When the final instalment of Nintendo's FANTASTIC FOUR OF UNBRIDLED GLORY, aka Wii Music, flopped, I dare say it was deservedly. I say that with a view of gaming in general, paramount to my personal fondness of company and console.
Its commercial underperformance wasn't solely owing to the fact that this game was the first that hadn't come bundled with hardware. No amount of embossed coloured glitter on the cover, or happy people on the trailers, could disguise the fact that the game was actually pretty shallow. We all knew how a trumpet worked. We knew how the Wii remote worked. It was plain to see and understand how the people in the trailer were simulating playing the trumpet using said Wii remote. And that was that. The novelty would have been short-lived, because neither trumpets nor button-pushing are particularly novel at all. The compatibility for me was obvious, and nifty, but basically unnecessary. And thus people spoke with their wallets.
The tooting, crashing and trilling of the virtual orchestra, though momentarily impressive, eventually sounded a twisted death knell of my enthusiasm for the direction the Wii was going. And what the Wii, widely lauded as an innovative, groundbreaking console for the industry, represents for wider gaming.
These days to stand out from the pack, companies are looking toward gaining some kind of technological "edge" over their competitors. For the most part, it's proved an effective plan of attack. Products such as the iPod Touch are unique, accessible and impressive - even the first generation iPod Click Wheel was a fresh way to interact with your music, leaving rival mp3 players in the dust - and the Wii needless to say shifted a hell of a lot of units worldwide with its groundbreaking control scheme. Both made it a priority to develop the user hardware in accessible ways for the future. This, coupled with a visible trend thus far in video game development, toward an increasing sense of immersion and realism in many ways, make willing suspension of disbelief in video game adventures easier than ever.
And the gaming industry is more accessible than any other to the field of virtual reality. We've got the realistic graphics, the interactivity, communication systems (voice, text, onscreen doodles, messages), the fully-rendered worlds to play in. With new controller hardware, we'd be pretty much there. I've been keeping my eye on a couple in particular:
Some shiny new toys
Now it's not just your thumbs that control your character.
For your brain:
A headset that responds to your thoughts and emotions with actions that translate onscreen world. Various facial gymnastics - I mean, expressions - will instantly create the appropriate smiley. You can wink to cast a spell, focus enough and you can will a boulder to move. The background music and colours can even change if you're sad or angry or excited as you play. It's based on the latest developments in neurotechnology, and has applications beyond video games as well, but before I start shamelessly plugging an Aussie idea and getting carried away with the science I'll just point you to emotiv.com.
For your body:
The 3rdSpace vest that will give you physical warnings of damage sustained by your character in the game, as well as potentially allowing things like a shoulder tap to be felt in a horror game. Which is pretty cool. Though I'm not sure I particularly want to feel like I'm being kicked. Or shot. Or blasted. "FULL IMPACT" might be a tiring day at the PC!
No longer is it good enough just showing up to the party: come dressed up too, in EEG headset and pneumatic vest, and equipped with balance board, microphone and motion/acceleration-sensing controllers at the ready. Now - oh, feel the power! - the gamer is complete and ready to commence the most realistic gaming experience yet. Guffaw.
Technical, not creative genius
Now I'm all for new technology. And these two pieces of hardware show some genuinely intriguing potential. But I just want to put something out there, and it's not terribly profound: despite the technological smarts necessary to make said hardware, it's just not very creative. Imitating reality is - inherently - unoriginal. We are increasingly groomed for a more realistic experience - but why? Why indeed, when realism itself does not equate to better game play? What is it we are looking for in a game? Perhaps it is as much escapism as fun. Only, we're kind of escaping to something increasingly similar to normal life possibilities.
Complete with witty mock advertising
Is this what it takes for us to believe in a world created in a game? Do they do all the imagining for us, and we simply subject ourselves to the sensory experience?
A spoonful of sugar makes the realism go down
Emulating reality is pretty shallow (unless it's a conscious parody like GTAIV) . Such games do deserve applause for best graphics and sounds, etc, for rendering detailed, experiential campaigns. It is very impressive.
But ideas that make the gaming world unique are those born of inspired creativity and fun randomness. Headbutting bricks for mushrooms, portals to jump through that introduce a different type of physics, Pokeballs that open to unleash monsters. Inventing and imagining delivers the fresh oh snap moments, when you're really impressed with how intelligently creative a package the developers have put together, from ideas from their own brains. Inspired by, rather than literally translating, real-world experiences. We need a bit of fantasy in the mix (and I rather enjoy my delusions of adequacy at shooting/free running/driving).
Excuse me while I go pour a very realistic glass of water. And drink it, with real water level tilt! And put it down, with real glass-on-table sound effects. (I know. Pretty awesome huh. We should hang out.)
Show ponies
The increasing realism seems like an inevitable direction for the industry to take, with such a small gap to leap from gaming to VR. To stop and think is to realise that this isn't an "oh snap!" moment, this isn't a "didn't-see-that-coming!" moment, this isn't utterly unexpected innovation, when you take stock of the increasing level of immersion current games, such as GTAIV, are achieving. Even simple things like a limit to ammunition and how much air a character has underwater are an important way to make the game more challenging, like life. And in Link's case, utterly deprived of life's comforts like sleep and food. And generally, there are fewer onscreen reminders that you are playing a game, with a general trimming back of invasive and overt indications such as countdown timers, high scores, level/stage numbers in the screen corner - a subtle but not insignificant shift.
On a big screen you could almost believe this is happening.
This sophisticated technology is easily applicable to the video game world even as it currently stands. 3rdSpace is moulding itself around great existing games, such as Mass Effect, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, as a facilitator of a more visceral game experience. And I would hope that it does not begin to be the inverse. But what if we do build our games around the hardware in the future? Does it not matter how poor the goods in the cart, as long as the horse is a very impressive pony?
Truth be told, I don't see the vest becoming a widespread bit of hardware (but who really knows). What is more interesting will be the effects of someday all consoles having an additional facet of technology similarly oriented around more sensory gaming experiences, so as not to appear behind the times with its competitors. But frankly we can't afford to lose sight of what's important amidst such development. Slick technology is not what makes a good game. It will merely facilitate a new type of gameplay.
The controls certainly open up new possibilities for better simulations and literal immersion, but let's not allow realism to become the new "which console has better graphics" debate. I hope games will be developed with a deeper view.
The D-pads and buttons of yore!
Like the world of film, literature, music, old does not necessarily equal inferior in the gaming world. There is nostalgia and indeed reverence for some of the c|assics which I hope will continue. I hope that rather than deriding the simple graphics and music, we appreciate what they did with lesser technology, and still successfully sucked us in to imaginary worlds and quests that began the enjoyment that has lasted many of us years.
I'm more impressed now, with how games of the past have managed to immerse me with just a few buttons with which to tackle the challenge. They showed us that simple controls still kick ass if used creatively - and challenge the player with limited but versatile resources with which to solve problems.
How fun does this look!
To this day, one of the most memorable games I've ever played was the original Legend of Zelda on the NES, mostly because it still haunts me as one of the most taxing quests I ever embarked on. In retrospect, I am a little surprised at how hard that game actually was, as in fact were many of the older c|assics like Super Mario Bros. No smart camera. No Lock-on feature. No array of special modes and handicaps and easy levels of difficulty afforded. Your only resources: TWO BUTTONS and A D-PAD. That limit is a challenge in itself to you, from Nintendo. They didn't deliver realism, but they did deliver where it counted, and they were absolutely original.
Use it wisely
Of course, this challenge is possible too with VR-esque controls, which is partly why they are so exciting. But in order to be impressive, and demanding of players to invent their own strategies and respond as naturally as one can to ridiculous situations like homicidal alien invasions, the controls need creative implementation. No more using the Wii remote to act like a trumpet, please, just because it's capable of being like it is in real life. Why not think outside the box.
A lot of people noted last year's Game of the Year, Super Mario Galaxy, as displaying "what the Wii is actually capable of" in reference to the graphical performance of the hardware. And though it was indeed nice for the Wii to show us some detailed textures and nice lighting, ultimately for me it was peripheral to its perfect and inventive use of controls in a myriad of ways in the amazingly varied world of the game. Doing the most outlandish things like using stars as catapults, rolling on a star ball and getting sucked by the gravity of planetoids - somehow - felt intuitive. The game was a beautiful success of controllers of great potential being utilised in several different manners - how you held it, moved it, pushed buttons, manoeuvred joystick - without too much thinking. It impressed me with how well they had thought out my gaming experience.
Only properly utilised will controllers execute pure fun. Other current games, like Mirror's Edge, Ninja Gaiden, De Blob, etc. all show an impressive level of resourcefulness when considering the control scheme. Some games are visually rich and fantastical, and then you face appalling AI. Yes, it's a stunningly fugly alien, such good graphics, ooh aah, but once you've killed it, it is replaced by an equally stupid, well-rendered and lit alien. But, why did he do that? I'll just shoot it ag- Shut up. Enjoy the view. Or so it seems we're implicitly told. But we should know that quality gameplay is where it's at, and I'd gladly sacrifice realism for it any day.
Final Thoughts
The control scheme itself should not be the fundamentals of the experience, nor the main way you are engaged with a game. Enjoyment and less literal immersion by engaging the intellect, emotion, sense of humour, is more impressive on the part of the developer. Unoriginal and shallow ideas do not deserve to be lauded, no matter how swanky the control system.
The development of a control scheme that will deliver an increasingly realistic experience to the viewer seems inevitable with the growth of technology. But although there is room enough in the market for it to churn out a bunch of driving, flying, shooting, sport or guitar simulators simply to maximise the capacity of controls in the most obvious sense, we must make sure that creativity and inspired originality is at least one of the other driving forces, and at least one of the most appreciated aspects of future games.