True, they did exist further back, but as outlined in the OP, this can include things that technically existed in the 20th century but only really took off in the 21st, similar to how there were 3D games in the 70s and 80s but it wasn't til the 90s that 3D exploded and took over.

I would argue that motion control as a mainstream thing is a 21st century breakthrough.

It's still not mainstream though. Touch screen is a mainstream breakthrough. But it sucks for gaming :/

Minority report type control, will that ever happen? Mind / voice control combined with eye tracking might be more convenient. All 3 still need a lot of work though. Yet I don't see people 'air typing' with motion control. And why would they, blind typing on touch screen is super fast.

For gaming it's not mainstream either. It's still an add-on for games, only a primary control scheme in VR and very few games outside VR. Yet there is still a lot of time left in the 21st century :)

It is mainstream though; it's the default for most of the best selling games on the best selling system on the market; Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Party, Ring Fit Adventure, Switch Sports, Pokémon Let's Go, Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3, Luigi's Mansion 3...

These aren't niche games, they're mainstream hits that have sold tens of millions of copies.

Yes, but is it really a big step forward. Touch screen quickly became the main control scheme. Motion control is still extra.

If it's not a fitness game, it's only an additional way to do some actions. Motion control was far more 'mainstream' last gen, Wii gen where Skyward Sword could only be played with motion control. TotK I can't remember a single thing I used motion control for (played with the controller, does it do any motion stuff?)

Anyway it's still a big enhancement to games and gaming in the 21st century. It's the primary control scheme in a lot of VR games, critical step forward. One day it will be mainstream!

The switch, because is the first hybrid cobsole portable/home console. And many are copying it and its the future of consoles from now on

I mean, I don't think a game has to revolve around motion controls for it to count; in TOTK/BOTW motion is used for aiming the bow, and in that capacity I found it a meaningful addition even if it's not as pronounced as the motion plus stuff in Skyward Sword.

Not every mainstream thing replaces what came before; online play is mainstream, but it did not replace offline single player modes, for instance.

I love touch controls for gaming. Granted a subset of gaming. But it is wonderful for puzzle-games, adventure games (visual novels and point and click mainly), digital board games and turn-based strategy games. 

Granted it sucks for action games, plattformers, FPS and a lot of other genres, but I don't think any control scheme works for all type of games. Touch controls is great for a subset of games. 

In a lot of games it did though :/ There are a lot of online multiplayer only games nowadays.

True, actually most gamers are on mobile, so practically touch screen is the most used control scheme nowadays.

I guess it's all branching steps forward, touch screen, motion control, online.


Online still made the biggest change to gaming overall with digital delivery. Physical delivery is now just a niche in the full gaming landscape of 3.2 billion gamers. As such mobile (phone) gaming would be the biggest step forward in terms of mainstream gaming. No longer being tied to a TV opened up gaming to billions more people. Or rather already having a gaming capable device on you at all times did.

The Switch, rise of portable PC gaming, VR, PS Portal, streaming, all trends to move away from the traditional dedicated box+TV/monitor model.