Motion Control: Here to Stay?

Wii Motion Plus: Under used, under appreciated.

Casual gamers tend to be fickle. The amount of people I know personally who have tried the Wii, loved it for a few months, then sold it, are numerous. I fear the same fate may befall Microsoft with Kinect, only they stand to lose a whole lot more if the incessant pushing of the device to the core market does not subside. Looking to the next generation, I would guess that Microsoft will implement Kinect into every single console they manufacture, and given their ridiculously stringent regulations, I would not be surprised if every company that develops for the console had to implement the device in some way or another to their titles. This kind of move from Microsoft could have serious repercussions for the core gamer, who may feel slightly betrayed by the sudden jumping of ship. After all, it is they who pay the subscription fees, they who stayed with Microsoft through RROD-gate, and they who have brought success to the Xbox division of Microsoft as a whole.

One look at Microsoft’s painful 2011 E3 press conference gives indication as to where Microsoft are right now. In the same place that Nintendo were three years ago, when they produced the much maligned 2008 E3 press conference. Microsoft are putting a significant amount of their eggs in the motion-controlled basket and if they are not careful they could end up losing the large install base of core gamers they had worked so hard to procure in the first place. Kinect is the most relevant and recent success story of the motion control saga. On the other hand, Nintendo has not been able to sustain the public’s attention long enough for their Wii to be viable today. Wii MotionPlus came and went without so much of a flicker, and to this day I do not personally know anyone who actually owns the device. Nintendo are forcing MotionPlus upon us with the upcoming Skyward Sword but apart from this game, there are no games for Wii which utilise the add-on with any game-changing degree of success.

Playing through New Super Mario Bros Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns only highlights my frustrations with, and the limitations of, motion control technology. Why do I have to shake the pad for Mario to be propelled skyward? Why do I have to again shake the pad for Donkey Kong to roll from the edge of a platform? Both of these examples, for me, highlight how motion controls are outstaying their welcome. These motion based manoeuvres feel tacked on, implemented just because they’re on Wii. But to be honest, I’m getting pretty damn tired of it all. Nintendo themselves have shifted focus away from motion control with the forthcoming, unimaginatively titled Wii U. The system will have one iPad-style controller which will be the central “gimmick” of the console, with the full array of control methods yet to be announced. Though I am guessing that with Nintendo’s focus firmly on “this console is for everyone” customisable control schemes over a variety of gamepads will be the order of the day.

Motion control is a chapter in the history of video games which is yet to be closed. The idea and implementation of the control scheme was born out of a need for change at Nintendo. Only, the success of motion control must surely have outperformed even Nintendo’s greatest expectations (given the relatively dismal sales of GameCube before it) and caught the whole industry off-guard. In an effort to respond, Microsoft and Sony released their own efforts just as the furor over the control system died down, and to an extent, Microsoft have buoyed the market proving there is life yet in the world of motion controlled games. But for how long?

Moving away from motion control?

For me, motion control will now always be a part of the industry in one way or another, but it will never again hit the heights that Nintendo reached when Wii was at its peak, and it is for this reason I foresee companies watering down the use of motion control or forgoing it altogether in favour of newer and more conventional ways of playing games. Don’t get me wrong, I have a strong feeling that companies will implement and actively encourage motion play in their games, but as for long-term sustainability I really cannot see it happening. When this chapter is closed and studied by video game scholars I have a feeling they will see the play style for exactly what it is: a primitive way of playing, which excited our brains for a decade or so, before petering out into the night, never to see the dawn again.

Motion control is having its moment in the light, and to a certain extent, this will continue going forward into the next generation. But beyond this, I cannot envisage a future where the play style is relevant or necessary. It is all well and good enticing people into a product, like Nintendo did with Wii, but keeping these people playing is maybe the biggest challenge. If your demographic is the casual gamer, then they will remain just that: casual. With no real passion for video games, their heads can easily be turned by the next “big thing” (whether it be video-game related or not), quickly forgetting about the technology that came before. The industry will no doubt persist with the playstyle until the last ounce of blood is drawn from its disheveled carcass, but for me at least, it is merely a fad that adds little, possibly less, to the experience of playing a game. Nintendo have made plans for Wii U, and hopefully it will be a console for all– not just one that gravitates towards the casual market. But we will see.

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