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djcaetano on 19 November 2014
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Intrinsic said:

I think in gaming, the term "gimmick" is basically something that is heavily marketed, claimed to add so much value to a platform or revolutionize how games are played, but ultimately adds nothing to the overall gaming experience and ends up being nothing but a bullet point that no one actually ever uses. Using them could be generally more trouble than they are worth as there are better or easier ways to acomplish the same things.

  • Vibrating controllers. But they add immersion to the gaming experience and a new layer of sensory feedback
  • WiiU gamepad. Honestly this one is up for debate. Does it or has it made any particluar game so much better that it redefines a genre? If its best feature is being able to extend your creen then sonys remote play has shown that there is a better more general way to do that. There is still time for nintendo to set this right though.


    Well... about adding to the game experience...

   I believe the gamepad adds a lot to the game experience, when executed right. It adds to the immersion so much more than rumble. It may be a gameplay changer.

   Some good examples: ZombiU, Batman Arkham City, Wind Waker.

   Some bad examples: Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8.

   "What this guy is talking about? It is just a map and an inventory!!"

   Well, the main fact is not that those things are on the gamepad "per se", but the fact you will not pause the game for nothing. The game just goes on. You have to coordinate your gameplay managing your inventory and locating through a map while avoiding enemies and without stopping the clock. To some degree this can be achieved without the gamepad, but not to the same extent and not with the same quality and immersion.

   *It does not make games easier*, but instead make them more "real". And reality is somewhat harder than the usual artificial "pause-select-item-unpause" or "pause-look-at-the-map-unpause" gameplay. The player must keep track of things happening outside its main view... and when managing his inventory, the player must not forgot what is happening around him.

  Some like it, some hate it. It will be the same with VR. The more immersive the gameplay is, the more effort it will require from the player.

  As a side note, just porting a game designed to work with the "pause-select-item-unpause" to use the gamepad will bring BAD results. Traditional "pause" games are designed so the player will use a multitude of weapons when fighting a boss, even if there is no place to hide. This will be *hard* when there is no pause and your inventory/map is on the gamepad. Those games that are designed to non-stop action (easy access through buttons) - Twilight Princess come to my mind - would work ok with the gamepad, but it would not add too much. Skyward sword, on the other hand, could greatly nenefit of the gamepad, both because the map navigation and because weapon selection. But ultimately, ZombiU has done it just right - horror games just can benefit a lot of it. And I am eager to play Fatal Frame V... :D

   (There are more reasons I believe the gamepad is great, but that involves local assymetric multiplayer, like Rayman).

   (Also, not all games should use it; Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze just do it right by turning the screen off to preserve batteries).