Opinion: The failure of motion control gaming

It has been about 5 and a half years since Nintendo released their revolutionary console, the Nintendo Wii. As we all know, the Nintendo Wii was the first video game console that featured motion control as its main feature. Since the Wii, Microsoft  and Sony have tried to come out with their own motion control technologies that have been underwhelming to say the least.

As most of us have seen from the Wii, motion control gaming can be really fun when done right. At first there were issues with the receptiveness of the Nintendo Wii's motion detector, but that was mostly fixed with a great piece of hardware called the Wii Motion Plus. After the Wii Motion Plus was released, there weren't too many issues with receptiveness. It gave gamers greater control over the Wiimote so there aren't many issues with characters sporadically flailing around or characters not responding to certain Wiimote commands.

Though the Wii is a great amount of fun, there just isn't a strong library of games on it. Due to the low processing power of the console, developers have shied away from developing games on the console because they want to develop something that will look better and run smoother on a more powerful platform. There is also the problem that the Wii isn't really geared towards the greater demographic of video game players. Most owners of Nintendo Wiis are younger children, or adults that can be considered "over the hill." That also makes developers not want to make games on Wii because there is a strong chance that their games won't be bought because most hardcore gamers don't own a Wii or choose it as their favorite platform.

Kinect Adventure: fun for all of 2 hours

This opened the doors for Sony and Microsoft to create their own form of motion gaming and make a success out of it. It has been about a year and a half since Microsoft released the Kinect and Sony released the move, and there really hasn't been anything that has impressed me. The games developed specifically for the hardware feel gimmicky and underdeveloped, and when other games feature motion control or voice control capabilities, they are never cool enough for me to shell out $150 for a Kinect or $80 for a PS move bundle.

I first played the Kinect at a friends house right around the time it launched. At first I did have a lot of fun playing around with the voice control in the menu, barking commands at his Xbox 360 and having it comply to my demands. Then I started playing a Kinect launch title simply titled Kinect Adventures. I will admit that I did have fun for the first couple of hours that I played, but it came to a point when I realized that I was essentially doing the same thing over and over again. I was sure that this tedium wouldn't be consistent in other titles, but I was wrong. It came to the point where I was playing games that were either crapper ripoffs of Wii Sports, dance games, or games marketed towards children. The few games that I was remotely interested in were Kinect Star Wars and Rise of Nightmares, which to my disappointment were both terrible. Sure the Kinect is used in certain titles like Mass Effect 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but even though the features are cool, they are hardly captivating enough for me to spend $100-$150 on a Kinect.

Kinect Star Wars... the games plays as terribly as it looks

I have spent less time with the PS move, but from what I've experienced, it is inferior to the Kinect and that is saying something. With the a smaller library of games supported by the Move and the same unimpressive types of games, the Move has struggled more than the Kinect. I must admit that I do like that they incorporated the move into games like MLB 2k12 and NBA 2k12, but they're going to have to do more than just sports games in order to appeal to a more hardcore gaming crowd.

I know I'm being harsh seeing that these pieces of hardware have only been around for such a little time, but it's time for developers to step up and make great titles that use these devices to their full potential. The PS move and the Kinect have the potential to be so much better than the Wii. The motion control is just as good, if not better, and the consoles they run on are a lot more powerful. Sure the Nintendo has amazing exclusive titles like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, but those have been the only titles worth playing on the console. If developers can step up and make some truly great games that take full advantage of the Kinect and PS move's capabilities, then motion control gaming won't be seen as such a failure and may become something more exciting.