Forward Motion

When the Wii first launched (or even before that, rather, when the first information was given out and then shown to us at E3) everyone's focus on Wii was the motion control. Sure, games like Red Steel and portions of Zelda: Twilight Princess featured IR usage, but games like Wii Sports Bowling, Excite Truck, and Madden were ruling the launch.

Fast forward to 2008, and while we're still seeing a healthy mix of both IR and motion-supported games, it seems as though motion control on Wii is actually staying stagnant, while IR is flourishing. You look at games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2 or Trauma Center, and it's obvious that pointer control is the way to go; I'm not denying that. Where things get a bit annoying for me personally though – and the primary section I'd like to see improved on – isn't in the pointer action, but in the depth of control on Wii.


I just can't help but think "wasted potential" when I see this.

Keep in mind this is a blog post, and it being such I'm speaking more on a personal level as to what I'd like to see, but I still think it's a valid point just the same. You look at products like LiveMove, a program specifically used for motion recognition, and you start to wonder why more developers aren't using that in products just yet. Even better, why not take what LiveMove does (basically recording a motion and then having the user assign it to a specific task) and actually integrate that into the game itself. Rather than telling players how to do sword attacks in No More Heroes, for example, you could have them record their own motions for "vertical attack 1, horizontal attack 2" and so on. Everyone moves different, so why not work with that?

The other aspect I was personally energized by on Wii when we first heard about its motion control was the actual analog control of motion. Granted we know more about how the Wii tech works now, and how things like per-pixel, 3D motion need to be triangulated via IR anyways, making other motion a bit more difficult to track on a smaller level, but it's still very possible. Using tilt alone Worms: A Space Oddity measures how far a user is intending to throw – why not use that for the new MLB game?

That concept of fluid, non-defined movement is something I'd really like to see explored. It doesn't have to be 1:1 control (which, by the way, is becoming a misused word in the industry, as games that use motion for specific swipes consider that to be "1:1" control – story for another time), but I would be interested to see how far we could push Wii motion if Wii wasn't synonymous with "casual." If you remember back to the days of Revolution, none of us were thinking that way, and games like Call of Duty were amazingly intriguing, as we had visuals of actual distance throws for grenades, or my classic "toss a magazine to a friend in need of ammo" example.


Analog motion for grenade tossing? Pretty please?

Just once I want to take a shot in NBA Live Wii, or huck a grenade at a Nazi soldier in MOH, and miss because I didn't throw hard enough, or truly aimed off center. That's pure immersion.

As another small example of this "advanced motion control", look at something as simple as Mario & Sonic at the Olympics. In one of the events (I believe it's the long jump, or something akin to that) you actually have a "sweet spot" that you need to jump at. Not one that's timing based, but one that's actually motion power based. Lift too fast or slow, or for too short/long, and you screw up the jump. There's a specific difference between the type of control you have in this situation, and one you have in a "motion = button press" mechanic. I'd love to see more progression from this "analog motion" in 2008 and beyond.

For what it's worth.

http://blogs.ign.com/Bozon-IGN/2008/01/24/78158/

A great,great read

I never heard about the recording the motion bit, it sounds promising. And I do agree that a lot of the motion controls that developers put in this wii games are not that up to speed to what it could’ve been or even what Nintendo is doing. On the plus side though there is a lot of leg room for the Wii motion controls to go from now on.

Is it harder to make a game where the user can reconfigure the settings compared to automatic configuration?

None of the 3rd party companies are willing to risk a big title on crazy awesome new motion controls. It is sad to only have games with waggle.

I want to be able to throw down a 2-handed,windmill jam at will with the Wiimote.

I want to be able to jump and block someone with either hand.

can you say killer cross over?

I want Elite Beat Agents Wii. They could definitely show off intricate moves with that.

I read somewhere that there's some kind of developers tool that can reduces the lag between the wii-mote and the console communication itself. When are they gonna work on stuff like that? The sooner they get started the sooner the wii gets closer to 1.1 controls.