Concerns regarding accuracy issues with motion control continue as an EA producer told CVG they're "messy".
Jay Balmer, associate producer for EA's new skateboarding sim entitled Skate, told CVG: "If you're well-behaved with the controller, the motion control will be super cool. It won't just be steering [in Skate]; we're going to put a lot more into the motion controls than just steering," speaking of the inclusion of motion control in the PS3 version of Skate.
"But it's very messy," he goes on to say, referring to motion control as an interface. "All of the sensors are active and all reporting information at the time, so we really have to find a way to filter what comes through on the motion controls so that everyone can have fun with them.
"Like I said if you're well behaved with the controls they work great but if you're jerky or jumping around the signal becomes very messy," as Wii owners will probably have frustratingly found when toying with their new console. We know we have.
"It's the reality for the Wii, as it is for the PS3," says Balmer.
Does that mean motion control is a rubbish idea? Balmer doesn't think so: "I think they still pay off. I think it's a great feeling to be using motion controls. It's just difficult because you don't always get what you expect."
Getting motion controllers to function properly is a challenge for developers, and as we delve deeper into the Wii/PS3 generation, we're bound to see some developers get it right while others get it disastrously wrong.
Look out for the full interview with Jay Balmer on CVG tomorrow, in which he spills the beans about EAs brilliant new physics-driven skateboard sim.
This is one reason why the gaming industry is so great, because anything but perfect is poor, the wii's motion control works perfectly when used sensibly and pretty well when used... UN-sensibly the only criticism is that it is messy, well,It works dun't it?
This isn't a bad thing. If we didn't mind tht the PS3's original controller looked like a chrome plastic banana it wouldn't have been changed, and if we didn't mind that the ps2's online capabilities were awful the PS3's wouldn't have been much better.
Perfect is good enough, anything below and you become like SEGA and go from console making super company, to game making under achieving sonic maker!
Its all down to how the programmers implement it. Playing Wii Sports Tennis is perfect. The control, timing, feedback, everything.
So evidently motion sensing does work when used correctly.
I totally agree... once you get your head round how to control the direction the controls in Tennis are excellent, but Boxing is terrible. The point being that if properly implemented by developers the controls can work extremely well, but when they get it wrong...
Its all down to how the programmers implement it. Playing Wii Sports Tennis is perfect. The control, timing, feedback, everything.
So evidently motion sensing does work when used correctly.
I totally agree... once you get your head round how to control the direction the controls in Tennis are excellent, but Boxing is terrible. The point being that if properly implemented by developers the controls can work extremely well, but when they get it wrong...
Im not disagreeing with you, but I think that the complexities of making the motion control work for a game, such as skate, are far higher than a tennis game.
Im not knocking the game either, its just that in, for example a skating game every movemnet of the controller could send you skater crashing.
Its all down to how the programmers implement it. Playing Wii Sports Tennis is perfect. The control, timing, feedback, everything.
So evidently motion sensing does work when used correctly.
i like your posts and totally concour... surley you can implement an OPTION ingame to remedy the fact of 'twitchy' players i.e 'motion control sensitivity' sound like a usual EA 'lazy' programmer to me (it doesnt have to be implemented by the way)
p.s
http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/769/769422p1.html
jesus...how hard would it be to make the skater go left/right/increase/decrease speed via motion sensing AND then leave the tricks up to the anolog???
"Like I said if you're well behaved with the controls they work great but if you're jerky or jumping around the signal becomes very messy,"
Oh so that’s why golf on Wii sports doesn’t work, it isn’t the game it's because I play while on a trampoline. Just out of curiosity how many people do jump up and down when playing games? Apart from me of course.
Are poor EA finding it hard to actually develope a game for once instead of re-releasing the same ol' s**te? Aww.
Tennis isn't accurate - it just detects motion, so you can literally swing forehand when the onscreen character swings backhand - not very accurate in my book. Same with Golf - you can even swing the remote horizontally and still get perfect strokes - huh?
Boxing is hopeless and really does nothing to showcase the control's intuitiveness; in fact, it highlights the control's limitations. There were rumors of EA coming out with Fight Night for the Wii, but I don't have very high expectations for it. In fact, if the controls are anything like Wii Sports Boxing, I wouldn't be surprised if Fight Night was cancelled outright.
I was hopeful for Tiger Woods on the Wii, but after reading several mixed comments from hands-on previews, it seems that this version will also be an "acquired taste". I'm sorry; I love innovative gameplay, but you still need tight controls. It really sucks to be flailing your arms like a fool only for the controls to react differently or not at all. At least buttons, while doing nothing for immersiveness, works every time; it's reliable.
Boy oh boy do I want to see the Wii succeed, but let's see where the console and its games are one year down the line. I don't have very high hopes in terms of its lasting power, but if there's one positive thing about the Wii, it's that it's the first console where my wife has *requested* to play!
I really, really, REALLY hope I am proven wrong, though!
jesus...how hard would it be to make the skater go left/right/increase/decrease speed via motion sensing AND then leave the tricks up to the anolog???
Weel you know it means that EA have to copy and paste an older game, put a new title on it, tweak the graphics a bit AND add four new directions to the controls, four new directions, they haven't made that many alterations to a game since Fifa became 3D.
Tennis isn't accurate - it just detects motion, so you can literally swing forehand when the onscreen character swings backhand - not very accurate in my book. Same with Golf - you can even swing the remote horizontally and still get perfect strokes - huh?
Boxing is hopeless and really does nothing to showcase the control's intuitiveness; in fact, it highlights the control's limitations. There were rumors of EA coming out with Fight Night for the Wii, but I don't have very high expectations for it. In fact, if the controls are anything like Wii Sports Boxing, I wouldn't be surprised if Fight Night was cancelled outright.
I was hopeful for Tiger Woods on the Wii, but after reading several mixed comments from hands-on previews, it seems that this version will also be an "acquired taste". I'm sorry; I love innovative gameplay, but you still need tight controls. It really sucks to be flailing your arms like a fool only for the controls to react differently or not at all. At least buttons, while doing nothing for immersiveness, works every time; it's reliable.
Boy oh boy do I want to see the Wii succeed, but let's see where the console and its games are one year down the line. I don't have very high hopes in terms of its lasting power, but if there's one positive thing about the Wii, it's that it's the first console where my wife has *requested* to play!
I really, really, REALLY hope I am proven wrong, though!
i so whole heartedly agree no im serious..my brother bought one for him and his missus...EVERY game available...hmmmm its collecting dust...the controls on most of the Wii sports games i could get perfect hits by a flick of the wrist??!! hardly perfect...red steel hmmmm....flailing your arms around whilst not doin ANYTHING on screen??!...wario ware smooth moves hmmmm...great fun for 15 mins....the rest etc hmmm??! ah well, glad i didnt buy it now... P.s (doh! R-TYPE is great via the download)
Tennis isn't accurate - it just detects motion, so you can literally swing forehand when the onscreen character swings backhand - not very accurate in my book. Same with Golf - you can even swing the remote horizontally and still get perfect strokes - huh?
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I can see where you're coming from... but there has to be a balance between duplicating real world motion and creating a playable game. Game interfaces with standard controllers also limit what you can and can't do, but we've learnt to accept this and work within these constraints. The Wii control system is very new and both developers and players are going to have to learn how to use it effectively.
Imagine if to get a perfect stroke in Sports golf you had to match the quality of Tiger Woods... this might make it more realistic - and I accept that there might well be a market for this amongst golf enthusiasts - but it would make the game unplayable to most people. The forehand/backhand issue in tennis can perhaps be frustrating but once you learn to expect it, it doesn't detract from the game... I also think the golf implementation strikes a nice balance between 'realism' and playability... but you're completely right about boxing.
Tennis isn't accurate - it just detects motion, so you can literally swing forehand when the onscreen character swings backhand - not very accurate in my book. Same with Golf - you can even swing the remote horizontally and still get perfect strokes - huh?
Comes down to trying to deal with people of varying skill level, now a more fleshed out tennis game can have control modes for different players, beginner, where most of the stuff is done by the sysetem, and you play like Wii tennis, and advanced where you do most of the stuff yourself, and its 1:1 or close
Boxing is hopeless and really does nothing to showcase the control's intuitiveness; in fact, it highlights the control's limitations. There were rumors of EA coming out with Fight Night for the Wii, but I don't have very high expectations for it. In fact, if the controls are anything like Wii Sports Boxing, I wouldn't be surprised if Fight Night was cancelled outright.
That's because Wii boxing was a tech demo, a better control scheme for a more fleshed out game would be using two Wiimotes rather than the nunchuck.
I was hopeful for Tiger Woods on the Wii, but after reading several mixed comments from hands-on previews, it seems that this version will also be an "acquired taste". I'm sorry; I love innovative gameplay, but you still need tight controls. It really sucks to be flailing your arms like a fool only for the controls to react differently or not at all. At least buttons, while doing nothing for immersiveness, works every time; it's reliable.
Again that's a developer issue, its quite easy to make modes and varying control schemes which are adapted to varying skill levels
Wii sports was merely a tech demo and shouldn't be taken as the full extent of the Wii, but the key to the Wii is for Devs to realize how to implement the controls, and when not to, there are many different ways the Wii can be utilized, but most devs have yet to figure that out, it was like this in the early days of the DS, it took time for the devs to figure that system out as well, and in fact its been mostly Nintendo that's shown the devs how.
I can see where you're coming from... but there has to be a balance between duplicating real world motion and creating a playable game.
Absolutely agree. Richard Burns Rally vs Colin McRae, as an example.
Game interfaces with standard controllers also limit what you can and can't do, but we've learnt to accept this and work within these constraints.
The problem here is the interface itself. Good, responsive interfaces that give feedback are what people expect, and buttons provide this. Now if the Wii remote and the gesturing mechanism works then I'd have no problems, but with so many comments out there staating that the controls work randomly, or don't work at all, well that just spanks of poor interface and lack of feedback - worse, the wrong feedback!
Put another way: Can you imagine trying to type a document in Word if your input mechanism didn't always work the way you expected it to? If you type an "o" but the software gives you an "f"? Or if you type an "s" but nothing shows up onscreen?
The Wii control system is very new and both developers and players are going to have to learn how to use it effectively.
Agreed. My concern is that given how the Wii remote was originally intended for the GCN, this means Nintendo had a few years of research and development spent on this technology, but their failure to provide responsive controls with games such as Wii Sports Boxing still leaves me worried. As for players, yes it will take some time. I remembered switching back to the d-pad when the thumbstick first came out, so I still have some hope for the Wii remote.
Imagine if to get a perfect stroke in Sports golf you had to match the quality of Tiger Woods... this might make it more realistic - and I accept that there might well be a market for this amongst golf enthusiasts - but it would make the game unplayable to most people.
No doubt! Why can't games offer a "one size fits all" solution in terms of gameplay and controls? If you've ever tried Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series, with its fantastic customization options, you know what I mean.
That's because Wii boxing was a tech demo, a better control scheme for a more fleshed out game would be using two Wiimotes rather than the nunchuck.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Except for the US version of the Wii, Wii Sports is a retail game that costs a pretty penny. In either case, a tech demo it is not, as it is neither marketed as such nor do most people who have played the game think it to be one. Well, at least I hope not, if Nintendo expects us to pay full price for the game!
Wii sports was merely a tech demo and shouldn't be taken as the full extent of the Wii, but the key to the Wii is for Devs to realize how to implement the controls, and when not to, there are many different ways the Wii can be utilized, but most devs have yet to figure that out, it was like this in the early days of the DS, it took time for the devs to figure that system out as well, and in fact its been mostly Nintendo that's shown the devs how.
Again, that is one of my prime concerns. If Nintendo had all these years to "get it right", yet failed to do so, well, let's just say I'm very optimistic if I still have hopes that 3rd party developers will one-up Nintendo. But yes, let's all hope!
The DS was a completely different issue - how to make compelling gameplay out of a button-and-stylus combination? The precision of the stylus, however, was always there.
The Wii remote, on the other hand, is quite the opposite: You *know* that gesturing and motion detection can add so much to gameplay, but where is the accuracy?
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