An Argument for Motion -Controlled Gaming
Cast your mind back to November 2006. Nintendo had just dropped their revolutionary Wii console, and the world seemed to stop spinning for a few weeks. Families from all generations began playing video games together for what felt like the first time. Not only that, but players of the Wii were standing up and swinging their arms, an unforgettable comparison to the competitive consoles at the time, like the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, which were more or less couch-sitting, button-mashing affairs. Just like YouTube to mp3, everyone was into the new motion-controlled gaming.
Image Credit: Polygon via Nintendo
Sure enough, competitive gaming brands jumped on the motion-control bandwagon, with consoles like the Sony PlayStation Move hitting shelves. Obviously, this console wasn’t nearly as popular, but the fact that Sony tried to make their own Wii proved the success of the new motion-controlled approach to gaming. Never had the joys of gaming been so widely accessible, physically active, and easy to learn. Who knew that sports like golf and bowling could be so helplessly addictive and competitive?
Over 10 years later, hundreds of millions of units have been sold, but motion-controlled consoles are seldom spotted in lounge rooms. This is because gaming brands quickly returned to button and touchscreen-operated devices, ruling out motion control as just a 2000s gimmick.
I’m not here to suggest a resurgence of motion control but to simply put forward some advantages of motion-controlled gaming that may have been overlooked. I’ll be using the Wii as the motion-controlled example from here on out, considering it has the obvious monopoly on motion-controlled gaming.
Motion-controlled gaming is more inclusive.
Before the Wii, gaming had a far slimmer audience. Gamers were thought to be mostly male teenagers, and the community was largely hardcore, lacking spaces for casual gaming circles. Motion controls broke down some intrinsic barriers, opening up the joys of the lifestyle to everyone.
For example, my brother, who has motor dyspraxia and mild spastic diplegia, and intellectual disabilities, ended up gaming for the first time. Things like how to tie a tie were out of the question, so learning button-controlled gaming was, of course, near-impossible. It was all too complicated to explain, let alone for him to learn and operate. With the Wii, the motion-controls were intuitive to him, allowing him to join in on the fun. Never in a million years did I think I would walk into a living room to witness my brother and grandpa both competently playing a game of tennis on the big screen, without needing to explain the controls to either of them.
It Can help improve real-world skills.
A Penn State study in 2016 found that motion-controlled video games might improve real-life skills. In an experiment, participants playing push-button golf and participants playing motion-controlled golf were made to play a game of real-life golf. Sure enough, the participants that had played motion-controlled golf performed better than the push-button players.
“It seems to us that we’ve crossed an evolutionary line in-game history where video games are no longer just video games anymore. They’ve become simulators”, said Edward Downs, a former doctoral student in mass communications.
Motion-controlled games are more immersive.
This is a more opinion-based argument but hear me out. Watching your own movements translate to the movements of an avatar enabled video-game genres to become more thrilling. Take video game Hall-Of-Famer, Mario Kart, which revolutionized the racing genre.
Mario Kart was already ridiculously competitive and riveting. But when Wii brought the steering wheel to your hands, gaming reached an immersive milestone. Not only was this incredibly intuitive, but it gave your physical involvement a high level of responsibility. You steer poorly and it is game over. You steer well and you stay on the track. Simple but effective…and immersive.
Was introducing automation to gaming merely a gimmick or a valuable change that improved inclusivity, real-life skills, and immersive engagement? Let us know your thoughts.
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