The Controller Revolution

The Controller Revolution

The Video Game industry is radically different now in comparison to 20 years ago, 2 of the greatest differences perhaps are the new technology that is available to the industry and the casual gaming market that has recently developed. In correlation with these 2 factors, console developers have begun to experiment more and more with the idea of motion controls, as they take advantage of modern gaming technology, and are appealing in their simplicity to the casual gamer market. However what we must consider is whether these motion controllers are a sign of what is to come in the future, or a product of our time.

  Arguably the most prominent developer in the controller revolution is Nintendo as they were the first of the main 3 developers to utilize touchscreen (for the Nintendo DS) and motion controls (for the Wii). Looking at Nintendo’s past as a video games developer we can see that they have always been attempting to change the way we play games (with less successful attempts such as the virtual boy and Nintendo zapper). However it is only now, with modern innovations in technology, that Nintendo can successfully develop controllers that utilize features such as motion controls. But the question is, why does Nintendo develop control schemes like this?, the answer is to appeal to the casual non-gamer crowd, who have recently been Nintendo’s target audience, however, with the casual gamer market growing larger and larger, does that mean that soon, the majority of developers will create consoles with motion controls as appose to the traditional 13-15 button layout?.

  For the answer we must look to the other main developers in the gaming industry, Microsoft and Sony. Unlike Nintendo, these two companies focus on the core gamer market as appose to the casual gamer market. Many argue that motion controls are unappealing to the core gamer market due to their over-simplification and unresponsive controls. However we can see that Sony, while focusing on a core gamer market, still implement motion controls/touch screen into some of their core gamer product, albeit lightly, such as the motion control feature of the six axis PS3 controller or the touch screen feature of the PSvita. However, even Microsoft and Sony realise that there is a casual market, a growing one at that, which cannot be ignored. This is prominent in such Sony products as the PlayStation move or the PlayStation Eye; however the peripheral that is most obviously aimed at the casual market is Microsoft’s Kinect. The Kinect takes this "simplify to appeal to the casual market" strategy, and takes it to a whole new level, as the Kinect utilises no physical controls whatsoever, as the tag line states: "you are the controller". However, it is debatable whether or not the Kinect is over simplifying controllers, as some argue, that games built around the Kinects control scheme are too simple, and therefore, aren't enjoyable. So it would seem that at this point in time, the control scheme that everyone is striving for is one that appeals to both the casual and hard-core gaming markets, a control scheme that utilises both simple and complex controls.

  It seems like this is the next step for controllers, as Nintendo’s soon to be released WiiU, utilises both a traditional 13-15 button/dual analogue stick control layout, along with both motion controls and touchscreen. Nintendo has even stated that their direction, their marketing strategy with the WiiU is to appeal to both the casual and core gaming markets. Whether the WiiU will live up to its expectations or whether Microsoft or Sony will follow Nintendo’s please all strategy is debatable, all that we can know for sure is that as  technology continues to evolve, so will the way that we play games.