4. Kinaesthetic Gaming
The Wii-mote brought down a heap of derision on Nintendo when the first images were released, looking more like a remote control for a television than a conventional game controller. Well, the Wii has sold almost 100 million copies since then (compared to around 70 million for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360) and Sony and Microsoft definitely aren’t laughing any more. They’re taking notes. Read this recent press release from Microsoft:
Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend the console lifecycle by introducing controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention.
There’s been a recent emphasis on ‘controller-free’ gaming across the board, with Microsoft and Sony both following Nintendo’s suit. We can expect this trend to continue, as players will be increasingly using their voices or physical movements, as opposed to mere button pressing. After all, companies want to be able to reach as wide an audience as possible – and while manipulating a game controller is a skill which needs to be learned, emulating tennis strokes with the Wii-mote or singing into a microphone isn’t. That’s why you can expect less and less hands on gaming in 2013.
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2 Comments
Saw there was a sequel to luigi’s mansion…. Jizzed my pants…..
Honestly your sequels page just made you seem bitter. Popular series such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil get sequels for different reasons. FF for example while having 14 main series games and multiple spin offs has linked none of them directly. Sure games like XIII get sequels but overall only 5 of 14 games have received any sequels or prequels and the only one to get a prequel was VII (which has been awarded the best game of all time or the century so many times it make your head spin). The name Final Fantasy is a brand name, not one relating to the actual content (none of the main series games share characters, worlds, or even necessarily genres as it ranges from high fantasy to sci-fi), I don’t see you bitching that there are like 3 or 4 new Mario games every year. And Resident Evil’s overall story hasn’t been finished yet. The fans want more so let them have more. If you don’t play the games then it doesn’t effect you so shut the hell up. And if you are a fan then why do you want them to end such good game series when the market is already flooded with sports games that just update players and graphics or no-storyline-having first person shooters? Skyrim is lauded as one of gaming’s most perfect achievements, yet it’s the fifth in a series. I’d rather see good series like FF or RE get sequels over games like CoD or GTA.