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Razer, Valve, and Sixense Working On Motion Control For PC Games
An anonymous reader sends along this excerpt from Shacknews:
"Gaming hardware developer Razer has announced a new multi-year partnership with Sixense Entertainment and Valve Software to deliver a '...revolutionary true-to-life, next-generation motion sensing and gesture recognition controller for PC gaming.' Razer, Valve, and Sixense, along with a selection of PC OEM partners, are aiming to produce '...ultra-precise one-to-one motion sensing controllers that use electromagnetic fields to track precise movements along all six axes.' Each controller will reportedly track its orientation within a single degree, and detect positioning within one millimeter. Thankfully, the device will be compatible with both current and future generation PC games."
I can already see all the replies about how keyboard and mouse is a superior controller.. while somewhat correct, lets face it - casual gaming has took its place in recent years.
And not just a little bit. While everyone always seem to downplay casual games, motion games and especially facebook games, the truth is that it's a huge untouched market. Did you know the largest facebook game developer company generates 1/6 of Electronic Art's revenue? Considering that it's a little bit stupid to see the constant "but facebook games is for stupid people" comments here on slashdot. Frankly, market is what drives development, not the elitism.
Being a long-time gamer and programmer, I did still got interested about Wii and Natal. It was great fun to play just moving naturally. But even more so casual people saw it as more fun. Dancing, shaking, moving, whatever they do. It may not seem much, but it is for them. And it's a huge market.
You're forgetting pitch, yaw and roll.
>>I don't get the bit about the "six axes". I thought we had only three in meatspace.
Well, I only have one axe in meatspace.
I'm very excited about this controller though - I can't wait to see how inaccurate people will be in games when they actually have to aim, instead of just clicking on a point with their "sniper rifle" and pretending that's skill.
Being able to shoot yourself in the head in a FPS? That's revolutionary.
I call BS. First: "just moving naturally". I have yet to see any of these games where movements are anything resembling natural. Or in any way "more fun" because of the aforementioned spastic flailing. (While "fun" is, granted, somewhat subjective, there is still consensus at some point, usually in the form of AAA titles everyone can't stop playing and will be remembered among the classics for decades to come.) This leads us to: "I did still got interested [sic] about Wii and Natal," and "casual people saw it as more fun" (emphasis mine). This is what these things come down to: a marketing tool to make people interested in something. The promise of something new. Unfortunately, that promise has not been delivered.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Well, one type of game where this would probably work out well was Lionhead's Black and White series where you controlled a hand floating in 3D space.
That being said, as a PC desktop and not a living room on-the-couch type controller, this could end up being tiring for the user to use over extended periods of time because you'll be holding your hand up all the time with no support unlike with a mouse/keyboard where your hands are resting on your desk.
I recall reading about why 3D mice failed or why Minority Report interfaces may not be as viable - it's very tiring for users to hold up and wave their hands in the air for extended periods of time.
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