When the Nintendo Wii console was launched, it brought something new to the market – motion-based controllers. While the games and technology did not immediately appeal to hard-core gamers, it opened up gaming to a whole new audience. For the first time, families could come together to play, with family including grandma and grandpa.
The motion-based controllers eliminated the complicated button combinations that have come to characterise modern gaming, instead replacing it with natural motions. Nintendo had definitely hit on a winning formula.
Now, the two other main players in the gaming market, Sony, maker of the Playstation, and Microsoft, maker of the Xbox, have come up with their own motion-based controllers. So what do these new offerings bring to the party, and can they unseat Wii while also appealing to hard-core gamers?
Sony’s effort is called the Move (no prizes for originality there) and is based on a similar wand-like controller to the Wii, combined with a camera to capture the motion. With the better graphics and higher processing power of the PS3, the move certainly holds promise when it comes to appealing to hard-core gamers. However, whether this promise pays off has a lot to do with the availability of compatible titles, and due to the recent launch of Move, the offerings are still rather limited. Although adding a Move bundle to an existing PS3 is relatively affordable, anyone not already a PS3 owner will have to shell out quite a bundle – approximately double the price of a Wii – which makes it tough to compete with the undisputed leader in motion-based gaming.
The features that give the PS3 an edge are only important to hard-core gamers, and the price difference means that it is therefore unlikely to take on the Wii on its own terrain.
Microsoft’s Xbox360 add-on is called the Kinect, and forgoes the hand-held controller for a camera-based motion capture system. One clear advantage is that the system can deal with multiple players without the need for multiple controllers. However, for relatively motion-intensive games, the system can only track two players at a time. And then there is the list of requirements for the system to work – you need good lighting in the room to allow the system to work properly, but no direct sunlight please, as this can blind the system and render it useless. So although it brings some great new technology to gaming, it might still require a bit of refining before it can live up to its full potential. Of course, Kinect suffers from the same malady as Move, with a dearth of games that support the system.
Both systems certainly make a useful add-on for current owners, but it is unlikely that either will convert players to a new console system. Due to pricing and game availability, it will take a while before either system makes inroads into the Wii’s market share, at least as far as more recreational gamers are concerned.
Given some fine tuning, both Move and Kinect could lead to some interesting developments for gaming, but Nintendo can sleep soundly, knowing that, for now, their system is quite safe in the motion-based gaming stakes.