The Future of the Controller

In a few months gamers are going to have two more ways to play video games, in the case of Microsoft, it’s going to be without a controller at all, and by using your whole body, and with Sony in a way that is much like the experience that comes with the Wii.

In Sony’s case I think they saw what the Nintendo did with their system, and then looked at what gamers were hoping for, then did a combination of what Nintendo did, with what gamers were wanting. They also have the advantage of 3D gaming, so motion controls and 3D might allow them to sell more consoles, but I don’t know anyone with a 3D television, so while in theory it does sound good, it also sounds like something that won’t be happening very soon.

Onto Microsoft, they have said time and again that Kinect is more about using an intuitive way to interact with what’s on screen. While core games haven’t been shown yet, they have promised that they will come, the question is when. Kinect isn’t just about gaming though, Microsoft wants it on computers to offer a whole new experience there as well.

Now I have played PS3, and I own an XBox 360 and Wii, when it comes to PS3, they didn’t have anything I really wanted. I would love to buy one and have Move, but unless I see some exclusive games that I really want to play, I won’t be buying the system, plus their online system isn’t that appealing. As far as Kinect goes, it does look promising, but the lack of any kind of input device seems limiting, you can’t move around freely in a game like Halo and there’s no trigger or button to press to shoot your gun. Microsoft does have the online support though, and with their video chat feature, I think that could bring in some awesome features, if it’s done well.

I think a lot of gamers feel the same way I do about these companies and what they’re trying to do. Unfortunately, until we see some exclusives for these new devices, I don’t think they will see much movement, at least not enough to consider it a game changing movement.