Motion Controls, The Future? Who's Doing It Wrong?

Motion controls are appealing for the Wii because they have been there since launch. Throughout the history of consoles, there has NEVER been a peripheral that arrived 4-5 years into a generation that changed the result of the ongoing console war. Sega CD, 32X, etc. come to mind. Sony and Microsoft are merely trying to get some recognition for motion controls prior to next gen. They would be lucky to get 5 titles worth playing in the next 2 years. Honestly, how many Wii games have even taken advantage of motion controls in a meaningful way?

[QUOTE="roxlimn"]Motion controls are great for many game genres and types. Pointer control works for even more. Arguably, Wiimote and Nunchuk is superior to DA for just about any application short of fighting games, and those are done better with fight pads and fight sticks, anyway. There are many fun, great games that make effective use of motion. Wii Sports is just one example. And yes, that game is great. Your not liking a game (or sucking at it) doesn't mean that the game isn't any good. Wii Sports is actually so well coded that up to the present, no game has outdone its components, with the exception of Tiger Woods Golf. The question isn't, "Are motion controls the future?" New gamers today are being raised on motion control as we speak. As they grow older and become more mainstream, they'll take their preferences along with them. The question is "when" not "if." Pointer control for guns is not faster or more stable than a mouse, but it is more comfortable and accessible.tomarlyn

No prob. Many gamers get the wrong idea when they see a lot of negative press being circulated about Wii titles. Some of those titles deserve the criticism, but a lot don't. As an example, Wii Sports is widely derided as a game, and Wii Boxing, in particular, got a lot of flak from the media because it "didn't work." If you have a 3000 in Wii Boxing, then you know that's not true. It doesn't register everyone's punches reliably, but there is a way to input motion into the game reliably and fast; it just won't feel exactly like real punches.

Another example: Little King's Story. The game is great, but media centers dinged it for not implementing pointer control, even though it was perfectly fine with the control method it used. Cooking Mama is another example. It's a good entry into the Time Management genre, but the controls were criticized for not working - which was again not true. They worked - they were just very, very demanding.

This trend, I fear, appears to be endemic among many gamers raised on the DA controllers we have now. Unlike continuing gamers from the past, they were raised on joysticks and probably the SNES controller at the earliest. They haven't needed to adjust to learning new controls. Therefore, when they perceive that they get better results with DA controls, or feel more comfortable with DA, they simply assume that it's the new control scheme that "sucks." Meanwhile, the new generation is being raised on motion controls.