0 aMotion Control War

This year's E3 was possibly the greatest in many years. With an absolutely stunning lineup of games and slick presentations from each of the major platforms, it appears that E3 has been returned to its former glory. Perhaps the most interesting announcement, however, was the motion control offerings from every platform.

In the gaming world, there is an assortment of feelings on motion controls. The opinion of many gamers is that motion controls are fine and well, but hardcore gamers would never use them seriously and that they are more of a gimmick than anything else. Others (mostly developers of the technology itself) believe that motion controls are not just for the casual gamer. They believe that what has made the Wii so successful can be brought to the mainstream gaming community and that some major titles, if not all, will incorporate this new method of control. Having said that, let's get on with the contenders!

Nintendo- Wii MotionPlus

Nintendo managed to come out of E3 with mixed overall reviews in terms of its press conference. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that their software lineup and new hardware is very solid and will easily compete with both Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo announced a fully functional and ready-to-market version of Wii MotionPlus, improving the accuracy of the Wiimote and giving players the full control they need over their games.

MotionPlus will be incorporated into many highly anticipated games, including Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and Tiger Woods 10 (which is available for purchase now). Tiger Woods 10 has received favorable reviews as the first of the MotionPlus games, and can be purchased in a package with the MotionPlus peripheral.

Essentially, MotionPlus gives the Wii control system a much needed makeover, finally giving players the 1 to 1 experience they were looking for. For the here and now, Nintendo takes the cake because its system is the only one available currently.

Microsoft- Project Natal

First up was Microsoft with its announcement of Project Natal. Natal had an incredibly sick n' slick series of pre-recorded demos. These videos, all available on gametrailers.com, show a family all taking part in the fun (Wii-copy, anyone?).

And on that subject- Microsoft Avatars vs. Miis, and Natal's target audience vs. the Wii target audience. Is Microsoft trying to break in on Nintendo's casual gamer demographic?

The real test, though, came with their live demonstrations. Apparently, a lot of "smoke and mirrors" (quoted from epicbattleaxe.com) were used in the fancy video they showed to announce Natal. In fact, Milo, the Peter Molyneux creation that looked so promising in concept of a virtual, intelligent boy with which you can interact with (insert joke here), has since been attacked by various people in the business. Test results show it has very specific in what the interactions are, and the thought now is that Milo is not as advanced and organic as he was portrayed, but rather fairly straightforward and simple script AI.

Despite all this, their live demos showed some promise. Their breakout demo (or whatever that dancing thing was) seemed to work... but honestly, I couldn't see myself doing that in front of my TV. I was not aware someone could look more ridiculous than they do playing Wii games, but I was wrong. The demo with the Microsoft Avatars ended quite hilariously when a glitch contorted the live demo avatar into a pretzel knot.

Since E3, games such as Burnout Paradise have been tested with their new controls and appear to work alright. Take a look, though, at the live Jimmy Fallon presentation, wherein the gamers were all wearing weird orange jumpsuits. The folks at GameTrailers suspect maybe these suits are needed for the camera to read your movements, and that their excuse that they were "trying to look like a team" was pretty much B.S. If that is in fact the case, they can kiss their campaign goodbye.

In all honestly, this looks a lot like the original EyeToy which was FAIL. At least Sony realized Nintendo had it right with their controller idea. People are not controllers- hand held devices like the 360 controller are and have been honed over the decades to get better and better. They've lasted for a reason, and now Microsoft is getting rid of it (albeit not entirely). Is that the right choice? Do you want to have to tell your Xbox to "Select Movie", "Play Movie", and "Turn off"? Not for me, thanks. I'll hit a button if it's alright with you.

Microsoft does have a leg up on Sony because they have managed to get out developer packages with Natal software already, but they remain behind Nintendo (obviously) and may stand to lose this fight. Their noticeable lack of a controller has left many to feel that this really can never break into hardcore gaming circles- a trigger, a controller, a something are almost always needed for a "true" gaming experience. I, for one, agree; this leads me to my next and final contender.

Sony- Sony Motion Control

Sony presented as well- as representatives took the stage, the crowd laughed a bit as they revealed their strange-looking wand-with-a-glowing-orb device. Of course, this wand is merely a prototype and will be undoubtedly redesigned with sleekness in mind (as per other Sony products) and priced ridiculously (also per usual). Keep in mind that this is speculation.

Described by some press as a Wii 2.0 controller, this wand really stole the show. It showed deadly 1 to 1 accuracy and excellent response times to motion. The controller works with the EyeToy to create a virtual world wherein the wand is replaced by objects (a gun, a sign, a baseball bat, etc.). The initial demos were standard fair, including drawing and painting. Block building also showed its head, and I wonder if they are planning on incorporating this new technology for LittleBigPlanet 2- this accuracy may be very useful in level creation. The demos ended with a sample of how an RTS might work with the controller and how the first person action works. The remote was so accurate, the demo-ers were able to actually tickle the skeleton warrior in the demo with their swords. The final demo showed the remote being used to fire arrows out of a bow at an army of skeleton warriors in an arena. It worked great- exactly what we wanted in Twilight Princess and other Wii games. Then again, Sony's motion controller is slated for next year, and MotionPlus on the Wii is out now and working.

Sony also forwent eliminating the controller like Natal, which, for me, is very important. As the demo-ers said, "This just wouldn't feel right without a trigger in my hand."- an obvious swipe at Microsoft. On that subject, I noticed a seeming slap-dash appearance of the Sony motion control presentation. While the actual device worked amazingly well and the physics employed in the tech demos were absolutely stunning, it did seem like someone at Sony had heard from Microsoft a month before E3 that they were cooking up something big and that they needed something quick to keep up (hence the lack of polish employed in Microsoft's conference).

aWinner

Having said all that, I believe Sony had the most practical and promising motion control presentation there. Sure, I have a PS3 and may be a little biased- but check out other sites and reviews. They tend to agree. They have the physical controller, the graphics, the physics- all they need is the polish and shine to put them over the top. Come next Spring, the Wii will have some serious competition. Let's all be glad they have moved away from the EyeToy concept...

In Conclusion

It should be noted that the mysterious competitor OnLive that appears to be bent on crushing the console market this holiday season does not, at this time, support motion controls. While this may change in the future once the systems have been established (if they take hold at all), for now, it gives the Wii, Xbox, and Playstation consoles a bit of an edge. Naturally, this all depends on how you feel about motion control.