Motion-Controlled Madness

Okay, so Sony is gearing up to release their PlayStation Move controller, jumping into the motion-controlled gaming thing in an attempt to compete with Nintendo's casual market. Microsoft is also doing the same thing with their upcoming Project Natal system. They have been on a roll with their humorous "It Only Does Everything" commercial campaign, and now they're using their Move controller as a way to take jabs at Nintendo and Microsoft. In the ad, their fictional ad exec touts the Move as a more accurate motion-control experience and makes fun of the boxing game in Wii Sports as well as the ball-catching tech demo that Microsoft used to show off Natal.

The commercial is funny, just as their ads usually are, but it makes me wonder why Sony is going the motion-control route. I also wonder why Microsoft is so gung-ho to do the same thing. It's true that Nintendo has had major success with it, as they are currently the leaders in the console wars, but let's think about a few things. The Wii has attracted a market of casual gamers, people who don't usually play games. These include random people at parties, adults looking for something to do with their kids, people trying to lose weight, and elderly people. That's all good and fine, but what are they playing? I'd say Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Two games. Okay, maybe Mario Kart Wii. But that's really nothing. I hate to say it, but the majority of games on the Wii kind of suck. Not sure why I have a problem saying that, because most everyone knows it. The advantage that Microsoft and Sony have over Nintendo is that their games are actually good. The Wii sells on novelty alone, and I guess that's what the other two are trying to get to, but I think that they're failing to realize why Wii games are mostly bad. I remember reading that most game developers are making crappy games because they haven't quite gotten the hang of programming for it. The word is that the Wii is difficult to work with because of the Wii Remote's specs. What makes Sony and Microsoft think that this will be any different for their consoles? It looks to me that it'll be even hard to make good games for Natal. Nintendo reportedly passed on the technology being used for Natal because there would be latency issues. The PS Move may be slightly easier to program for, but probably no easier than the Wii Remote.

I don't know about all this. This is really just my opinion. Motion-control may really be the natural evolution of video games, but I think it needs a bit more refining. Natal's no-controller-needed approach is very iffy to me, and the PS Move will simply make the PS3 into a more powerful Wii. Is this really necessary?

At any rate check out the PS Move ad and tell me what you think.