[border]

What a strange generation it's been! People thought motion controls had so much promise, but things seem to have petered out quickly. For next generation, are any of the major manufacturers going to include motion controllers out-of-the-box, with every SKU/bundle? Will they continue exploring motion control in games and software?

Nintendo - They seem to have largely moved on. A lot of their late-era Wii software didn't use motion much at all (Donkey Kong, NSMB). Zelda got high praise for it, but Zelda dev cycles are so long I imagine they started it back when they had a lot of interest in motion controls and finished it after their favor for motion had passed. Will the WiiU have a Wiimote+nunchuck packed in with it? I honestly have no idea. It'd make sense if they want to completely standardize MotionPlus on the platform......but at the same time Nintendo are such penny pinchers I suspect they may not bundle it and just rely on the 200 million Wiimotes currently in homes (and pretty much forfeit the MotionPlus standard, if they aren't interested in pursuing it in further software).

Microsoft - After several years of seeing them ride high at E3 with Kinect, it was strange to see the technology completely pushed to the back of the line this year. Microsoft seems to have given up on using motion controls for UI navigation and media playback -- SmartGlass probably got more face time at the show than Kinect. The drive to produce new and innovative games with motion control seems to have died as well -- they showed off an Angry Birds clone and yet another dance game.

There was a time when everyone was absolutely positive that the next Xbox would come with Kinect 2.0....now I'm not sure about that at all. Microsoft seems to have moved on to the next gimmick, and Kinect isn't going to appeal at all to the early adopter market that is going to drive the first few years of the Durango's life. At best I imagine a multi-SKU scenario, in which one or more of the SKUs is a barebones bundle that does not have a Kinect camera (but maybe a microphone for voice controls).

Sony - Not a chance here, they're probably done. Move has received pretty tepid support from developers and gamers alike. With all indications that PS4 is going to be a more budget-minded console than its predecessor, there's probably no chance that they will risk raising production costs by bundling in extra controllers and a camera. Move may be kept around as an add-on peripheral, but I'm not sure if I'd see the point (probably so they can get multi-platform ports from the WiiU, but I'm not sure how many motion-heavy Wii games we are going to see).

[speedpop]

I think it will still be around in some form perhaps, but it won't be pushed to the frontier like it used to be.

[Dragonzord]

Kinect still sold very well. They probably didn't push it because they knew the people who are going to get it already have it. I wouldn't be surprised if MS isn't making any Kinect features because they're working on the new Kinect.

Also, multilanguage kinect is kind of a big deal.

[Jay-B]

Probably, yeah. Even if the next Xbox ships with Kinect 2.0 I can't imagine we'll get a lot of interesting games out of it.

[timetokill]

Nintendo will still be doing plenty of motion stuff with the Wii U. I'm not sure what you were watching there.

Microsoft will almost certainly integrate Kinect-like functionality into their next console from Day 1.

Meanwhile,Sony is probably largely done chasing after Nintendo, and instead is chasing after Microsoft's Kinect market, as seen with the hilariously bad Wonderbook. They're really the ones that don't seem to have a clear direction.

[theBishop]

Oddly enough, MS is most likely to keep emphasizing motion controls. Software interfaces built around 3D cameras will be a huge part of their business. Microsoft is pretty much lost on phones, and probably tablets too. The living room is where they have a chance, and Kinect can play a big role.

Sony will probably continue putting gyros in their controllers, but I don't see Move catching a second first wind.

[Valnen]

Done? Hell no. They won't really be a main focus of many games though, they'll be used to add more subtle things to the experience.

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

For next generation, are any of the major manufacturers going to include motion controllers out-of-the-box, with every SKU/bundle? Will they continue exploring motion control in games and software?

Yes and yes, it's not going anywhere.

[awaiken]

Every Kinect Owner I know tells me they never use it, when I ask them why they bought it, they ALWAYS say "i dunno"

I really hope all three of these companies are done with this shit

[Alx]

I suppose that they had to push the concept when it was still new. Now that many people have accepted it, it's still there, but don't need to be a big part of the communication. It's like they don't talk much about online gaming, 5.1 sound or analog controls because there's nothing new there.
The WiiU still seems to work with the usual Wii controls, and all future Microsoft interfaces will probably support kinect. Only Sony had a mitigated experience with motion controls at the moment, although they invested a lot of work on Move and augmented reality ; it will be interesting to see what they'll do next, but I suppose they won't give up easily.

[theBishop]

Nintendo will still be doing plenty of motion stuff with the Wii U. I'm not sure what you were watching there. Microsoft will almost certainly integrate Kinect-like functionality into their next console from Day 1. Meanwhile,Sony is probably largely done chasing after Nintendo, and instead is chasing after Microsoft's Kinect market, as seen with the hilariously bad Wonderbook. They're really the ones that don't seem to have a clear direction.

Is Microsoft doing much with "augmented reality"? Despite Kinect's very real potential, I can't think of many games that really emphasize it. Sony Europe has had a hard-on for AR for a while (Eye of Judgement, EyePet, Invizimals), and Wonderbook seems to flow from that influence.

[electroplankton]

Every Kinect Owner I know tells me they never use it, when I ask them why they bought it, they ALWAYS say "i dunno" I really hope all three of these companies are done with this shit

Yeah, that's how statisticians make analysis.

[Speevy]

Whatever happens, I hope the companies at least realize how inferior motion controls are for most games.

[darkside31337]

I hope gyroscope is here to stay. Works great on the Vita with the games that support it and the Wii U will have some form as well. Outside of that I too hope its dead.

[GopherD]

Done? Not a chance.... This is the calm before the Motion Gaming 2: Waggle Harder storm for next gen systems.

[Zoramon089]

Short answer? No
Long answer? Uhh, NO

[theBishop]

Whatever happens, I hope the companies at least realize how inferior motion controls are for most games.

I completely agree, but I'm a little disappointed that motion controls never got to fully develop. Games like Datura or Heavy Rain (if it had been ground-up for Move) point in an interesting direction. I think Kinect could offer some very unique ways to interact with a game, even in conjunction with a gamepad.

The potential to actually reach into virtual space and manipulate the world is still interesting to me. Too bad no games have actually offered anything interesting to manipulate. I'm not against the idea of motion controls, but very few games have demonstrated why anyone above the age of 14 should give a shit.

[StuBurns]

I would hope so, but I don't think they're dead at all. There is a second Kinect iteration coming with the next Xbox, I won't be surprised if it's in the box with every console.

Nintendo and Sony, not so much. But I don't think it's going anywhere.

[1-D_FTW]

Whatever happens, I hope the companies at least realize how inferior motion controls are for most games.

To me, the real issue is the jank nature of it. I don't have any problem with the concepts (I actually love it), it's the execution that's less than thrilling.

If 10 or 20 percent of the time I pressed up on a controller it registered as down (or didn't respond at all), I'd wanna throw that in the trash too. So, personally, I really hope MS and Sony continue to try and evolve it (only if they can get the kinks out though). Nintendo seems content with riding MotionPlus, so I guess they've decided sub-par is good enough.

[Vinci]

Considering its an aspect of gaming that isn't easily reproduced elsewhere, it would be foolish to abandon it. All three will have motion control in place at launch. Period.

[border]

Kinect still sold very well. They probably didn't push it because they knew the people who are going to get it already have it. I wouldn't be surprised if MS isn't making any Kinect features because they're working on the new Kinect.

Kinect sales have slowed. 8 million in the first 60 days. But then only another 10 million for the next year after that. I suspect there's a reason you frequently see retailers marking it down $20-$30, or pushing refurbished models for $99. People weren't marking down the Wii after 18 months. The software market is drying up, though the Kinect's poor E3 showing may be because Microsoft has moved other Kinect projects onto the Durango/720.

I personally think Microsoft would rather sell the Kinect as an add-on that has a good profit margin, rather than lose money by bundling it in with every system.

[Glass Rebel]

Motion controls can die in a fire for all I care.


The problem here is that pointer controls won't get any love.

[Ushojax]

Of course not. iPhone, 3DS, Wii U, Vita all have motion control built in, Kinect will be a key part of Xbox from now on.

[Eusis]

I think we're going to see some ideas kept and some discarded (at least until the future). Kinect seems TOO hands off, but it could be kept around just for browsing menus and whatnot, the pointer has a lot of functionality that I think could still be used, and similar for gyroscopes as the Vita (and technically Motion Plus) reminded me. I don't think we'll see as much "shake to wave sword" or anything though, not unless they can give a strong sense of resistance to it.

[StalkerUKCG]

Kinect + 3D has a future, Kinect + 3D + Controller even has a future in Core games if implemented well.

It will always appeal to the more casual market Dancing games and such are a huge hit for families and children

[Bgamer90]

Nope. Just seems that way since motion control isn't new anymore.

[Nevasleep]

It'll quiet down, then make a big comeback halfway through the next gen.

[Bgamer90]

It'll quiet down, then make a big comeback halfway through the next gen.

Yep more than likely since "casuals" will be attracted to the lowered prices of the consoles.

[theBishop]

Kinect + 3D has a future, Kinect + 3D + Controller even has a future in Core games if implemented well. It will always appeal to the more casual market Dancing games and such are a huge hit for families and children

Totally agree. Do you think 3D will play a big role on next-gen consoles? I can't tell if 3D is taking off as a standard TV feature or not. If my next TV had 3D and it wasn't a premium feature, I'd definitely want to play games in 3D.

[DCKing]

What.

Half of the Wii U Tablet's charm is motion with the second screen. The Wiimote is still a very prominent interface for the Wii U as well, judging Pikmin 3.

Kinect 2.0 will sure as hell be the big attraction to the next Xbox.

Wonderbook is apparently a big thing for Sony. It is also built around Move/PS Eye.

What are you talking about.

[StevieP]

Yep more than likely since "casuals" will be attracted to the lowered prices of the consoles.

Nope, going to be in the box from the start instead of relegating themselves to useless peripheral status

[grimshawish]

Nintendo seem to be happy with gyro - I think they were surprised how well it worked with 3DS games especially. Creates a more mixed controller (WiiU is a home console DS).

Sony? God knows.

MS? Yeah agree with other posters, there is going to be demand for Kinect for a long time and it allows MS to get into the living room. Others could get involved offering more dedicated fitness systems for much cheap and better; so it depends how much money MS is willing to spend to keep it the best. E3 was a feeling of - we have nothing else; which makes me think Kinect sales are collapsing and there hasn't been much interest in other software (not that any has come out - it might just be MS has its own Wii problem to do with third parties; they won't like that WiiU is continuing the use - as I think Wii is a far superior system for motion controlled fitness - Kinect is a step too far imo (and MS haven't considered how people want to feel when playing these games; don't want to see your body shape as a big fat thin - Wii Fit works very well, and is actually fun despite some people on here and abroad complaining).


Basically? Meh. I don't know if the market is sustainable for Kinect but Nintendo will likely continue with something. Packaging Wii Fit U with a new controller would be a good way to keep the business sustainable as all the peripherals are where the problem lies.

(Meanwhile what motivation does a Kinect owner have to upgrade? Wii Fit is a bit like a game, Kinect has failed big time there)

[border]

It will always appeal to the more casual market Dancing games and such are a huge hit for families and children

It's probably a topic for another thread, but how much life do the Dance and Fitness genres really have left? Dance especially seems to have a definite expiration date on it, considering how sharply music games cratered after 4-5 years.

None of the fitness games sell remotely as well as Wii Fit did, and there's just such a glut of them on the market. I imagine they are on a trajectory similar to RockBand/GuitarHero as well.

[kingkaiser]

Just look at this shit from this year's E3





The answer is clearly, no

[FyreWulff]

Nintendo calming down with motion was more them coming to grips with using it and developers learning as a whole that they could do more than just map certain motions to button presses. Same as with any other new method.

It was like all of those launch 360 games that were obsessed with throwing hundreds of enemies on screen because they had so many spare cycles from porting their OXbox projects up.

[BrokenEchelon]

I still stand by my opinion that the motion controls we've seen (starting with the Wii) were an idiotic gimmick and I hope that they become a niche market in the industry rather than a standard.

[Brera]

The industry hasn't dumped it.

Everyone has. It's run its course and Nintendo are just hoping for a dead cat bounce.

[theBishop]

Just look at this shit from this year's E3 The answer is clearly, no

This cannot be real. I am amaze.

[border]

Kinect 2.0 will sure as hell be the big attraction to the next Xbox.

All the Kinect 2.0 talk reminds me of all the hype and anticipation for a more accurate, 1:1 WiiMote system. Once WiiMotion Plus actually arrived, not much changed or happened.

A new revision of the Kinect hardware might make it less laggy and might get it to capture quick/minute movements better......but it isn't going to solve the platform's major problems: unimaginative game design, and a control scheme that supports a very limited number of genres. Controling a camera or even getting an onscreen character to move in 3D space is just plain difficult. And it seems like rather than figure these problems out, developers would rather just work on dance titles and minigame collections.

[qq more]

This cannot be real. I am amaze.

The dog part?

[HigherLevel]

I think they'll still be around, but we won't see the push that we did a few years ago. Motion controls won't keep people coming back. Look how big facebook games were and how they starting to die now. Same thing will happen with iOS games in a few years.

[DeaconKnowledge]

Ahahahahaha.

[MightyHedgehog]

Nope. It's just going to be more integrated into more games and the console interface as standard now instead of being a really separate thing.

[Bgamer90]

Nope, going to be in the box from the start instead of relegating themselves to useless peripheral status

But I can see there being more "casual motion control" games once the consoles get older and cheaper.

[rpmurphy]

Motion controls are probably going to be more naturally integrated into the game controls instead of forced in them like a good chunk of what we've seen so far. Having said that, it's not going to go away for a long time, now that there are so many different motion controller tech available for the hardware makers to use (this includes tablets and smartphones).

[soul creator]

I think people underestimate how important MS probably sees Kinect for voice recognition, as opposed to just motion controlled games.

[Eusis]

This cannot be real. I am amaze.

It's only half real, the game actually played was a type of snow sled game I think.

[Bgamer90]

ROFL

WHAT?!?!

I did not see this...

[mclem]

Is Microsoft doing much with "augmented reality"? Despite Kinect's very real potential, I can't think of many games that really emphasize it. Sony Europe has had a hard-on for AR for a while (Eye of Judgement, EyePet, Invizimals), and Wonderbook seems to flow from that influence.

While I very much doubt they'd ever even consider it, I could see an awesome survival horror game using that tech: "Wonderbook: Necronomicon"

Heck, use it for a Persona title!

[Htown]

Not going anywhere.