One: gamers are getting bored. Making a game has become a very expensive proposition, and so industries are afraid to pour money into a gamble and moves beyond what they know will already sell. This creates a market where video games will all sell in mediocre numbers, but limits the gaming arena to what's already there. This approach is rather shortsighted and will doom these companies to failure in the long run. Why spend a bunch of money on new games and systems when I can play my older, essential identical, games for much much cheaper? So the video game market is facing a potential decline in the number of gamers continuing to buy new games.
It gets worse.
Problem Two: Not a gamer, never a gamer. The standard controller now has ten buttons, two control sticks, and the classic d-pad. For someone who hasn't grown up learning these controllers, it's a pretty steep learning curve, and most would rather not put in the effort to try. Games that are too difficult to be able to control just aren't fun, and most people that haven't been playing video games since a fairly young age just don't bother to learn.
So, in the name of innovation and simplicity, Nintendo started from scratch and gave us the controller for their Wii, shown below.
Pretty simple, it sports a few basic buttons, plus the console will read and react depending on how you movie the controller. It has a simple remote-style laser. The game will, at any monent in time, know where you're pointing, how you're moving, and how far away you are. Pretty awesoeme. For shooting games, aim and fire. Swinging your sword is as easy as swinging the controller. Simple and easy for someone new to games to pick up on, but great interactivity gamers could be looking for. Even better, it has some simple attachment ports, allowing developers to add their own controller extensions. In this, this sky's the limit. While it could be rather difficult if every game had its own attachment, for some games this could be extremely cool.
From Time:
In one hot minute, I use the controller to swat a fly, do squat-thrusts as a weight lifter, turn a key in a lock, catch a fish, drive a car, sauté some vegetables, balance a broom on my outstretched hand, color in a circle and fence with a foil. And yes, dance the hula
It's a remarkable experience. Instead of passively playing the games, with the new controller you physically perform them. You act them out. It's almost like theater: the fourth wall between game and player dissolves. The sense of immersion--the illusion that you, personally, are projected into the game world--is powerful. And there's an instant party atmosphere in the room.
Yes, this does wonders to dispel the room hermit gamer so common to colleges these days. These games look like fun for everyone, and everyone will want to get in on it. It's not just someone staring with glazed eyes at a screen (rather socially uninviting).
The reviewer playing Zelda and tennis as well. With tennis, it's as simple as the controller becoming the racket, sensing forehand and backhand swings, as well as what angle you're hitting at. From the football perspective, different gestures will represent what the player will do. Throwing, hiking, juking, all are a quick motion away, with speed and distance of your motion all playing factors into, for instance, how fast and far your ball will fly.
So Nintendo is taking a gamble by ignoring the extremely loud but narrow minded gamer fan base. "If you are simply listening to requests from the customer, you can satisfy their needs, but you can never surprise them." An interesting, innovative, and surprisingly excitable concept. I can't wait to get my hands on one.
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