Sony's WonderWand

[BreakABone]

I didn't see a thread for this... so don't know if it was just discussed in the e3 conference thread?

Just some general updates.

Video Games | PlayStation 3 | GC 09: Motion Controller Update (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

An updated trailer from GamesCom.
Shows actual, practical uses.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ps...-need-one-wand
Apparently, it will only ship with a single wand or whatever you want to call it, and most games will only require one which cuts the reliability down by like half.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/...opment-part-1/
Behind the scene with RnD.

[Thespis721]

I can't view any of those articles because I'm at work, but I think the wand is kind of stupid. I think the Wii has done a lot and I think Natal is pretty cool but the wand just... it just reminds me why I STILL have yet to get a PS3.

[magus113]

Originally Posted by Thespis721

I can't view any of those articles because I'm at work, but I think the wand is kind of stupid. I think the Wii has done a lot and I think Natal is pretty cool but the wand just... it just reminds me why I STILL have yet to get a PS3.

I think motion controls have passed it's time really. The Wii has done a lot now because they finally did what they promised with WM+, and Natal seems a little crazy.

Yahtzee said it best when he said that there's no REAL immersion with motion control. Maybe a little more with Natal but still.

But that's my opinion.

[Angrist]

None of that really excites me. Looks like Wii but with prettier graphics.

[Jonbo298]

Originally Posted by magus113

I think motion controls have passed it's time really. The Wii has done a lot now because they finally did what they promised with WM+, and Natal seems a little crazy.

Yahtzee said it best when he said that there's no REAL immersion with motion control. Maybe a little more with Natal but still.

But that's my opinion.

Until we can hold regular conversations with in game characters without having to talk slow or whatever, its still going to feel gimmicky. Things have to be this way before it reaches that point. Without the muddy/pixelated graphics that the PS1/N64 had, we wouldn't have gotten the PS2/Xbox/GC and now the 360/PS3/Wii so its gonna be bad before it gets better.

[magus113]

Originally Posted by Jonbo298

Until we can hold regular conversations with in game characters without having to talk slow or whatever, its still going to feel gimmicky. Things have to be this way before it reaches that point. Without the muddy/pixelated graphics that the PS1/N64 had, we wouldn't have gotten the PS2/Xbox/GC and now the 360/PS3/Wii so its gonna be bad before it gets better.

But that might not necessarily be true. At least the visual stuff anyway. That's just limitation of the tech at the present time, which wasn't very good (comparatively to now).

But who also needs to be able to speak to NPCs in game to get immersed in what you're playing? What about when you would get immersed in these huge worlds and all you did was walk up to someone, press a button and read text?

It's almost like saying "Well we couldn't get you immersed in our game the way games used to, so let's try and do it this way." Then when they fail at it we blame the lack of immersion on motion controls that don't really work.

[Thespis721]

We'll never been immersed till they go back to VR technology.

I'm kidding, but honestly, the most immersive I've ever felt is when I played a game in a VR suit (headset and hand set) where it read my movements and I felt like I was in a world. A polygon world, but a world nonetheless.

[Vampyr]

Too little too late I think.

[Angrist]

Originally Posted by Thespis721

We'll never been immersed till they go back to VR technology.

I'm kidding, but honestly, the most immersive I've ever felt is when I played a game in a VR suit (headset and hand set) where it read my movements and I felt like I was in a world. A polygon world, but a world nonetheless.

Where did you do that?

[Thespis721]

Originally Posted by Angrist

Where did you do that?

Actually had two different experiences. I guess it was when VR was the big thing.

1. When I was younger (this was maybe... 17 years ago), I was at Disneyworld and they were showcasing VR by getting three kids to get their VR ride and show the audience what the kids saw. I was chosen. That was putting me on a physical "magic carpet" and had the heavy helmet put on. I controlled my movements by the carpet. What I saw was flying through the Agrabah city and seeing all the buildings and such. Good cartoony detail, except the funny thing was when you looked at your hands, they were Mickey Mouse hands.

2. When I was a little older, there was a place called Sportsworld, that was, for all intents and purposes, an arcade. One of the attractions was playing a game with another person where it puts you in a very very polygon world. You move the gun to aim at the person and fire. So the machine read your head movements (and if you dodged, you moved your head) as well as your hand movements since you were swinging the gun around. I think it eventually broke and was too expensive to repair.

[Typhoid]

VR is actually really nuts. When I was younger - I forget where I was - I did VR hanggliding, and it blew my mind.

It now makes me want a VR Pilotwings game.

[Angrist]

That sounds cool. Do you think we're ready for a new VR era? I think the technology is there...

[Thespis721]

I think the inherent issue of VR is the size thing. I would think after 15 years, size could be handled. But the combination of the fall of arcade machines and the need for peripherals, makes it hard to get it going.

Honestly though, this is something I think that both Rock Band and the Wii help to bring about. Rock Band brings in the era of a successful game that costs hundreds of dollars due to buying peripherals that ONLY work for said game. And the Wii brings in the idea of controller-less immersion.

Unfortunately, Nintendo is probably too scared to touch VR again after their craptastic attempt in the 90s (see: Virtual Boy). The only way VR is going to make a stand, is in the home, and it'll have to be in the next generation. Perhaps the next evolution of Project Natal.

[Angrist]

Maybe not the Wii 2 (Yuu), but after that? I could definately see Nintendo try VR.

[Thespis721]

I kind of see Microsoft being the innovator in VR. I just feel that Virtual Boy's failure will keep Nintendo at bay, while I can see with the XBOX 1080 adding a headset to the Project Natal to include home movements with a virtual headset.