Do i think motion sensing is a gimmick? No.
Do I think the Wii is a gimmick? Yes.
I've stated this before, got alot of angry sheep posts, but the only thing the Wii mote does is replace several other game specific controllers. I've done everything in Wii sports and Zelda in other games before. I might have had to buy the game with a light gun, or a steering wheel or a mini fishing rod controller, but all of those provided similar if not superior experiences. The Wii mote is absolutely unecessary for Zelda, it doesn't matter which way you swing it, Link slashed the same way. Overhand strikes and stabs are a result of holding a trigger or pushing the analog stick on the nunchuck. Aiming is clumsier than with an analog stick, and fishing really isn't that engaging.
Those As Seen On TV stores have been selling "Realistic" baseball, golf, fishing, etc games with motion sensing controls for years. At like 29.99 a pop, cheaper than a Wii game. The graphics are deplorable, and even though Sheep say that doesnt matter, those didn't exactly fly off the shelves. Nintendo just took those ideas and combined them into one console. There is no hardware inside the Wii that is specifically needed for motion sensing. It's all handled in the remote and transfered to the system wirelessly and interpreted the same as and analog stick would.
Because of this, MS and Sony could release a Wii mote tomorrow if they wanted. they just throw a gyro and a small chip in the exsisting controllers. The only catch is, for MS and Sony, only some of the developers would incorperate it into games, because only some people would buy it.
The demos of people using it to play Half Life 2 on the PC shows it's only the controller, the console isn't necessary. It could have been an accessory for the gamecube, but with Sony and MS launching brand new consoles, that wouldn't have worked. Then the wii mote would have died with the gamecube.
If the Wii becomes the dominant console this gen, or motion sensing gets incorperated into every game next gen, then the wii mote is not a gimmick. I just don't see that happening tho. They had motion sensing and tilt sensing controllers for years on the PC, no body bought them, most people didn't even know about them. The Wii is successful because of brilliant marketing on Nintendo's part, not because of some revolutionary design or technology or even the games.
I have one, because I am a gamer, and I like Mario and Zelda and all the Nintendo franchises, but it is the "toy" that sits next to my serious game consoles.
^^ to the poster above me, the sixaxis sucks and is even more of a gimmick than the Wiimote.
michaelareb0001
The thing about Wii is that it makes the motion sensing controller STANDARD, this is something Microsoft and Sony (sixaxis is a sad excuse for motion sensing control) cannot do. This is also why the controllers didn't take off with the PC, there is no reason to buy a motion sensing controller when a joystick would do just fine. The fact that Nintendo made this their defacto contoller (and the fact that the graphic capabilities of the system are no longer the selling point) forces developers to use the abilities present instead of putting a half-assed control feature for a niche market within a niche market of PC flight simulators.
Also the design of the controller allows for much more precise control than others like it before. I'm not talking about the strength of the accelerometers, I'm talking about the fact that it frees both hands to move in seperate directions to control multiple aspects of a game (in addition to the fact that they have the two previous generational standards of control built in with the analog stick and direction pad).Â
And remember, it's still early. Developers are new to this technology, so around the time the big names start to master the capabilities of the cell or 360's 3 chip system we will start to see the real innovations in the controller department. I personally love Zelda with the new controls after fighting with it for through the first dungeon, and while it may have been a GC title with a new control setup added on it proved two very important things right out of the gate. 1) Traditional games (specifically adventure) are possible on the Wii and 2) you can play a game on the Wii in a traditional manner and still have it work (i.e. not standing up and flailing your arms about). And I don't know a single person who can experience the quick, precise aiming the pointer allows and honestly say they prefer the clunky analog stick aiming of old.
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