Wii Motion Plus, XBOX Natal, or PS3 motion controllers?

I think Natal has the best accessory function--logging you on instantly, being able to scan in objects, voice command. If the Milo demo turns out not to be bullshit, it could really lead to some really interesting interactivity with certain game elements.

I think the PS3 motion controller is the best thing for games; absurdly precise, but also tangible; you hold it. Natal's controller-lacking setup can't let you guide an avatar across a screen, unless you plan on walking away or through your TV, so it seems that Sony is really giving the best of both worlds here. How much of Natal is in the camera and how much of it in the software is hard to say, so who knows if some software upgrade to the EyeToy could add some of that voice functionality?

To me, none of them have proven themselves yet. All have been tested in controlled environments by spokespersons or arranged individuals, or shown mostly in video footage. What's more, all of them looked jittery and imperfect while being demonstrated. That could be attributed to a few bugs getting worked out, the E3 stage situation, or just a faulty product in general.

Most of all, they're all showing us what they do through tech demos. None of them mean squat without being used in games carefully planned for their use. Just watch as we get a flood of tech-demo-like minigames on all systems, by the way.

But in general, I think they'll each eventually work to good effect. I don't think each respective company would be bringing them this far and presenting them if they weren't convinced of the end potential. the question is, will developers make good games for them?


Project Natal - Impressive. It looks like it'll be a better workout tool than Wii Fit. It can't weigh you, but the exercises will be so much more real and meaningful.

I can't help but remember people's big complaint toward the Wii being, "You'll tire yourself out swinging around like that." This has SO MUCH more potential to wear you out. But I don't think that's a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind while designing games.

I worry about its lack of buttons. This might make it only about as useful as the EyeToy was last generation.


Wii Motion Plus - Nintendo has the disadvantage of a console whose defining gimmick has been duplicated more-or-less by the other consoles, but their graphics and processing are much better. However, Nintendo has the advantage of a higher install base and the lowest investment to get it going. Wii Motion Plus is $20 per player, but you might take care of your needs just buying games it comes packaged with. We don't know what the other options cost, but I'm assuming more than $20. Project Natal is a complex bar and the PS3 thing is two controllers plus the PS3 Eye.

I think Wii Motion Plus is going to work just fine as a device, but I think Nintendo's going to have to rely on their high-performing first-party software and successful marketing, because games on the other consoles are going to look WAY cooler. Nintendo needs to get their butts in gear.


PS3 Motion Controller
What can I say? It's pretty much Wii Motion Plus via other means. It looks like it'll have the advantage of knowing where the player is in relation to the TV, though I'm assuming there's a limit to the amount of wands it's going to allow. Is four-player stuff possible?

I also wonder if you lose positioning when the colored balls can't be seen. This controller has a lot to be explained, and it may be like the Wiimote deal, where it's not quite as neat as it looked when revealed. Give us more concrete info, Sony.


I won't pick a winner. The only one I'm sure I'll buy will be Wii Motion Plus because it's pretty cheap and I'm sure it'll get utilized (several games are already announced for it). But I'm open to the other two if the price is right and I see the games coming for them.

I wouldn't worry about losing position when the colored balls are lost because the accelerometers can still transmit movement data. The problem is their precision, so if contact between the eye and the ball is lost for too long, motion control could get really sloppy, but I don't see that as being likely unless you plan to play your game in a different room entirely. That is, if you can see your TV, your TV (your EyeToy) can see you.

A big advantage that the PS3 controller has over the Wiimote is that it does already have some functionality that we've seen from the Natal because it is cam-based, check this out:
http://kotaku.com/361634/playstation-eye-headtracking-requires-nothing-but-a-face

I have to admit I thought it was pretty cool that the PS3 Motion Controller thingy is precise enough to write with. Doesn't mean I think it'll really help much with games or anything, but that was pretty impressive.

Natal looks fake. All I have to say.

And I haven't really seen Wii Motion Plus in action, so I can't really tell what it's like. Is it as insanely precise as the PS3 thingy was? It would fix a good deal of my "I hate the Wii" if the Wiimote could actually tell what I was doing with the controller, instead of just knowing that I was moving it in some way.

Watching the press conferences, I actually thought, "What's Lord Shplane gonna think now that every console is adopting what he hates so much?" Thanks for reappearing to answer my question.

And to answer yours, Wii Motion Plus and the PS3 motion controller result in almost exactly the same thing, with a few exceptions. The PS3 motion controller gets the added bonus of a camera, which can incorporate video footage for some augmented gaming fun. The Wiimote seems like it may have better pointer functionality since it still has that infrared sensor built in. The PS3 thing seems to be able to approximate your aim, but would rely on the accuracy of the positioning device.

And there are still unanswered questions about the PS3 deal. Like, I haven't heard that there's a control stick on the wand. Lacking one would be a hindrance, for sure. And how many wands can be active? Also, the price. I can't imagine the whole PS3 setup costing less than $20.

Hawk
Watching the press conferences, I actually thought, "What's Lord Shplane gonna think now that every console is adopting what he hates so much?" Thanks for reappearing to answer my question.

And to answer yours, Wii Motion Plus and the PS3 motion controller result in almost exactly the same thing, with a few exceptions. The PS3 motion controller gets the added bonus of a camera, which can incorporate video footage for some augmented gaming fun. The Wiimote seems like it may have better pointer functionality since it still has that infrared sensor built in. The PS3 thing seems to be able to approximate your aim, but would rely on the accuracy of the positioning device.

And there are still unanswered questions about the PS3 deal. Like, I haven't heard that there's a control stick on the wand. Lacking one would be a hindrance, for sure. And how many wands can be active? Also, the price. I can't imagine the whole PS3 setup costing less than $20.

Aww, nice to know that you think about me.

I'd like to mention that my hatred of motion control has changed slightly. I actually think it can be useful in some games now. I'm just pissed that the Wii forces it onto everything.

And do you have a video or something of the Motion Plus? 'Cause I really can't believe that it's as accurate as the PS3 thingy until I've seen it in action.

I'm also going to tentatively assume that they'd be bright enough to add in a stick. Tentatively.

Lord Shplane
I'd like to mention that my hatred of motion control has changed slightly. I actually think it can be useful in some games now.

The cynical side of me thinks that might have changed the moment a non-Wii console adopted motion controls. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because a lot of developers have made poor use of motion controls so far.

Lord Shplane
And do you have a video or something of the Motion Plus? 'Cause I really can't believe that it's as accurate as the PS3 thingy until I've seen it in action.

Well, here's Wii Motion Plus being demonstrated for the first time a year ago at E3. Try to ignore the dorky lady.



And keep in mind that I'm not sold on any of the three yet, as much as you might think I'm always pro-Nintendo (I'm not, by the way). To me, they're not proven until we see them in an actual games and get some reviews. You can make anything look good on stage or in promotional videos.

Hawk

Lord Shplane
I'd like to mention that my hatred of motion control has changed slightly. I actually think it can be useful in some games now.

The cynical side of me thinks that might have changed the moment a non-Wii console adopted motion controls. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because a lot of developers have made poor use of motion controls so far.

Nah, I decided that from playing Metroid Prime 3. There were some really stupid minigame door opening jiggies that they didn't need, but otherwise it wasn't bad at all with its motion control. I just wish they'd leave it out of Mario and Zelda and such that don't benefit from it, and would work better with a normal controller.

BTW I thought Lair was screwed over by motion controls (A lot better when you download the thingy that lets you use the joystick instead). And the "JERK THE CONTROLLER TO STOP BEING ON FIRE" thing that they did in Resistance was pointless (SO glad they took it out of R2). Only good thing I've seen done with the Sixaxis really is the lightning storm thing in inFamous, and that was a really tiny part of the gameplay.

Hawk

Lord Shplane
And do you have a video or something of the Motion Plus? 'Cause I really can't believe that it's as accurate as the PS3 thingy until I've seen it in action.

Well, here's Wii Motion Plus being demonstrated for the first time a year ago at E3. Try to ignore the dorky lady.

*Video*

Not trying to be a fanboy or anything, but they didn't show it doing anything that displayed the kind of accuracy that writing with the Playstation one did. It's definitely a VAST improvement over the vanilla Wiimote, but I didn't see anything to amaze me after the PS3 one. It's a good thing, no doubt about that, but I'm not really impressed. XD

Hawk
And keep in mind that I'm not sold on any of the three yet, as much as you might think I'm always pro-Nintendo (I'm not, by the way). To me, they're not proven until we see them in an actual games and get some reviews. You can make anything look good on stage or in promotional videos.

I'm pretty skeptical too, just the PS3 motion controller surprised me with its accuracy. I'm pretty doubtful that any of this will be properly implemented in a game. I've gotten pretty damn pessimistic about the gaming industry. ):

The PS3 one definitely has control sticks.

I still don't see why we can't just go back to a D-Pad and four 'letter' buttons :\

I've been reading peoples' impressions of some of the new games using these devices. It turns out success varies from game to game.

At Destructoid I read an article about Wii Motion Plus games. They say Red Steel 2 felt a bit delayed and didn't seem to use the motion detection as well as they hoped. Grand Slam Tennis did a better job and felt good, but the racket's motion still felt confined to a range of motion designated by the in-game character's animation. Wii Sports Resort got the 1:1 motion spot-on (they tested the fencing game).

On the Natal side, one reporter tried playing Gran Turismo with it and said it turned out rather well, despite there being no controller in his hand and the game not being initially designed for the device. On the other hand, somebody at Kotaku tried out the dodgeball game seen in the video, and he said it was awkward and unintuitive.

I haven't read any impressions of the PS3 one (I don't think they have anything using it on the floor), but I'd assume that with all three of them, the quality and implementation of the motion controls will vary according to how well the game is created.

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Having no buttons or controller for the Natal was simply an idiotic move and SEVERELY limits the type of games you can do. How can your character walk forward or rotate in 3d space, for example? You'd have to replace some kind of gesture or voice command for buttons, which is overcomplicated, slow, and annoying.

Much more impressed with the PS3 demo. This is like what I thought the wii was gonna be like before it came out. One to one, no lag, no matter how fast the guy is moving the sticks. The physics of the objects are neat too. The swinging mace and whip seemed to work really well and looked fun to play around with. The precision is impressive, and it actually has buttons so that broadens the type of games you could play it with. Having two controllers was a nice touch that seems kind of obvious in retrospect.

Hard to gauge the Wii plus from any of the demos I've seen. Looks one to one, but the people are always moving extremely slow so it's hard to tell. I suspect they do that cause if they speed waggle the lag would be apparent. For $20 though it's hard to complain, and the Wii needs it, cause it's motion controls are ass right now.