The Next Generation of Gaming

Since its release in November 2006, the Nintendo Wii has revolutionised the video games market. It has now sold millions more copies than its competitors, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and can lay claim to 3 of the top 5 places in the list of best-selling video games of all time. Many have attributed this success to the Wii’s ability to appeal to a far greater audience, who are attracted by the Wii’s interactivity and innovative motion-sensor-based gameplay.

Using a combination of infrared tracking and accelerometers built into the controllers, the Nintendo Wii introduced a new form of gaming, one where physical actions are used to control the game rather than pressing buttons on a control pad. The sustained success of the console has led to both of Nintendo’s main rivals, Sony and Microsoft, seeing enough potential in the technology to develop their own versions.

Microsoft announced Project Natal in June 2009, and are aiming to release it at the end of 2010. Project Natal will attach to the Xbox 360, and can be seen as taking a large step beyond the Wii, as motion sensors actually detect the player themselves, rather than simply following a handheld device. An infrared camera picks up the player and maps them onto a 48-point skeleton, which is used to track movements and create an avatar of the player onscreen. The level of recognition is impressive; within a certain distance the device can identify individual fingers on the player’s hand, and can recognise up to 4 different players at one time, even when overlapping.

Sony announced their competitor, Playstation Move, in July 2009, aimed at being released in late 2010. Like the Wii, a controller must be used with Playstation Move - making Project Natal the only controller-free games console. The Playstation Move works slightly differently to the Wii however; a coloured sphere sits atop the controller, and this is what the motion sensor detects, tracking its movements and judging its distance by its size, thus allowing 3D tracking.

With all 3 big hitters in the games console market releasing their own versions of this technology, the question can be asked whether this technology represents the future of gaming, or is simply a passing trend which will fade out as soon as the next comes along.

It is important to note the types of games that have been the biggest sellers for the Wii: Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, and various Mario games. These are very different games to the biggest sellers on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Gears of War, and Metal Gear Solid 4. These games could all be considered more ‘adult’ in theme and style than the best-sellers on the Wii, and it has been suggested that for action and adventure games such as these, the handheld, sit-down controller is still far more effective than any type of motion-detection technology.

While the majority of games announced for release with Microsoft and Sony’s new technologies stick to the same sports and light-hearted themes popular on the Wii, Sony have also announced the release of both a Move-compatible Lord of the Rings game, and a SOCOM game, similar to the best-selling Call of Duty games on the Playstation and Xbox. Project Natal will also be supported in an upcoming action-adventure game on the Xbox 360 called Fable 3. The popularity of these games may well determine the part motion-detection software will play in the future of console gaming.

Click these links to see trailers for Sony's Playstation Move and Microsoft's Project Natal.

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Categories: Technology (Articles)

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