Jumping on the bandwagon

The success of the Nintendo Wii changed the video game industry in such an incredible way that four years after its release Microsoft and Sony are just now catching up. Now I just have to get this out of the way but I think the Nintendo Wii is a horrible game console mainly because the entire premise is based on the movement gimmick. There are really about four or five good games on the system and the control system leaves a lot to be desired.

You can imagine my response to Microsoft and Sony's decision to implement this new movement oriented control interface into their 360 and PS3. To be fair they are really just trying to cash in on the lucrative cash cow that made the Wii as successful as it is; casual gamers (like your Mom for example). This was an entirely untapped market that Nintendo cleverly marketed to with success and now the other two game makers realize this and are changing their system (sort of) to grab that market share.

So what are they doing? Well they're being a lot more innovative than Nintendo for starters, which I suppose is good. Am I excited? Not in the least. I think what they have planned is interesting but I don't see why they want to shoe horn these new technologies into their old hardware when the people that made Sony and Microsoft so successful are not overly interested in these controls. Yes I suppose it's smart to try and pull some of the Nintenmoms or whatever but is it realistic to assume they will pull them away from their Wiis just because the 360 and PS3 can do what the Wii does? I don't seem to think so.

Here are the two promo ads for the new motion control systems.

Sony's Move


Microsoft's Natal


First I'll talk about Sony's Move. I guess its cool. I like that it has an actual controller and it seems like its pretty responsive. I don't forsee myself jumping around like an idiot shooting or punching dudes. I also don't really see how this makes the games more "fun". Gee look at me Ma it looks like I'm dat der feller in dat video game pew pew. Maybe it's not for me but if thats the case they may have a problem on their hands because I don't really see my mom enjoying pretending to punch some tattooed guy in a streetfight, but I guess I can't speak for all moms.

That leaves us with Microsoft's Natal. The first thing I thought of after I watched it was everything except for the game playing was cool. (During it I thought about how stupid they all looked). I think the part with the facial recognition and live video chatting was pretty incredible as well as the ability to use your hands to move through menus similar to Minority Report. I'm skeptical about how well the scanning will work but that could also be quite cool. That being said, theres a problem with this video game peripheral if I like everything but the video games. Granted the games were very family friendly because they're trying to reach that Nintenmom demographic however what does that mean for the guys like me that made the Xbox what it is today? Am I going to be jumping around my room like an idiot pretending to shoot a gun at some bad guys? I know for a fact that I won't, even if no one is around. I think this is potentially one of the most important tech advancements in the past few years because of the implications it can have on the entertainment industry, however I'm not sure if it will really work as a specific Xbox peripheral.

It will be interesting to see how each one plays out in the coming months and I'm sure you'll see them sold out for Christmas. I think both companies have some interesting technology and an interested consumer base, however they need to ensure that they don't alienate their loyal fans because in the end the casual gamer is fickle. They will move onto the next fad while the die hard fans will support their console to the end.