My Motion Control Connundrum

AngryJason

Shared on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 07:42

Got a Wii on launch day - it collects dust.  I really don't like this system, aside from a few titles.  It just doesn't feel as modern or as fun as it's HD counterparts.  Most motion controls are tacked on, and most games are utter crap.

Sony has the move.  Microsoft has Kinect. 

Move - I view this largely as a Wii-Too concept.  Technically, I think it will surpass the Wii functionality, but that's to be expected given the gap in development time.  Looking at the games, I don't see a killer app.  I used to be on board with EyePet, as artificial intelligence fascinates me, and even though it's not really artificial intelligence, I figured it might be good.  However, my outlook has softened on this title.  The Shoot may be a good one, as my girl's kids love You're in the Movies on the 360.  Alas, the Shoot is coming out about a month after launch.  The only launch titles that somewhat appeal to me are Eyepet, even though I know I should stay away, and LOTR: Aragorn's Quest.  Price wise, it's not as cheap as it looks.  To fully set up a family of 4 would run about $320, not including a $40 Playstation Eye camera.  To me, motion control games have some legs in social settings, so I would say at a minimum, 2 sets of controllers would be necessary - $160, or $200 with the Playstation Eye.  Most games seem to be at the $40 price point, which is nice.  PS Move has the illusion of a bargain price, which will spur sales, which spur development and the circle of life begins.

Kinect - Technically speaking, I like this a lot.  Realistically speaking, I'm very skeptical that it will work as advertised.  I know it's not as expensive as the Move, but the $150 price tag really cheeses me off.  Sure, they added a pack in game, but it's Adventures, which seems like nothing more than a tech demo. Kinectimals may be fun for the lady and her demon spawn, or I could teach my cats to play it, but ultimately, I think it would get 4 hours total gameplay and then relegated to the shelf of dispair.  Kinect Sports looks fun, but it's a Wii Sports clone, still, somewhat interested.  EA Sports Active 2 sounds interesting, but who am I kidding?  EA Sports Active on the Wii is still in it's shrinkwrap.  Most games here seem to be at $50.  I guess what I'm most pissed off about is that at the $150 price point, I don't think it will sell enough to lure good developers to innovate on it. 

Based on my logic, it sounds like I am squarely in the camp of "avoid buying at launch" and see which one brings the complete gaming experience.  It even sounds like I'm leaning towards to Kinect.  So, which one did I preorder?  The Move.  I'm trying to get to why I did it.  I prefer gaming on the 360.  I think the Move is a shameless upgrade of Wii technology, and I know the all in cost is higher than Kinect.  The thing I keep coming back to is that I do believe that inevitably, while it will have a ton of shovelware crap, it will also have better games in the long run, due to slow developer uptake on the Kinect.

Comments

TKBosss's picture
Submitted by TKBosss on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 09:28
I have already pre-purchased the Kinect, mostly for the kids, but I'll admit I have some interest in seeing how it works. Also, voice and hand commands for Netflix and the dashboard is a plus. I have a bunch of the launch titles preordered also, as the kids will eat this up for a while. The Move I'm torn on. I have considered it, mainly for the Eye Pet as well, but I will probably end up waiting on this a bit longer.
TANK's picture
Submitted by TANK on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 12:05
Move is nothing but a low end motion capture implementation and ya it's pretty wii-ish with two controllers. But and here's the difference, it doesn't drain the processing power from the CPU so potentially there could be no drop in video quality playing a Move game. Kinect however drains something like 20% of the cpu resources so we're not going to be playing visually stunning games that are Kinect enabled. And besides that, 150 fucking dollars? Are you shitting me? There's a long long history of consoles and add-on doodads that never get much support. So before I even consider buying Kinect #1 ther eneeds to be a price drop, i can buy a whole new console for 150 bucks. And #2 there needs to be a steady flow of amazing shit i want to play. That Star Wars game they showed at E3 was a joke. And what's more, because Microsoft is only pushing kinect this holiday, there's really nothing I'm looking forward to buying or playing this holiday except Fable 3. Usually Oct/Nov i have at least 8 titles I want to buy, this year.... one.
AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 15:49
Great point Tank, I forgot about MSFT taking the brains out of Kinect and offloading it on the 360 CPU. As for games this holiday, doing a quick scan of October/November, while there are about 25 games I have some interest in, Fable 3 and Kinect Sports are the only 360 exclusives. Fable 3 of course, is on PC, and Kinect Sports may or may not be any good. In any event, most of my list is multi-plats.
MTPathy's picture
Submitted by MTPathy on Sun, 08/22/2010 - 21:11
not going to get excited or intrested in kinect till its a few generation inn. i am looking forward to several wii games like Sin & Punishment, MetroidM and ZeldaSkywardSword. im mostly trying to catch up on rpgs on the 360 till GhostRecon:FutureSoldier comes out.

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