• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

In retrospective: Motion Controls

FranXico

FranXico

Member
Next gen hype is upon us, and the Xbox One still bundles the Kinect as a core component of console, so this got me thinking...

What about the Wiimote? It was integral to the Wii, heck, that was what the console was about... How did the Wiimote revolutionize gaming? As far as I recall, most games that used it best basically used it as a split wireless controller.

The Wii had a good 3 years of massive popularity, with motion controls integral to the console, but did the wiimote really revolutionize gaming?

If it did, how, besides how it influenced both Sony and Microsoft?

If not, why would Kinect 2 make a difference where the Wiimote did not?
 
For waggle I never liked it and I'm glad it is dead.

(It was great as a pointer to shoot in games like Metroid Prime 1-2-3 and RE:4.)
 
Wii needed more button mashing.

zSDNp2q.gif
 
It's really unfortunate the amount of crazies that refuse motion controls out of "principle", I don't know how much that set back their development, but I think that vocal faction of gamers really didn't let the control method to evolve, no developer really tried except Nintendo, and surprisingly enough they were kind of timid about it, maybe the world wasn't ready, at least it wasn't a financial disaster like the Virtual Boy.
 
Kinect is about an empowered non-gamer being able to interact with a computer in the form of their TV, it wants to achieve something very different. It's primary function isn't as a game interface.

The WiiMote was garbage, Move is too.
 
Guevara said:
For waggle I never liked it and I'm glad it is dead.

(It was great as a pointer to shoot in games like Metroid Prime 1-2-3 and RE:4.)
Click to expand...


"Shake this thing randomly" replacing a button press is a big reason I stayed away from my Wii for the most part despite loving a lot of the games. It completely ruined Twilight Princess, made Donkey Kong pretty much unplayable, and even made the Mario Galaxy games more of a chore than they should have been. I don't hate motion control in theory. I even bought a Razer Hydra on the cheap not long ago. Unfortunately, every single game maps jump to "Fling your left hand upward" so rather than going through the pain of re-mapping every profile, I just don't use the damn thing.

Kinect is completely awful and has no redeeming qualities as an input device for games.
 
I loved motion controls and still do. I love pointer controls even more.

The gamepad is cool but I wish the Wii U would have brought an updated Wii remote along with it as its primary control method.
 
I think it might come back when/if Oculus type rigs become an actual thing, but for now, yeah, they basically belong with Guitar Hero/Rock Band as a very successful peripheral-based fad.
 
Aside from the free game that initially came with the console, All the best Wii games would have worked/do work perfectly fine on a traditional controller.
 
Kinect was straight up garbage

WiiMote was great for Wii Sports and rail shooters
Motion+ controlled great with Red Steel 2, Grand Slam Tennis and Wii Sports Resort
Move was great for Sports Champions and is fun for AR casual games if you are into those types of games

That's pretty much it for motion controls. I am not really a big fan of motion controls, tough I would buy a motion controller down the line when it's cheap and there is a few games like Sports Champions or Red Steel to play with.
 
When I think about things that revolutionized gaming controls, I think about things that made gaming better. The d-pad and analog sticks immediately come to mind. Motion controls, though? Most of the time (not all of the time, just to make it clear) motion controls are treated as a different, more error-prone way of doing something that could be done easier and quicker with a button press.
 
Motion controls were nothing but a gimmicky fad that mostly died before it did irreparable damage to gaming. It was a massive step backwards in game control and thankfully it did not catch on outside of casual shovelware. Kinect 2 will be the last breath for that garbage in gaming, but it will still be somewhat useful for OS stuff and Apps. It's just in gaming uses that it will permanently die.
 
Not a huge fan but I will say I had a lot of fun with the motion controls and disc golf in sports championship(really wished they added a lot more courses) and the sharpshooter made Killzone 3 and Resistance 3 a blast to play. Was really hoping to see the motion controls refined in Killzone:Shadow Fall with the more accurate camera but oh well.
 
Accelerometer-only controls were very limited outside of fairly basic motions like the ones used in Wii Sports and Wii Play. A lot of games implemented them really poorly.

Gyro controls had more potential, but they came too late and still weren't as precise as they should have been. (Wii Motion Plus and PSMove.)

Pointer controls are unquestionably superior to analog sticks for aiming. They're what I'll miss the most.
 
I never want to do waggle ever again.

Kinect could have been fine if it worked.

Move has interesting fidelity that could be interesting if it had more meaningful applications. The fact that the best game for the move right now is Johann Sebastian Joust, a game that doesn't actually require a PS3 to play, is telling.
 
I enjoyed motion controls in some games, like Wii Sports Resort and Skyward Sword, but they mostly felt tacked on. Pointer is godly though, Pikmin 3 is so good with it.
 
kinda like 3d imo. Most were done poorly and the tech isn't at the level yet where it can be done flawlessly. Still has lots of potential though.
 
The Wii never really delivered on its motion control promises. Well, not without motionplus at least. But I did like the controller being seperated into 2 pieces.
 
The Wiimote had massive potential in everyone's imagination but amounted to clumsy gestures rather than 1:1 use most of the time. Gestures are indisputably inferior to buttons and sticks in my mind due to their lack of reliability.

I thought the Wii would mean we could finally have a 1:1 controlled sword fight in first person against an AI or human opponent. It quickly became clear that the tech wasn't up to it.

For what it's worth, I had fun with Boom Blox and Metroid Prime 3. However, I still don't feel like I need pointer controls in a console shooter, even though they are objectively more nimble than stick-based aiming systems. The added precision (for a single player game) is not worth the additional effort and mild reduction in comfort for me.
 
The Vita's thumbsticks are not that good for shooters... at least not as good as the DS3's... so when Bend threw in gyroscope control to line up headshots along with the thumbsticks, I was amazed at how perfect they went together.

That said, Carmack said it best... as long as it's not perfect, and it's not as responsive as pressing a button, it'll never surpass normal controls.
 
Maybe when virtual gaming takes on with things such as Oculus Rift and the like, motion gaming will get more love. :-\
 
Got Kinect and Ps3 Move and tried a few between me and my son.

Kinect : Only Fruit Ninja worked well, Gunslinger was 'OK'....

Move : Sports Champions table tennis was excellent

That's about it really, not even the point and shoot games on Move or Wii really worked as they were not absolute with the TV size.....

Should have had a light or LED stuck on each corner of a TV, then light games would of worked with Wii. Maybe move you could of calibrated to corners of the TV but it was also distance ....

I don't know but you think someone could have invented a 1:1 wand tracking on a TV for shooting games...
 
We put a LOT of effort into this thing at the time...

5246910231_cc7f03b080.jpg


It would be interesting to hear the GAF perspective after all these years!
 
The amount of irrational hate motion controls get is astounding. Pointer controls especially should be in every modern controller.
 
Nintendo should have gone with an improved Wiimote instead of that redundant ass gamepad. Especially since they keep using the superior motion controls for games like Pikmin 3 anyway and even advertise the game with those.

titusandronicus said:
Aside from the free game that initially came with the console, All the best Wii games would have worked/do work perfectly fine on a traditional controller.
Click to expand...

Who cares if it would work otherwise, something like Metroid Prime 3 or Excite Truck was ultimately more fun with it.
 
I own a Move controller.

Times where the experience was significantly better:

Bioshock Infinite
Resident Evil 5
Heavy Rain

Moments where it was better sometimes but added annoying hindrances:

Infamous 2

The other games I played were made for Move (Dead Space Extraction) or only play with move (Sports Champions/Tumble) so there is no comparison to be made there.

One thing though, I really REALLY wish Mass effect used the Move controller. It would have been perfect for that kind of game.
 
Pointer controls were the best thing that motion gaming brought us, its just too bad we don't get many games that use it.

Apart from that I think the only use of motion in a game that worked well was Skyward Sword. Some people had problems with it, but for me the controls were perfect. Anything that went wrong was a result of me fucking up.
 
I really like Wii remote motion stuff when implimented correctly ala Wario Ware, Let's Tap, No More Heroes, Skyward Sword (except the swimming).

As much as some games make it a 'gimmick' I believe montion sensing technology will now be standard in controllers from here on in. Good job Nintendo.
 
Das-J said:
We put a LOT of effort into this thing at the time...

5246910231_cc7f03b080.jpg


It would be interesting to hear the GAF perspective after all these years!
Click to expand...

Well I still use mine and honestly find it way more fun than using a controller. I added a guitar strap for comfort.

Cosign with others here who have noticed an irrational dislike of pointers (especially for 1st/3rd person shooters.) Boohoo it takes a little practice. I feel it should be in more games as a control option, and I still hold out an irrational hope that the PS4 will actually let me use my Move controllers in this way or offer a more precise Move at some point that reinvigorates the movement (lol).

Too many so called hard core gamers are too traditional in their preferences for controllers to the detriment of others who enjoy new, arguably better experiences.
 
houroftower said:
Well I still use mine and honestly find it way more fun than using a controller. I added a guitar strap for comfort.

Cosign with others here who have noticed an irrational dislike of pointers (especially for 1st/3rd person shooters.) Boohoo it takes a little practice. I feel it should be in more games as a control option, and I still hold out an irrational hope that the PS4 will actually let me use my Move controllers in this way or offer a more precise Move at some point that reinvigorates the movement (lol).

Too many so called hard core gamers are too traditional in their preferences for controllers to the detriment of others who enjoy new, arguably better experiences.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even say it's arguable beyond there being a slight learning curve; pointer aiming is just better. You get a mix of first and second order control that affords you almost as much precision as a mouse.
 
It brought casuals to the console market and motion controls to every platform on the market, if that's not an impact than I don't know what is.

On a personal level, I was actually very accepting of them at first. As time's gone on and I've gotten older I've found going back to games that force waggle like NSMBWii to be a major pain in the ass, but for some games I still think it's fun. Pointer controls for shooters made me never wanna use dual analog sticks again, Skyward Sword made hand to hand combat a blast instead of button mashy, and little touches like the star bits in SMG weren't great, but was a nice little additive that improved the experience.

Overall I enjoyed them, but I'm glad they aren't at the forefront anymore. I just hope developers still use them in some instances where they make sense (like first person shooters). They won't be forced anymore (except maybe kinect), but I'd hate to see them disappear entirely.
 
I don't like having to use it, even when playing Wii or iOS games. I find it too unreliable to give a satisfying experience. At this point I find it hard to imagine a really flawless motion control experience, but I guess I could be convinced by Kinect 2.
 
I am also perplexed and disappointed at the way in which everyone is essentially abandoning motion controls. I said some of this in another thread but:

Metroid Prime 3 came out in 2007, with a control scheme that was more couch friendly than a mouse, far more precise than a joystick, and just plain felt great to use. Reviewers hailed it, with many saying the game made it difficult to go back to dual analog.

Since then, a handful of other Wii games have come out which use motion controls well. Sin & Punishment 2 controls like a pure dream with the WiiMote. The pointer is fast, fluid, and precise in a way no other device can match, including a mouse. Prime Trilogy brought the third game's controls to the earlier games in the series, with great results. Skyward Sword's motion swordplay was one of the best and most strategic melee combat I've ever used.

But beyond those games, pretty much no other games have come out to fulfill the Wii's original promise. Sony and Microsoft have BOTH released their own motion control systems, but the only games that use it are Child of Eden, a couple party games, and nothing else. Everyone says Child of Eden is fantastic, but that's the only game.

Why? It isn't like it would be hard to bring these control schemes to other types of games. FPS's are literally the single most prevalent genre in gaming today. Guys, just TAKE METROID PRIME 3'S CONTROLS AND COPY THEM, PLEASE. Why wouldn't you? They work so well?

I'm looking at you The Conduit, and every other Wii FPS that exists and controls like complete crap. WHAT DID YOU DO? Don't blame the Wii Remote unless you've played Prime 3.

With the Wii U, Nintendo appears to have mostly abandoned motion control. Microsoft has been using it less for gaming and more for UI navigation. Sony seems to have mostly forgotten about the Move.

Motion controls can work wonders in traditional types of games. We saw it in Metroid Prime 3. We saw it again in Child of Eden. We saw it yet again in Skyward Sword. Why aren't there more? What happened?
 
I'm done with motion controls, they just aren't fun to me. I vastly prefer a controller or mouse/keyboard. I feel like I can do anything more easily with other forms of input than motion controls.
 
I think it's just a matter of the quality of those devices. I like the idea of motion controls but the currently existing motion controllers are woefully inadequate.
 
i think it has been a sadly missed opportunity..,of course not every genre works well with them,but i would have relaly liked to see the wii with more support and more power to try to use motion control at its best..i was very disappointed when nintendo presented the wii u pad as their new "gimmick"
 
C00kie M0nster said:
Pikmin 3 + Wiimote = Amazing and intuitive experience
Click to expand...

This is a good example of it sticking around and improving the experience. It's legacy should be a mostly positive one if games like this continue to make good use of the concept. I can't imagine Pikmin without motion controls anymore, it just felt so right, and it's barely possible on standard controllers, let alone intuitive.
 
Pointer based controls were the best control scheme we were ever going to see on consoles, but the close-minded made enough noise to scare Nintendo and Sony from iterating/improving on the technologies. Now Nintendo is failing spectacularly with a largely traditional controller and we're guaranteed 6+ more years of the same Dual Shitalog schemes from Sony instead of the pack-in camera and break apart Move/Dualshock hybrid we should have gotten.
 
I was in the GAF threads speculating about what could be done with the Wii remote after it was revealed and before any games where shown for the Wii.

In hindsight, motion controls were hobbled because Nintendo didn't release the 'real' Wii remote at launch. Version 1.0 was too limited. Many of the kinds of interesting play mechanics people imagined where not possible on it due to lack of the second sensor motion+ added.

After M+, a few games like Red Steel II and Skyward Sword showed real potential. But the Wii - as the flagship platform for motion controls - needed games like those at launch, not five years in. There were too many bad experiences with the vanilla wiimote in games which tried to use it and failed. Only Nintendo's first party output was consistent in QA and their design teams generally didn't use the wiimote for things it couldn't do.

Oddly enough, the one thing I never minded was what many call 'waggle' in certain games - like flicking the wrist for basic sword swings in Twilight Princess or for the spin attack in Mario Galaxy. It was a button that didn't have to be a button and let the player keep their fingers on other keys. Worked great with muscle memory. Plus, and maybe this is a sin in gaming for some, I thought it was fun. Ah well.
 
MP3 isn't really motion controls. I mean I know that game had some light gyroscopically controlled accelerometer sections, but mostly people praise the optical sensor + sensor bar controls.
 
I'm a fan of Wii mote and Move, when they got it right they really got it right, but I admit it was more miss than hit.

Kinect can etpooms, and Kinect 2 can do exactly the same.

So to answer your question, revolution, no. But for a few games, in a few situations it was a glorious and gloriously expensive experiment. I have no regrets.
 
Guevara said:
MP3 isn't really motion controls. I mean I know that game had some light gyroscopically controlled accelerometer sections, but mostly people praise the optical sensor + sensor bar controls.
Click to expand...

I'd still count them in with other motion controls simply because they involve some level of freehand gesturing with the wrist and forearm, rather than doing everything with your thumb. They just have a proper point of reference, lower latency, and higher precision (for practical purposes) when compared to accelerometers or gyros.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Resident Evil Mercenaries Retrospective
Opinion Analysis Trailer 
1
293
Generic replied
GTA IV Is A Masterpiece | Retrospective Documentary
Analysis Retro Trailer  2
96
1K
Himuro replied
Naughty Dog 40th Anniversary Retrospective
Trailer  2
58
1K
alabtrosMyster replied
Inverted controls
2
80
2K
Ellis replied
Crimson Desert new update replaces AI-generated arts in the game, alongside improvements to loading and controls
18
589
ComputerBlue replied
Top Bottom