What Does A Future W/Out Controllers Seem Like To You?

I believe that a future without controllers will seem very disappointing to many gamers. Personally, the idea of using your body as a controller does not appeal to me at all. If anything, it is nothing but another gimmicky concept like the Nintendo Wii's wii remote (not that there is anything wrong with that). It may seem like it will help bring in more people into the video game industry, but it will not do that at all unless the types of games out there are more varied.

The only reason why we have non-gamers suddenly start coming into this industry is because they can find many other types of games besides just ones that appeal more to a hardcore gaming audience. If anything, they usually want something a lot more simple, like a Bejewled or Tetris game. In most people's minds, games are fun if they feel like traditional games (i.e. card games, board games, etc.). Maybe the biggest reason why people do not like the many games out there is because they are either too difficult, or because they would rather spend their time doing something else aside from shooting things, scoring points, solving puzzles, etc. It could be that someone likes the idea of a game like The Path or flower more than Gears of War 2 or even Tetris.

A way of controlling a game is just a tiny portion of what adds up to making a game feel appealing. It is usually the general idea of what the game is about that determines whether someone will like it or not. But going back to a future without controllers on gaming consoles, it seems like many long-time gamers will feel sick of it and will move towards PC gaming, if there is no other way to escape this. And that is just fine. Maybe PC gaming will be reborn and will take the crown again as being the best of what gaming has to offer. Who knows? For me, the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft's Project Natal, and Sony's upcoming new controller interface do not appeal to me at all. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels this way, and I definitely hope that controllers will not be completely abandoned after this console generation ends.

It seems extremely unlikely, so much so that it won't happen.

dumb....i don't even wanna imagine it

I agree with both of you. It is unlikely that controllers will be erased completely. Sure, we may see motion-sensing technology like this grow more and more popular, but we will still see controllers exist. And even if console controllers eventually are phased out, there is always one platform that we can depend on for classic controller gameplay, which would be the PC. If anything, I would really be interested in seeing more games with very few buttons to press, but which contain very unique controller schemes and user interfaces. Something that requires only a mouse or a few keys on the keyboard would be interesting. I don't really like the idea of having to make use of the whole keyboard--something that simulators or games like Deus Ex have attempted.

It may be fun mastering such complex controls, but just because a game is complex, it does not necessarily make it better than all of the other games out there. And game controllers can still be around, being done with a very simple control scheme. Maybe others will disagree with me, but this is just an opinion of mine, like anyone else's.

Unless I can control the game by thought it would be stupid, we play games to relax, not wave our legs and arms around.

I'd hate to see that happen I'd definitely stop "gaming".

The only way such a future would be appealing, at least to me, would be to introduce the concept of something like a virtual simulator, where you can re-enact a scene from any time period and assume the role of a character. I think it would be an awesome concept to sell for those who aspire to be actors/actresses.

However, by the time that sort of technology is possible, I would probably be dead by then.

The only reason why we have non-gamers suddenly start coming into this industry is because they can find many other types of games besides just ones that appeal more to a hardcore gaming audience. If anything, they usually want something a lot more simple, like a Bejewled or Tetris game. In most people's minds, games are fun if they feel like traditional games (i.e. card games, board games, etc.). Maybe the biggest reason why people do not like the many games out there is because they are either too difficult, or because they would rather spend their time doing something else aside from shooting things, scoring points, solving puzzles, etc. It could be that someone likes the idea of a game like The Path or flower more than Gears of War 2 or even Tetris.Mawy_Golomb

I thought we were done with the terms "non-gamers," "hardcore gaming," etc.

I can't live without my controller.

a future without controllers will be a future where the hardcore gamers are more exercised than army soldiers. That doesn't seem right...

I thought we were done with the terms "non-gamers," "hardcore gaming," etc.

Gammit10

Hardly. They have simply been replaced by names like core or ~title~ demographic.

A future without controllers is unlikely to happen, since touch remains one of our key senses and a key foundation of the industry. We are no more going to see no more controllers than we will see television sets without a remote control. Even the Wii hailed as motion control still relies on a physical object (controller) in your hand to perform moves. Furthermore the idea of motion controls is to provide simplicity by giving the player simple inpute commands that reflect what they would expect to perform in real life.

The controller is not a barrier, design is. A complex game will eventually have very high barrier to entry, regardless of whether it is performed by a controller or motion detection. The games that have captivated the imagination of the wider audience are games they are already familiar with (sports like tennis, bowling, etc). What we are likely to see is a broader spectrum of ways to play games. The controller isn't going anywhere it is just evolving. The reason the controller will not dissapear is not because "I don't want to jump around while I play" but because the complexity of transporting a full games controls to full body motion is neither efficient or approachable and prove as difficult to learn as picking up a controller would.

Transportation may have evolved but we still use wheels (to give an example).

At some point games (and perhaps society as a whole) will go the route of "plugging in" to the system... probably in a set-up similar to The Matrix. The possibilities of such a thing could be endless. Imagine playing Mario... but you are Mario. Running and jumping on platforms, banging boxes, etc... except it doesn't hurt and you don't get tired. You can look around and see multiple angles... mmm. Platforming might just exciting again.

A future without controllers is a future when I can't play platformers, shooters, RPGs, Strategy games, puzzle games, or fighting games.NBSRDan

This. We need controlers other wise games will just become cheap, quick, gimmicky laughs.