By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Vitality Sensor: The first gaming POLYGRAPH?

I just thought about it.

Nintendo said it was a biometric sensor rather than just an ordinary heartbeat monitoring device.

When I pay horror\fast paced action games I don't get scared or nervous because this is typical of me not getting immersed by games, it's like "Yeah I'm playing a random amount of polygons", I'm texting other people by phone, pausing the game to see what's going on TV and maybe stop gaming if something interesting - Conen O'brien - is on tv and so on. I don't get that immersed in a game... well at least I don't notice it.

Now imagine the Vitality Sensor is as sensitive as a Polygraph. 

It would recognize even the slightest change in your vital signals to know if we are nervous without us even knowing we are. Nintendo said it was a biometric device! Why not? This is perfect for horror games!

 

Now imagine another game like "Wii Lie".

One player would ask questions just like a polygraph technician, and the player connected to the Vitality Sensor would just say YES or NO, or choosing it on screen via wii remote pointer (or the "technician player" would choose so the interrogated player didn't have to move).

Soccer Mom asking the 8 year old kid connected to the Vitalaity Sensor:

EDIT:

"Did you eat trash food today?"

"did you brush your teeth this morning?"

"have you behaved Well at school?

 

Imagine the possibilities of this! You'll have a domestic polygraph in your house!

Zelda Wii Support example:

Random Enemy on field asks: "Do you want to kill me?"

If you DO want - not what you choose on screen, but what do you FEEL about the game and what your conscious wants you to do - it would define if a battle would start in the case of a YES (want to kill), or if the enemy gives you some rare item in the case of a NO (don't want to kill).

You would have no control over your choices because is not a matter if you want to manipulate the game or not, is what do you FEEL about it.

 

This can be applied in various forms like: "you're enjoying the game?"; "is it to hard for you?"; "Do I look stupid?";  every answer twisting the plot of the game!

 

YES?

 

 



Around the Network

Polygraphs are only effective under controlled conditions, and even then they're not so reliable.

I can imagine some party games using it well, but it wouldn't work for any game that would have you in an excited state anyway (which is what most games try to achieve).



A game I'm developing with some friends:

www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm

It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.

people are trying so hard to figure out how this would work, and it's all failure so far.

In a horror game....what possible advantage would the game have knowing your stress level? Throw more enemies or screen shocks at you? It just doesn't fit at all.

So far, this is only useful for relaxation games. Stop trying to reassure yourselves that Nintendo is doing this to improve gaming, and start understanding that Nintendo did this to expand further into the casual market.

I'm sure something will come out and prove me wrong eventually, but really, your heartbeat isn't a fun control mechanic nor is it a practical one. It's not meant for "gaming".



theprof00 is right.

Expect Wii Sports 3 this year.



“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.

theprof00 said:
people are trying so hard to figure out how this would work, and it's all failure so far.

In a horror game....what possible advantage would the game have knowing your stress level? Throw more enemies or screen shocks at you? It just doesn't fit at all.

So far, this is only useful for relaxation games. Stop trying to reassure yourselves that Nintendo is doing this to improve gaming, and start understanding that Nintendo did this to expand further into the casual market.

I'm sure something will come out and prove me wrong eventually, but really, your heartbeat isn't a fun control mechanic nor is it a practical one. It's not meant for "gaming".

I don't think the VS will be used this way due to not being able to attach a nunchuk at the same time, but the principle of games taking information from the player beyond commands is there. For example, if you take Silent Hill: Shattered Memories' psychology mechanic and expand it. The game could at times (during cut scenes perhaps) show images that would cause players with phobias to react, and check your response with the sensor. The game would then use that information to send spiders at you instead of the usual enemies.

To have much implications beyond that though, the console would have to take in more information about the player's state that the VS doesn't do, and it would really have to be built in to the next generation controller.



A game I'm developing with some friends:

www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm

It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.

Around the Network
megaman79 said:
theprof00 is right.

Expect Wii Sports 3 this year.


I'm sure theprof00 is right.

I expect some sort of Wii Zen 'game'.   Nintendo's already brushed meditation in Wii Fit with yoga and the meditation minigame.  Meditation is an important practice to many people and there's a lot of people who know they should meditate or at least try to but lack the discipline (myself included).   If Wii Fit can get people to exercise and be healthier physically, then maybe Wii Zen can get them to release their troubles and find peace and be healthier emotionally.  

And peace is something people will pay a lot of money to get.



 

Actually wasn't something like Wii Relax copyrighted a little while back by Nintendo? This will have 2 games and Nintendo will be done with it.



theprof00 said:
people are trying so hard to figure out how this would work, and it's all failure so far.

In a horror game....what possible advantage would the game have knowing your stress level? Throw more enemies or screen shocks at you? It just doesn't fit at all.

So far, this is only useful for relaxation games. Stop trying to reassure yourselves that Nintendo is doing this to improve gaming, and start understanding that Nintendo did this to expand further into the casual market.

I'm sure something will come out and prove me wrong eventually, but really, your heartbeat isn't a fun control mechanic nor is it a practical one. It's not meant for "gaming".

I have a feeling there's far more to this thing that any of us know.



primogen18 said:
Actually wasn't something like Wii Relax copyrighted a little while back by Nintendo? This will have 2 games and Nintendo will be done with it.

Probably.   What else is new.  3rd parties will have no idea what to do with it either so this is pretty much a one trick pony but as long as it's awesome (and not over priced) it won't matter.



 

I'm with PhallanxCO.

I think nintendo can pull off something interesting out of this, and even if Wii Fit works and it isn't properly the traditional way to game, I think right the opposite of thepr00f, if you want you can have a controlled enryonment at your own place to use the VS as a polygraph (a less reliable one than a professional polygraph of course)