News

Rumors are flying this week that Microsoft and Sony are both preparing to announce enhanced motion controls for their respective systems at this year's E3. Lost in all the hype about these rumored announcements is one important question: do we even want motion sensing controllers in the first place? Sure, from a marketing perspective it seems to make sense - after all the Wii has made motion sensing input a central part of its fun-loving, accessible market strategy. But the Wii has a lot of other things working in its favor too, like an established presence in the casual market and a family-friendly image. Microsoft and Sony jumping on the waggle bandwagon at this point just seems like meaningless copycatting.

Lets not forget one other very important issue - Sony's PS3 console already has motion controls (remember that they call it the SixAxis for a reason). Of course, many gamers might not even remember that crucial fact since so few games make real use of the motion sensing capabilities of the controller. Sony's inclusion of motion to replace force feedback was seen by most observers as a failure the first time, with the company eventually bringing back the old DualShock force feedback due to overwhelming demand. So, even though Sony already implemented motion controls into its PS3, how come casual game publishers weren't lining up to bring their titles to Sony's hardware? What makes Microsoft and Sony think that they will now?

The fact is that hardcore gamers really like the standard controller layout with two analog sticks, face buttons and triggers. This configuration works exceptionally well for most games. Sure, we had a lot of fun with Wii Bowling and even with some shooters like Metroid Prime. But in other areas, the Wii controls have been found sorely lacking in precision, and leave us longing for a standard controller.

In order to sell their own next-gen motion control peripherals to the hardcore owners of Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles, Sony and Microsoft will have to overcome some very important barriers to adoption. First, they will have to demonstrate how exactly motion controllers improve the existing game experience in first-person shooters and other action games (the bread-and-butter of these two systems). Secondly, they will have to prove that their motion systems detect input more accurately than the current Wii offering, so that gamers won't leave feeling frustrated. Finally, they will have to demonstrate the type of games (be they hardcore or casual) that will be coming out to support these new controls.

If Sony and Microsoft can one-up the Wii in terms of performance and accuracy, and they can convince third-party publishers to get on board with killer games, then they might have a chance at gaining user acceptance. However, hardcore gamers haven't exactly been begging for motion controls on their next gen systems, so there is a long and difficult road ahead beginning with the press conferences at E3.

The rumored motion-sensing system under development at Sony sounds a lot like the old Playstation Eye Toy. It will evidently combine a television-mounted camera with LED lights on a wand, held by the player.

Products Sort