Less lag is nice, but this doesn't sound much different from the original LiveMove. Watch the video Zom posted to get an idea of what that was all about.
My problem with this software is that it's taking us down the wrong road, further into the territory of gestures directly replacing buttons.
The way Wii games should work is like this: 1) read player movements, 2) translate player movements into character movements, 3) read character movements, 4) translate character movements into "actions." So, for instance, if you're swinging a sword or a tennis racket, you swing the remote, that swing is translated in real-time into the game, and the game determines if it connects with the ball/person. One implementation of this is 1:1 motion, but in a more general sense it just means procedurally generated animation based on motion inputs, which isn't necessarily 1:1. For instance, maybe you control a 6-armed robot this way, and your motions are translated directly into actions, but not 1:1 actions.
Instead, this is how Wii games actually work, and how they work when created with LiveMove: 1) read player movements, 2) translate movement into nearest action, e.g. "swing B." There are a number of problems with this. First, it requires you to finish your motion before it can be read. Think Zelda: TP: you swing your sword, but it waits for your swing to travel a certain distance before it registers it and makes Link swing. This adds a fundamental kind of lag to the system that can't be overcome just with more efficient coding. Second, it leads Wii games down the path of stagnation. You're just replacing button presses directly with gestures. You're not doing anything with motion controls that you couldn't have done without them. It's a gimmick in every way.
Hardly any games so far have gone the superior first route, because it's harder. It's definitely showing in the poor quality of Wii games, and I haven't seen much light on the horizon.
A couple games are on the right path, though. The most obvious are probably Wii Sports Bowling and Tennis. While they don't translate motion inputs directly the way I'd like, they at least use motion controls to accomplish things that can't be done otherwise. A single swing in Wii Tennis sends information on hand, power, pitch, and direction. Bowling is similar. And there's lots of room for improvement: Tennis, for instance, doesn't let you control which side of the body you hold your racket on. It wouldn't be that hard to improve on games like this if someone would just take up the challenge.
But LiveMove isn't the way to do it, in my opinion. It's a dead end.
Existing User Log In
New User Registration
Register for a free account to gain full access to the VGChartz Network and join our thriving community.
