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Microsoft 'Wait and See' On Motion Controller
CVG is reporting that Microsoft has developed a 'wait and see' attitude toward the concept of incorporating motion controls into Xbox 360 games. Despite the popularity of the Wii, and the inclusion of the system in the PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Chris Satchell stated in an interview with the website that the company is still cool on the idea. Says Satchell, "There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it ... One thing I'm not certain of is that third-parties are super-excited about that motion control - or at least they're not showing it with the games that are hitting the shelves yet ... We're yet to see a really good game on Wii that really says 'OK that control kicked ass'." This is at odds with statements from Peter Moore from earlier this year, who stated that the company does have motion control plans in the works. CVG will have the complete interview up soon, which might give more context to his statements.
"We've yet to see a really good game on Wii that really says 'OK that control kicked ass'." Lightsaber battles, anyone?
There's no point in building something if noone wants it.
ok, that's true.
But...wait what?
Clearly people want it, and clearly people have been finding the technology to be adding to the gaming experience on the wii.
What he really should have said is, 'well, nintendo is already doing a pretty good job of locking that down, so we're not going to bother competing'
Its one thing to have been all skeptical before it came out, but to claim now that nobody wants it is just plain bullshit. So you'd rather compete with the PS3, fine, its a more natural competitor anyways. Just try not to smear any more bullshit around than you have to, mmmkay?
Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
To not have any plans would be foolish, but to rush into a project like this would also be silly. So...I don't see the contradiction.
Microsoft's classic business strategy has always been to extend the best ideas of the first wave and sell an improved version of the idea to the masses anyway. (Just ask the first generation of Macs, Netscape, Lotus, etc.)
from TFA:
"There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it..."
What part of the 6 million Wiis sold to date says "no one wants it"? I know I sure want it. My friends want it. My friends' parents even want it! Unless he's just talking about the "hardcore" market again?
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Backwards compatibility - deny they will support it, flip flop around in the press for months, finally come out with halfassed implementation
HDMI - deny they will support it or there is a need for it, let rumors float around in the gaming press that they actually are going to implement it, finally do come out with a n overpriced version with it
HD movie support - deny that they will support a format, let months go by with speculation about support for it, finally come out with an expensive poorly designed and clunky addon, and then effectively drop support for it
Motion Controller - yes, no, maybe...
I don't know what it is about how people get hired to work on the Xbox project at Microsoft, but whatever it is it needs to change. After so many billions spent and the 360 doing slightly worse worldwide compared to the first Xbox mess, the worst hardware defect problem ever, and so on you would think that Microsoft could spend the money to hire competent people to run the project.
With the current interface (a stick) that's probably gonna be the killer app, if they can get past the lack of actual "clash" of sabers. (Force Feedback could help ... but either way, with no resistance it'll be interesting to see how it plays out)
Um, besides wii sports, I don't see anything out there that's really changed the way we play games. In my mind, the wii motion controller is just another kind of peripheral, like a steering wheel, a dance pad, or a guitar, or eye toy, etc. It's great for somethings. All in all, as a general feature, it's kind of just a gimmick. So I can see exactly where MS is coming from when they say there isn't much developer support... there isn't all that much of a sustainable future there in its current form. Let's face it, Wii users mostly just play wii sports with the motion sensor used to its fullest.
The 360 wasn't designed from the ground up to take advantage of that kind of control scheme. At best they'll make a controller that's useful for a small handful of games and completely worthless for every current title. Granted they may be able to work in some kind of update distribution with the use of X-Box Live so current games can take better advantage of a setup like that. Final Verdict: I wouldn't hold my breath for a better design then what the Wii is already pushing and at a considerably cheaper price.
~Vexed and loving it!
I want it... I want more of it... I wish there were more titles for my Wii! How could Microsoft or 3rd party vendors not see all of the people saying the same thing... give us more titles!
let me say first: I love xp, i
That being said, what? "There's no point building [it] if nobody really wants it" modified quote. Without even leaving the gaming paradigm, only the hardware/console one. Let me list the following: Games Explorer, DX10 vista exclusivity.
Since when did microsoft care what people wanted? They make something and decide that people want it. Sounds like they can't figure out how to wiggle in between patents and make a license free motion controller or were told where they could put their motion tracker circuits by a few key devs.
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
...hasn't Microsoft's approach on [new competing product] or [new innovation] generally been 'Wait and See'?
I keep hoping that someone will set a game in the Snow Crash universe. The Wiimote would be great for a lot of things, including katana duels.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
First Person Shooters. Standard game controllers SUCK. Big time.
Wii is my first console. After some Zelda bow shooting action, I have tried Xbox360' Prey & Gears of War. Controls are ... "terrible" - that is only word I can come with. Gears of War are not that bad - A+motion is great - but targeting is awful. Prey has totally stupid control scheme - totally unplayable.
I was initially complaining that WiiMote targeting is much harder compared to mouse. (Some might say realistic - the same problems (hand shaking, breathing, trigger release, etc) arise when shooting with real gun.) But after trying Xbox360 controller - I have to say that WiiMote is ages ahead of what Xbox360 (and PS3 I gather too) can offer to shooters.
I would love to see MSFT releasing special FPS controller - especially since top games (e.g. Gears of War) are precisely FPS and all can benefit enormously from such pointing interface.
Though WiiMote deserve some critique too: it has too few buttons - A & B. I do not think I'm alone who was frustrated that Zelda has no dedicated key to wield a sword. You have to swing controller instead. That's terribly slow and very unpractical in cases when you already in battle - e.g. sudden attack - the cases when you need your sword most.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
The Wiimote, by it's very design, afford being held like a lightsaber in one or two hands with the buttons still completely accessible. The SIXAXIS can't be held comfortably in other manner than as a standard two hand controller. OK for games that want you to either twist or tilt, piss-poor for anything else.
And thus you qualified for the new :
-1, overused not funny anymore joke
moderation.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Look, I just Do Not Play 3d computer games. The best computer games in the world leave me cold, I love watching the kids playing them, but the controls are just too damn hard, and the games are designed by people who think taking advantage of the sucky controllers is a reasonable way to make higher "levels" harder.
Half an hour of Wii's Tennis game and OH MY GOD, I MUST HAVE THIS GAME. NOW. I haven't been able to play tennis for real since I injured my knee, but...
* It gave me the kind of workout I used to get from playing tennis.
* Waving the wand around as if it was a racquet Just Worked.
* Playing my usual agressive net game Just Worked.
* It took me 5 minutes to get a Mii that looked like me.
Damn, how long is it going to be hard to get a Wii? Even the sucky name doesn't spoil it.
Microsoft: if I didn't already know that you guys wouldn't Get A Clue if you did a Clue Mating Dance in the middle of Clue Mating Season covered in Clue Pheromones I'd be jumping up and doun making a monkey of myself yelling at you in the hope that you'd Get A Clue.
Sounds like Microsoft is adopting their usual strategy of waiting for someone else to do the hard work, then copying it later.
I propose we tag the story "innovationbyimitation".
Star Wars has already been mentioned, but you're all forgetting one of the biggest hypes in the 10+ age group,
Harry Potter. How many kids do you know that would sell their ten best toys just to cast spells just like HP?
The first company to come out with a game to do this will rake in the cash.
Well, You need to keep in mind that Nintendo has probably had between two and four years of experience toying around with motion sensor concepts when the Wii came out. Most third-party devs got their first dev kits between Nintendo's announcement of the Wii and the launch, so they obviously can't yet churn out the same amount and the same quality of titles as Nintendo can.
But what they're doing isn't all bad, either. There are some really great third-party Wii games. Astonishingly, even EA seems to make a real effort. Check out games like Madden, Trauma Center, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, Elebits, Super Swing Golf, Tiger Woods, Rayman, Super Monkey Ball (which I actually like even more than Rayman), Kororinpa, Sonic and the Secret Rings...
Seriously, third-party devs are doing a pretty good job right now, especially considering how little time they had.
But hey, put your head back into the sand, for all I care you can miss the train - again...
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
*One Year Ago*
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"How can the Revolution sell without HD visuals?"
"There will be a new version released two years later. Just like how Nintendo puts out new versions of its handhelds."
"And what about that motion controller?"
"You cannot sell a console just on teh strength of a controller! Nintendo is just being desperate."
Bill Gates would say: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3151063
"There's room for innovation here, but moving that controller around -- it's something that's not mainstream for most games. It's tough because sometimes you move the controller, and you don't [mean] to fly into the ground. You just want to put the controller down. People aren't that good at totally standing still. Even pilots actually sit in a chair when they do their flying."
**One Year Later**
"Microsoft! Are you going to copy the Wii's controller?"
"Eh? Uh? We dunno! We are looking into it."
"So what else are you going to do?"
"Well, we have this new Elite model Xbox 360 for you to buy! Putting out new hardware is fun!"
Someone comes in and says, "Damn it, Nintendo! Make more Wiis! I can't find them anywhere!"
Bill Gates says: http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=149
"Nintendo is our competition!"
Can we now admit that Nintendo made some very smart business moves with the Wii without being called "zOMG fAnBOy!!1!"? It is not so much that Wiis are outselling the other systems, but that the Wii is making profit while doing it. Where are the game journalists and 'analysts' who were proclaiming 'Revolution' would sell only around ten million units in its lifetime? Where are the people who poo-poohed the Wii's controller at the beginning? Oh, that's right. When Nintendo succeeds, the goal posts are moved further back. They began saying, "Is it a gimmick?" to "Is it a fad?" to "It is only selling because it is cheap!" After the DS did its magic, these same fools said, "This success we will never see again!" Then comes the Wii that is selling even stronger.
Nintendo went from a 'lose, lose' situation to a 'win, win'. Microsoft wondering whether or not to put in motion controls is a sign that a revolution is occuring. I bet that Microsoft's next system (along with the controller) imitates the Wii as best it can.
Well, that's her loss then. Super Monkey Ball, Wario Ware and Rayman may "only" be collections of minigames (well, Super Monkey Ball has a pretty awesome main game, too), but they are great games.
So, considering that she doesn't want to pay for minigames and doesn't seem to like games like Zelda, I have to wonder: What games does she actually want?
Interestingly, it's the other way around for me. 10 or 20 years ago, I could spend hours every day playing Zelda or Monkey Island. Nowadays, I work, so I often don't have the time to finish games that have continuing storylines going for 60 hours or more. I lose track of them.
So I play Motorstorm or Excite Truck or Wario Ware because I can play a few hours every week and not worry about any storyline, and if I stop playing for a month or so, I don't have to feel bad because they are not "finished".
Well, if the "motion controller" is anything like the one in Dick's story, then I pretty damn well want one!
"There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it"
So there's people scrambling for HDCP in their Xbox 360s?
You counted the same three axes twice. 3D space has - per definition - only three axes. Whether you turn around them or move in their direction does not matter.