Zelda game that I played significantly.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Nonsense. Motion controls was the only reason I actually played Skyward Sword. It was my first Zelda game that I played significantly.

was it necessary to have them for swimming, diving, throwing bombs and half the time them being responsive?!

 

[Joe88]

its dead, just like 3d gaming
vr seems like the next big push but at the end of the day its just another gimmick that wont stick

 

[LightyKD]

Nonsense. Motion controls was the only reason I actually played Skyward Sword. It was my first Zelda game that I played significantly.

I agree that statements like that are utter nonsense. Motion gaming is awesome. I HATE playing first person shooters without a pointer. I love playing racing games with the Wii Wheel. I STILL play Tiger Woods on Wii and online because it's the best damn golfing experience and I still get a little guilty pleasure smacking people around for protection money in The Godfather: Blackhand Edition. Motion controls are awesome and people that hate on it are either stuck in their own ways or the type that give gamers the bad rap as stubborn, too lazy to move couch potatoes. The Wii and Wii U and OUYA close by are on the top of my list of greatest game consoles of all time because the Wii and Wii U made gaming more accessible due to motion. The only thing that holds the Wii family back in racing games is the lack of analog triggers. As far as action games goes, it's the developer's lack of imagination that holds back motion controls. Frankly, motion controls are going nowhere and I'm glad!

 

[Vanth88]

Motion control is still relevant but it's being used in moderation which is a good thing compared to past games. Wind Waker for example uses motion controls for aiming and a few other things but that's about it and you could still use the sticks if you wanted.

I didn't really dislike motion controls until Skyward Sword came out. I liked the idea of motion plus but Nintendo wasn't smart about it and didn't use the IR port in any way which made controls whacky.
Every time I had to recalibrate my controller I would think gee Nintendo wouldn't it just be easier if you could.. oh I dunno.. point at the screen? They had to make use of one of the buttons to re-calibrate the Wii remote... think about that.

Used in moderation or the right way it can make games much more enjoyable.

 

[Slartibartfast42]

was it necessary to have them for swimming, diving, throwing bombs and half the time them being responsive?!

The controls worked beautifully, 100% of the time. OK, to be fair, you had to use the recalibrate button a lot, but that wasn't hard.

 

[shinkodachi]

The controls worked beautifully, 100% of the time.

If that were true I would never had had a problem with this guy.

Motion controls in Skyward Sword were okay, but some of them made no sense at all, like shaking the Nunchuk while running to make Link roll. And the forward stab was perhaps the most difficult for me to perform. Otherwise I enjoyed the game, but the controls made sense only half of the time IMO.

 

[Bladexdsl]

The controls worked beautifully, 100% of the time. OK, to be fair, you had to use the recalibrate button a lot, but that wasn't hard.

no they didn't. the sword controls worked fine the rest was absolutely atrocious. i remember with the dive controls i practically almost had to turn my mote upside down to get them to work correctly. and don't get me started on how buggy the bomb controls were...and motion controls for swimming get the fuck out of here! worst...zelda...eva!

 

[Refriger8tor]

I'd say that as Oculus becomes more popular that motion controls will return better than ever.

 

[Canadacdn]

Clearly motion gaming isn't dead, Cubic Ninja is on track to becoming the best selling 3DS game of 2014!

 

[osirisjem]

Nintendo Wii U doesnt come with the Motion Controllers that made the Wii Popular.
Clearly Nintendo wanted to move in a different direction.

Of course, the Wii U is a flop. So it's not like Nintendo makes good decisions.

As a very casual gamer, I like the motion controls.

I thought Nintendo was going to double down on Motion controls.

Like improve the WiiMote, add in a Kinect Camera to improve the accuracy, and make a Next Gen of motion controlled games.

But they didn't.

 

[shinkodachi]

Like improve the WiiMote, add in a Kinect Camera to improve the accuracy, and make a Next Gen of motion controlled games.

I don't think that's the direction to go and Nintendo has realized that. I'm glad the Sensor Bar is only a tiny bar as opposed to a bigger camera unit like the Kinect. Remember, we had EyeToy for PS2, then the original Kinect for Xbox 360, PS Move for the PS3, now we have a 2nd generation Kinect for Xbox One and the PS Camera for PS4. None of these have taken off. Nintendo's IR tech, which is far simpler, did take off. And the trend is going in the direction of Virtual Reality now. It's understandable Nintendo didn't just make a "Wii HD". 2nd screen gaming is also becoming a bit more commonplace now with Xbox SmartGlass and PS4 <-> Vita linking. So in that sense Nintendo is ahead of others, but unfortunately the idea of the Wii U GamePad hasn't been very successful.

 

[osirisjem]

Nintendo's IR tech, which is far simpler, did take off.

I want to improve the IR tech so that games feel *EVEN* better than the WiiMote.
So when you play with the WiiMote ... it works exactly as you would expect.
That's all I want accomplished.

Quite possibly, Kinect Data *WONT* improve the WiiMote experience.
So then I dont want it at all.

How a company has unparalleled success with a WiiMote and then abandons it on their next console is beyond me.

And they felt a GamePad controller was a good idea ?

Terrible ideas.

 

[shinkodachi]

So when you play with the WiiMote ... it works exactly as you would expect.

MotionPlus was the promise to deliver just that. Not many developers took proper advantage of it, though. In order to make a comfortable, small wireless motion controller, sacrifices must be made. PS Move makes the sacrifice in that lighting must be optimal for the colored "bulb" of the controller to be seen by the camera. Kinect makes the sacrifice that it assumes your position based on your 3D position and therefore it can get easily confused because you're not holding something to tell it where you are in relation to the camera.

I mean, all I'm saying is, I'd love to play Skyward Sword with perfect motion controls. That's just not possible with current tech. And the trend is not in making better motion controllers, so no matter what way you look at it, it just makes zero sense from a R&D perspective. Nintendo would be throwing away money at something that won't even be used widely. It remains to be seen what Sony and Microsoft will make of motion controls. Currently Nintendo is in a sweetspot that they have the best available tech already available, but the problem is that developers aren't interested in that tech anymore.