Currently in the video game industry there has been a lot of development with motion controls. When the Nintendo Wii came out it started the revolution and now it is forcing its competitors to follow suit. Sony has been in development with its new motion controller code named Sphere. It consists of a handheld wand and the Playstation Eye which tracks the wand's position, and inertial sensors to detect its motion. The simplicity of the Sphere-based distance calculation allows the controller to operate with minimal processing lag, as opposed to other camera based control techniques on the PlayStation 3. As with the standard PlayStation 3 controllers, the motion controller will use Bluetooth 2.0 wireless radio communication, and a rechargeable internal battery. They have been saying it will offer true 1:1 movement which means it will represent your motion exactly. They have done some presentations at gaming conventions but have only let Sony employees use the new controller. It leaves open the possibility that it may not be as good as they say it is and it has been a bunch of smoke and mirrors. I will not prejudge or jump to hasty asessments and hope no one else will. I will say from what i have seen so far it looks very impressive. Now lets move on to Microsoft's new controller free motion technology code named Project Natal. Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typically hardcore base. They have had multiple demo games to show off the capabilities of this new hardware. One of the games is called Ricochet. Pretty much you stand infront of the screen smacking and diving at objects coming at you. They even had Natal on the Late Night Show with Jimmy Fallon. It looked like there was minor lag but that's not bad considering it is still in the early stages of development and it still was very responsive. If a new player walks up into the cameras view it will be able to recognize the new person and change there avatar accordingly. Now last but not least we will move on to the Wii. Some may say why talk about the Wii it is already out? Well they have come out with a new improvement to there motion controller called Wii Motion Plus. It is basically a attachment you can hook up to the current Wii Remote and you are ready to roll. Currently only the newer games support the new add on but it has enhanced to motion controller and made it more accurate. Now it is time for a recap and overall thoughts on the motion controllers. The Playstation's Sphere has tons of potential and looks like it could be the most accurate motion technology of them all. However it has only been used in controlled environments and we may find out down the road it is not as accurate as it has been touted to be. There has been little talk of games and as a downside you will have to purchase the Playstation Eye plus the Wand so it can be very costly. Now the verdict for Project Natal. It looks impressive as well has fun games lined up for it, and may have a great chance in delivering what it has been selling people. The problems I see with it is there was some slowdown. Fortunatly that can be corrected before its release. The price is unknown and is expected to be very steep. That is a major concern which could derail any chance it has for being successful. Once again we are back to the Wii. The Wii Motion Plus has increased the accuracy of the Wii remote and one thing it can say that none of the other competitors can is you can go buy it today. It costs $24.99 which is much less than the others will be by far, however the Wii has been notorious for there numerious accessories. It seems like every game you buy you have to buy a new attachment to play it which will add up over time. So which one is the best way to go? That answer will change from person to person. In the end it may come down to game selection, pricing, all of the above and many other reasons. In the end pick the one that best fits you. Gaming today has come a long way and in the end which ever game system you support or own we all win with the advancement of all these new ideas. Stay tuned for future articles and don't forget to comment.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
There Is A New Revolution In Gaming: Motion Control Technology
Currently in the video game industry there has been a lot of development with motion controls. When the Nintendo Wii came out it started the revolution and now it is forcing its competitors to follow suit. Sony has been in development with its new motion controller code named Sphere. It consists of a handheld wand and the Playstation Eye which tracks the wand's position, and inertial sensors to detect its motion. The simplicity of the Sphere-based distance calculation allows the controller to operate with minimal processing lag, as opposed to other camera based control techniques on the PlayStation 3. As with the standard PlayStation 3 controllers, the motion controller will use Bluetooth 2.0 wireless radio communication, and a rechargeable internal battery. They have been saying it will offer true 1:1 movement which means it will represent your motion exactly. They have done some presentations at gaming conventions but have only let Sony employees use the new controller. It leaves open the possibility that it may not be as good as they say it is and it has been a bunch of smoke and mirrors. I will not prejudge or jump to hasty asessments and hope no one else will. I will say from what i have seen so far it looks very impressive. Now lets move on to Microsoft's new controller free motion technology code named Project Natal. Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typically hardcore base. They have had multiple demo games to show off the capabilities of this new hardware. One of the games is called Ricochet. Pretty much you stand infront of the screen smacking and diving at objects coming at you. They even had Natal on the Late Night Show with Jimmy Fallon. It looked like there was minor lag but that's not bad considering it is still in the early stages of development and it still was very responsive. If a new player walks up into the cameras view it will be able to recognize the new person and change there avatar accordingly. Now last but not least we will move on to the Wii. Some may say why talk about the Wii it is already out? Well they have come out with a new improvement to there motion controller called Wii Motion Plus. It is basically a attachment you can hook up to the current Wii Remote and you are ready to roll. Currently only the newer games support the new add on but it has enhanced to motion controller and made it more accurate. Now it is time for a recap and overall thoughts on the motion controllers. The Playstation's Sphere has tons of potential and looks like it could be the most accurate motion technology of them all. However it has only been used in controlled environments and we may find out down the road it is not as accurate as it has been touted to be. There has been little talk of games and as a downside you will have to purchase the Playstation Eye plus the Wand so it can be very costly. Now the verdict for Project Natal. It looks impressive as well has fun games lined up for it, and may have a great chance in delivering what it has been selling people. The problems I see with it is there was some slowdown. Fortunatly that can be corrected before its release. The price is unknown and is expected to be very steep. That is a major concern which could derail any chance it has for being successful. Once again we are back to the Wii. The Wii Motion Plus has increased the accuracy of the Wii remote and one thing it can say that none of the other competitors can is you can go buy it today. It costs $24.99 which is much less than the others will be by far, however the Wii has been notorious for there numerious accessories. It seems like every game you buy you have to buy a new attachment to play it which will add up over time. So which one is the best way to go? That answer will change from person to person. In the end it may come down to game selection, pricing, all of the above and many other reasons. In the end pick the one that best fits you. Gaming today has come a long way and in the end which ever game system you support or own we all win with the advancement of all these new ideas. Stay tuned for future articles and don't forget to comment.
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