After seeing Sony show off it’s Motion Controller (SMC), I realised that what I’ve always wanted from Wii was not Motion Control, but Virtual Reality. While SMC may initially seem like Wii Motion Plus, it combines 1:1 precision and High Definition graphics.
SMC has a far lower chance of selling in the numbers of the Wii because the Wii appeals to an audience that does not care about graphics or hardcore experiences. Where SMC has the chance to flourish is if Sony insist on it being a hardcore tool and not a casual one.
Wii offers great hardcore gaming, but the games are few and far between. The last 6 months has given us only MadWord, House of the Dead: Overkill and Punch-Out!!, these games are either very short or very niche.
While Sony can let the shovelware hordes loose on SMC, they will not be as accommodating as Nintendo have been.
Wii owners that crave more hardcore experiences will be more receptive to upgrading to the PS3 with SMC. Sony is taking the Wii Motion Plus and adapting it to the PS3, but from it’s knowledge of Eye Toy, buttons are a necessity.
From what I’ve seen of Project Natal, I’m not convinced it’s much more than Eye Toy 3D. If Project Natal is able to do what Wii Motion Plus can without a controller and it can distinguish between individual fingers, then there is no reason you can’t stick a piece of plastic or a real gun in the player’s hand. It is possible Project Natal can deliver the Virtual Reality I want.
Wii HD has been announced, only time will tell us which company delivers on the gameplay.
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Yeah, I do think that Microsoft have gone down the right route with a fresh take on the whole motion control idea. The “You Are The Controller” approach is intuitive, different, and fresh, and from what we’ve seen this is definitely not just an upgrade of the EyeToy.
The PS3 on the other hand are now, if they decide to go down the new motion control route, in direct competition with the Wii, a competition which they are already losing, so they definitely have a tough, if somewhat meaningless climb up a steep mountain from here on in.
Thing is, Sony seem to have shrugged their idea of motion control off, they had some folks design some new technology, showed off the possibilities, and walked off. Microsoft on the other hand, have developed something original, and something different, and something the consumer market will definitely take notice of.
Along with this, Microsoft have the likes of Spielberg heading studios for NATAL, and, given the media coverage the damn thing has been receiving as of late, it is clear that Microsoft want NATAL to be the new leading product in the gaming market.
It’s either make or break for Microsoft, but Sony have the ability to keep plodding along in the market, with or without their motion controller.
It’s an interesting state of affairs indeed, nice article.
If you actually took the time to read the interview, Project Natal can be played with or without a controller and with more than one person. Geez the Internet is bad for misinformation.
“Eurogamer: So this technology isn’t just for use with Arcade titles or specially designed games like Milo & Kate? It could be used to play regular games?
Alex Kipman: Absolutely. We see there being three types of game. We love the [existing] controller, it’s not going anywhere and there will continue to be games that are specifically made to only work with a controller. We’ll have games that are specifically designed to work only with Natal – not just arcadey games, but real, hardcore, triple-A titles.
Then you’ll have some games that are essentially a hybrid – games that work both with the controller and with Natal. Why is that interesting? Think about a first-person shooter where I’m using the controller but I’m doing facial tracking by just moving around and looking round corners.”
source http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/e3-post-natal-discussion-interview
This is nothing new, PS3 spoke about this a long time ago, its just something microsoft have picked upon and implemented.
Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Levelhead, you may have missed the point I was making about the Natal.
Of course it can be used with a controller, but doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
The example given to recognise you moving your head:
I can tilt the nunchuck in Medal of Honour: Heroes. I can even tilt the sixaxis.
Does this mean that the only way to deliver “real, hardcore, triple-A titles” is with buttons?
If all Natal can do is detect where my body is in a 3D environment, is that not Eye Toy 3D?
If Natal can do what I said in the article, then I am sold!
Time will tell how much I’ve gotta fork out for it!
I can’t believe this $hitty article although I am with the NATAL part of it,
hello !, sony’s motion saber wand thing w/ps3 is the future WiiHD ?
Hell NO,
1- product availability, It is not bundled with the console so it will start from scratch.
2- remember it’s 2 products the camera and the wand
3- additional prices
IT IS not the future not even in the next 5 or so years
and natal downfall is full controlability which is a important for all hardcore games.
BTW sony will not be able to do good use of their wand in a lot of good games like nintendo and others already did with the Wii
sony must bundle their next $hit with the next console in order for it to have a ground base to have a good start up and let dualshock 4 sells alone.
this is the policy that states “it will not sell until you force customers to have it” which nintendo already did
and natal will always be an overpriced American accessory for “yours truly American Videogame Console” unless dis $hit is free DOG.
and I have a lot more to say to you folks but nuff said for now.
Trolls are cute
Even if you could use a peripheral with project natal like a gun for example it is unlikely it would be able to detect a digital button press let alone an analogue button in order to acheive this you would have to embed an ir emitter in the device, this requires a battery, as would rumble, this would drive the price of peripherals up to that of a wand and make them pointless. on top of that natal excels at predicting the motion of people (by monitoring joints on a persons body) this allows it to be effective at its poor refresh rate of 30hz to actually track objects in 3d space it is at a disadvantage, the 30hz would result in controller lag and which could only be allieved by embedding an rf emitter in the device to radio the commands back to the 360 in order to minimise lag and allow also the to tell the controller when to rumble. Basically every peripheral would cost the price of a wand so why not just use a wand In comparison PSEye works at 120Hz and uses a combination of ir(x,y) and ultrasound(z) and onboard accellerometers+gyroscopes to accurately map itself in 3d space, analogue sticks,buttons,bluetooth, its not as elegant as natal but its more practical for core games and ultra responsive.
Thanks guys,
A lot of interesting opinions on this subject.
Natal has waaay more to prove than anyone has even begun to imagine, even if it can be played with a controller. I would love my Wii a helluve a lot more if there were more core experiences to it, which is why I am really looking forward to their 2010 line. Other M is gonna be sick, and Mario is always a welcome addition. It will be interesting where Sony takes their idea and in the end it will end up being their version of the Wiimote. If I can use it to play games like Ratchet and various others, I’m sold day one because the current motion control in the SIXAXIS is just okay-ish.
The thing a lot of people are failing to see with Natal is that it basically marries the Wii control and the Eye Toy to come up with a semi-new product that will probably act as a pseudo-controller/console. It’s either gonna be huge or fall flat, there is no in between here for Microsoft. I think it’s interesting but gimmicky. I have been playing games for so long that completely removing the controller altogether is gonna divide their user-base significantly. Microsoft is for the core by the core, but they are trying to be something else. They preach core but are having a very public affair with trying to capture the Wii demo, and since this gen isn’t even close to over yet, they are plitting themselves into something they need to leave alone.
No offense, the article is well-written but isn’t the title a little misleading? The Wii HD was NOT announced, motion controllers for the other systems were and while I understand what the title is going for, it is really misleading.
Also, anyone thinking that Sony’s motion controller is going to sell systems, you guys are DEAD wrong. Wii already has the market in the palm of thier hand and the MotionPlus is already 1:1 so by the time Sony’s controller comes out, 1:1 control will be old hat and millions of WIi owners will alreayd have MotionPlus and see no need to purchase the PS3 controller.
Natal, on the other hand, is a totally different experience since there is no controller. Plus, if MS is really going to make its launch as big as a console’s launch, then I’d expect THAT to actually sell well.
Really though, Wii and Microsoft are already ahead of what Sony has. With Wii you onjly need the 1:1 controller, with MS, you only need the camera, but with Sony, you need both. Seriously, they are behind and anyone saying that they are ahead of the curve is fooling themselves. And this is coming from a regularly Sony fanboy so that is saying something.
JumpShip, I hang my head. It is a shameless headline. But my reasoning is that the SMC is Wii Motion Plus.
If Suda 51 brings No More Heroes to PS3, then that’s Wii HD.
If Suda 51 brings No More Heroes to Natal, then… I don’t know what that is, but it could be spectacular!!!
Newsflash, NMH is not coming to any of those systems and that would NOT make them Wii HD because niether of those systems have Nintendo’s franchise catalog of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Starfox, Yoshi and Kirby.
But yeah, seriously, change the headline. It draws views yes, but it gives GV a bad name. (And I LOVE the site)
In Tony’s defense, I think that while it is misleading…he did a play on the concept…
I’m really shocked that nobody reported it when I submitted it to n4g which is a great sign of people actually reading an article before reporting it…
and I’m even more shocked that people weren’t trying to call him out on the topic saying that Wii HD “was not announced”…
so, I mean the article is pretty good in my opinion for what it is…you just have to get the concept of what he’s truly getting at….which quite a few people managed to do…
and that’s half the battle..
No. KNOWING is half the battle. (GI Joe quote)
Thanks for the comments, peeps.
I was only talking about SMC being Wii HD on a technical level.
While we can not say never to NMH coming to SMC or Natal, “Nintendo’s franchise catalog of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Starfox, Yoshi and Kirby” definately takes the debate on the article’s title to a new level.
A level I don’t think it belongs on and I gracefully bow out at.
basically you are saying what a lot of people are saying that sony motion control is what whe wii should have been but yeah misleading title but good article overall