Evening discussion: The other side of motion gaming…
January 12th, 2011 Posted in Posted by Austin, Uncategorized
I was down at the Mall of America today to do some magazine shopping, and while me and some friends were wandering around, we came across the Microsoft store. Now, I’ve been in the Microsoft store multiple times, and each time it’s been host to great people and great fun; I haven’t even purchased anything from there yet! Today when we went back, they had the Kinect hooked up to the body-moving, fun-inducing Dance Central, and so naturally I began playing it.
About 45 minutes later, I was all danced out- as were my friends- and I was finally convinced: Kinect is pretty damn awesome, and I felt like I should ask what other people feel about Sony and Microsoft’s attempts at motion gaming. Of course, both of these never would have been possible without the Wii’s pioneering of the technology, but that doesn’t make the alternatives any less enjoyable! Are there any 360/PS3 owners out there that have been dying to talk about their experiences with the alternates to the Wii motion control?
Personally, I’ve played around with Move a lot and I’m still not convinced that it’s any better (in my experience it’s only been worse) than the Wii, but Kinect (especially Dance Central!) has got me hooked! Of course, I enjoy Ubisoft’s Just Dance to an equal level, so I won’t be purchasing a Kinect for just that one title any time soon. Even so, you can tickle me impressed!
How about you?
13 Responses to “Evening discussion: The other side of motion gaming…”
By Windstar on Jan 12, 2011
From what I hear, Playstation Move ranges from awful to dead perfect. You must have played one of the awful games. But it’s a work in progress. Hopefully they can straighten that out in the future. I really think the PlayStation move has potential to be great if implemented correctly. Could even rival the wii. I haven’t really studied up too much on kinect just because I know I’m never getting an Xbox 360.
By bob on Jan 12, 2011
i have only played some move and it was ok
By Austin on Jan 12, 2011
The thing I feel about Move is that it’s a little bit TOO precise. You really have to think and move your hands carefully and slowly in order to make sure you’re in the right spot, and it makes things a little bit too difficult for my liking. If I wanted to play perfect 1:1 golf, I’d go outside. I’m playing Move because I’m no good at the sport and I want to still succeed at it without trying as much. Like Guitar Hero.
By Windstar on Jan 12, 2011
Complaining about it being too precise? That’s a first haha.
By Ronin180 on Jan 12, 2011
I have never tried Move or Kinect, but I would much rather use Move. I want something in my hand. How are you suppose to play a FPS or platformer with a camera.
By Windstar on Jan 12, 2011
Probably don’t need to. I doubt they have plans to release any mainstream games for it anyway.
By Austin on Jan 12, 2011
Yea, that’s basically my thought. You’re not going to see and shooters or platformers for Kinect because that’s really not what it’s built for. Man is it great for those fun party games though!
And Windstar, yea.
If a game is as difficult and frustrating as its real-life counterpart, then it really doesn’t interest me all that much. I prefer surrealistic games.
Hell, if you actually had to be able to dance to play “Just Dance” I would still be working on passing the first song.
By Ronin180 on Jan 12, 2011
If Kinect is only going to be for party/fitness games I don’t really care much about it.
Also I’m hoping the next Wii will be a precise as Move. It does not have to be 1:1 tho. I just want a swing to the left actually be recognized as a swing to the left. Wii Motion+ does this but you have to recalibrate it a lot.
By Austin on Jan 13, 2011
That’s the real thing though: I don’t think motion gaming in general improves over a standard controller for anything except party/fitness/casual games.
There are a few exceptions, of course, but for the most part I don’t think that motion controlled games are very often inherently better than traditionally controlled games.
HOWEVER, I think there’s a big possibility that Skyward Sword will change all of that. It looks like this could be a core game that definitely shows what motion-control can do for more serious games.
By Ronin180 on Jan 13, 2011
True, but any sport game and game that has a gun or sword is better with motion controls imo. Needs to be done right tho.
Also Redsteel 2 has already shown what motion controls can do for more serious games.
By thomas on Jan 13, 2011
“That’s the real thing though: I don’t think motion gaming in general improves over a standard controller for anything except party/fitness/casual games.”
Wii has proven that it works for Sports and Action titles (see: Red Steel 2, No More Heroes and Tiger Woods) too.
That being said, full-on motion games usually turn out to be terrible. The big, big WIN on the Wii turned out to be the pointer! Virtually every game that uses the pointer does so well. FPS games are so much better with it, for example.
By Phen0m on Jan 15, 2011
Don’t get you wrong: Dance Central is the only one game to be good on Kinect Xbox 360. The rest is just crappy.
A lot of people has been disappointed by Kinect performance.
I think the real winner of motion gaming is Wii Sports Resort.
By Austin on Jan 16, 2011
Yea, I played Kinect Adventures and found it a little underwhelming… But Dance Central is a blast anyway! Hopefull more games will come over to it and make it worthwhile.
True, I’ve yet to play Red Steel 2. That could certainly be a game that proves that motion control actually makes games definitively better. Still, I don’t think pointer control for shooters is for sure better than dual analog. I know I prefer pointer by a long shot, but I know plenty of people who like DA. It just comes down to preference!