I think what amazes me is how inconsistent the MS and Sony fans are.

First, you say "we'll never give up our conventional controls, analog sticks are the bomb!"

And now you're all "Haha who needs a controller with analog sticks? We have cameras!"

Seriously people, we can't have a discussion if all you're going to do is flip-flop on your control preferences.

@bardicverse,

My take has always and will continue to be that Motion Controls are a nice addition not a replacement for a controller. I look at what the Wii has done and see that a good amount of top tier titles either dont use motion control or are better with standard controls. Tell me what was the last big Wii game that was better with Motion control?

@thx - depends how you define big. I could say Madworld, but it didnt sell so hot due to the unusual art style. On the horizon is the Conduit, or I could backtrack to COD: WaW. If I wanted to go back more, I can testify to the awesomeness of Bully with motion controls. The only games that don't fit to the motion controls are fighting games, IMO.

You could also include Punch Out!! or Boom Blox which were only released a couple of weeks ago ...

I personally like sony's better, and i am skepitical about the whole natal thing, but i don't really care for motion control either way

I'll do two rankings.

#1 - Ranking of technology

Natal >>> Wii Remote w/WM+ > PS Motion

#2 - Ranking in terms of best VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER

Wii Remote w/WM+ >>> Natal > PS Motion


I think Microsoft did a much better job than Sony at going after the casual market. Sony really did just looked at Nintendo and tried to make a better Wii Remote. Microsoft looked at Nintendo and tried to come up with a better control system. However both miss a big point about Wii.

Wii was designed for EVERYONE. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination works for all genre's but Sony and Microsoft's new control systems won't even work for their systems bigests genre, FPS's. Wii STILL beats these consoles in FPS controls, ironic really seeing the Wii's FPS support as opposed to the other consoles.

Software sells hardware. So unless Microsoft and Sony plan to bring top tier games exclusively for their systems to these new control systems, they're doomed to go the way of the virtual boy.

wii motion plus yes lol.

And concensus on Punch Out reviews was that standard controls is the better way to play the game.

Now back to the technology topic. Another reason that Natal will provide the superior choice is that it is full motion recognition. While Wii and Sony control are really just arm movements.  The demo of Ricochet showed full body motion control not just what you are holding in your hands or secondary WiiBoard if you have it. Also adding WiiBoard makes it so you are forced to stay on the board.  Sony doesnt even offer a way to control the movement of the player let alone track any movements other than the controller.

Eh, I do this anyway :1

I can agree, the technology is cool. I'm just at a loss to see how it will be implemented. The announcement comes at a very bad time for trying to expand the userbase.

What I mean by this is, with the economy still tanked, casuals who own a Wii aren't going to jump ship and drop another $200-$300 for a 360 + natal. With WM+, a solid line of games (not to mention Wii Sports 2, the sequel to the casual favorite) and the upcoming UbiCam + fitness game, the casual Wii market isn't going to be dumping their Wiis and embracing an unfamiliar console with a very short library of motion based games.

At the end of the day, MS may as well adapt this technology to entertain their current userbase. This is where I question the implementation. Would be interested to see how typical adventure or FPS games can be controlled using this tech, as it will fall onto a very small casual market otherwise.