So E3 came and went, as usual amongst the dick-waving there were plenty of surprise announcements, disappointments and oddities for us all to digest over the past few weeks. There were a lot of quality games announced from all three major players and their third party counterparts, however it’s probable that the one thing E3 2009 will most likely be remembered for more than anything is the real start of the three-way battle of motion control, rather the games themselves. Join me as we take a look at the highs and lows of each company’s demonstrations, how their tech works and ponder the possibilities that each one might offer to the industry, all that while hypothesising just how that dick-waving suddenly became dick-waggling instead…
Microsoft: Project Natal
Easily the most impressive showing of new tech at E3. When Microsoft unleashed the trailer just before the actual demoing of Natal, I myself was full of indifference towards what they had on offer. As the trailer rolled, I even raised a sarcastic smile as the actors there-in flailed their arms about as if they were having some sort of epileptic fit. ‘Sony and Nintendo have to be creasing themselves with laughter at this point’ I thought. That thought was short-lived as they finally showed exactly how it worked and what it was capable of. Starting off with showing how Natal can use it’s facial recognition to know exactly who to sign into live, they got things underway with a simple ‘Breakout’ style game called ‘ricochet’ in which players used their body to hit balls back at a wall constructed of blocks, before moving onto a competent looking paint package. Both displayed how Natal well could pick up depth and track the users movement almost perfectly. These looked like fun apps, but the best was to come yet.
Peter Molyneux was brought out to show what he and Lionhead Studios had come up with, and the result was a relatively creepy virtual child called Milo. We all know what happened next, as they showed a video of a woman interacting in with Milo on an unprecedented level as he recognised her tone, facial expression and interpreted it all correctly. Doubts were raised about whether it could work as promised, or how exactly it could be integrated into games, but was open to the press to try, at least in a controlled environment. A lot of the reason Natal is capable of what it is, is down to the fact it has its own processing power, meaning that neither the software nor the Xbox 360 hardware is doing the extra leg work.
Now what really excited me wasn’t what they demonstrated exactly, it certainly wasn’t the promise of ‘active games’ such as Ricochet coming to 360, but the possibilities of where this tech can improve the experience while I’m sat on the sofa with a pad in my hand. Imagine playing Mass effect or Fallout where menu trees weren’t required to communicate with NPC’s, but instead they could actually read your face and tone and act accordingly. Imagine playing an online shooter and having your in-game character mimics your exact facial expressions in combat, or showing your actual celebrations in sports games to your opponents. The possibilities to enhance games as they are played now could be endless. Possibilities aside, it’s still early days for this technology; the controlled demo environments seem to dictate that they aren’t fully comfortable letting people run wild with it just yet. Also games that could require movement such as golf, sword fighting etc could suffer by NOT having a controller in your hand. What is certain that the showing had pretty much forced one rival to play their hand sooner than they had expected…
Sony: Playstation Eye Motion Controller
In my opinion, Sony weren’t ready to show off their motion controller just yet, but felt they had to following the announcement of Natal. The presentation by the guys behind the original Eye toy came across awkward, rushed and very ill-prepared, not least because they practically demonstrated how not to hit a virtual ball with a wide variety of objects for lengthy period of time. Being a little harsh on the guys presenting the motion controller; despite their sketchy presentation the technology actually looked ok, after initially looking just like a Wii-remote with a coloured ball on the end. Using the Playstation Eye, the system tracks the light and allows the motion to be tracked in a 3D environment, and can track up to four remotes at a time.
The early demos they showed were mostly uninspired, showing how it can be programmed to mimic different hand held apparatus, and how it displays to you exactly what it looks like using the Playstation Eye… how exactly that could fit into core games without taking your focus off the task in hand I have no idea. They did show how it could be utilised in first person shooters and although that part of the showing seemed extremely problematic, it did appear like a system that could work well if implemented correctly. As with the Microsoft conference, the most exciting stuff came towards the end of demo.
The last two tech demos finally grabbed my interest. They showed how their controller could work an RTS game, and the results although basic looked extremely promising. Using the controllers to easily select and control tank units around a battlefield, even zooming in and taking control of one unit in a first person control. The last part showed off how it can be used in a basic RPG styled game, showing off use of a sword and a bow; not ground breaking but it looked incredibly fun. Where Sony will face their biggest problem selling this to third parties or ambitious first party developers alike, is in the controllers technological limitations., you see unlike Natal Sony’s controller doesn’t have its own processor and is apparently a large drain on the PS3’s resources, and therefore could be difficult to develop the meatier games for.
Nintendo: Wii Motion Plus
I’ll be honest here, you’re going to struggle to get more than a paragraph out of me on the company that started all this, mainly because they didn’t really show off a great deal; they didn’t have to. Using E3 to go into more detail about how the Wii Motion Plus works rather than announcing a great deal other than new updates of old games (Mario Galaxy 2?! Seriously?!). So what about the Wii Motion Plus? It’s a device to make your Wii work how you thought it would when you originally bought it. Finally adding 1:1 motion, it should at least now make for a decent light-sabre mechanic, and after all, isn’t that what we all wanted the Wii for in the first place? The fact is, Nintendo are still raking in an unholy amount of cash with the Wii, and until that starts to slow down we’re not going to see all that much innovation from them, especially when they have the casual market so well cornered.
How did we get to this point?
I personally struggle to see why attracting the casual gamer has become such a priority, I mean you wouldn’t force a movie-buff to trade his DVD collection for a music collection would you? Or drag a non sports fan to a Premier league match every week? You’re either a gamer, or you’re not. I suppose I can’t really argue with the logic though. I mean, it’s clear isn’t it? Nintendo’s undeniable success has forced the Sony and Microsoft to look at the Wii’s sales and its appeal to the ‘casual gamer’ and led them to think ‘we needs us some of that’. I don’t dispute that there is certainly a place for motion control in the industry; it offers something different and implemented well adds to the immersion factor that many of us seek from our gaming sessions, but does it have to be so focused on non-gamers? I just hope that Sony and Microsoft avoid the trappings that Nintendo have fallen into and don’t become so focused on the casual gamer that they allow the sheer amount of shovel-ware that the Wii has fallen victim to in the last few years.
