Monday, June 13, 2011

Traditional controllers vs the future

I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who hates hates HATES the direction video games are taking. All innovation and originality efforts are being poured into how the player interacts with the games, and not the games themselves. This, consequently, means companies will gladly make stupid, pointless, awful unsophisticated games, as long as they lend themselves to the current gimmick.

First it was motion controls... and now it's MORE motion controls.. and a bunch fo screens everywhere? Guys, it's like the rumble feature. It accomplishes nothing. Annoying buzzing in my hands does not immerse me in the game - it distracts me. Similarly, flailing around in my living room is not a superior, more interactive method of play than using a controller. Nor is whipping my head around the room to make sure I can an eye on every screen in use. It is, in fact, more difficult, less precise, and encourages developers to develop for that single feature instead of, oh for example: story, characters, challenge, humour, atmosphere, gameplay, or anything else.

I used to be a die hard Nintendo fan. I started to fall off the wagon when Gamecube failed to generate as many good titles as I'd hoped, and I jumped ship entirely with the Wii. I mean honestly now. And now, the other platforms are following suit with the motion control thing. When I talk to people about this, a lot seem to agree with me. But that doesn't explain how Nintendo and their silly gimmicks are KILLING in the market.

At this rate, in a few years, the only platform that will cater to my desire to game without gimmick is PC.

2 comments:

  1. I like my old controllers better!

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  2. True dat. I'm sick of the new controls. I mean, it can be fun, but it is in no way the best method of interacting with a game. We already have the best method. It's called a controller. Anything other than that isn't an alternative, it's a distraction. Also, on Cracked.com, David Wong recently wrote an article about Video Games that you should read. I think you would like it.

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