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History of Motion Detection in Gaming
kukyfrope writes "In the spirit of the Revolution controller, GameDaily takes a look at the history of motion detection in console games, including U-Force and the infamous NES Power Glove, to name a few." From the article: "When the Sega Genesis came around a few years later, Sega decided to try their hand- and legs and feet- in the motion-sensor game with the release of a device called the Activator. This was a grid-like octagon that laid on the ground and allowed the user to stand in the middle of it, and then use a number of motions to convey actions in a series of games that worked with it, including Sega's brawling titles Streets of Rage 2 and Eternal Champions. But, again, it took too much effort to really figure out how to make it work in a comprehensive manner, and many folks just ended up taking a pass on it."
I remember way back in the Genesis days... My parents bought me what was perhaps the strangest input device ever... a chair. Basically, it was a seat mounted on top of a set of joystick actuators, so that when you leaned left the game received a "left" input, etc. It even had a vertical grip for each hand that had the buttons mounted in the handle. One of my favorite games ever for that was Road Rash. Road Rash was a series of motorcycle racing/combat games. Motorcycle racing was especially well-suited to the chair/controller contraption, because in order to turn your bike left, you just leaned left, a lot like on an actual motorcycle. I loved that thing, until the actuators finally wore out.
Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of.
The mouse I am currently using has complete freedom of movement in a 2D plane. Thus there are an infinite range of gestures that could be used, but are not by current software/operating systems. For example, I could rapidly move the mouse from side to side to close a window, or I could draw a little circle to switch between applications. The possibilities are endless, but all we have is point and click.
With the revmote we also have an infinite range of gestures, but in a 3D space. The question is will this be exploited to its full potential beyond the obvious gestures like slashing a sword? For example, can I draw a U shape in the air to throw an uppercut in a boxing game. For a fight game, less intuitive gestures (e.g. draw a circle for a roundhouse kick) could be used, but would still be surely easier than trying to remember a random combination of buttons.
The revmote certainly has the potential to change things for the better, but it remains to be seen if this will be delivered.