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A Shakedown in Gaming

June 20, 2011 · by .ed

It's no surprise that a healthy portion of Opera News readers play PC games, often sitting at a desk, right? So how do you feel about motion-controlled gaming being a part of everything these days but lacking on the PC?

At Opera, we like innovation. From voice input to mouse gestures, usability design to face gestures. The options for controlling Opera have always been industry leading.

Nintendo Wii received a lot of attention at launch and through the years for making motion control standard. The subsequent revolution of motion-controlled gaming that followed with Microsoft Kinect, Playstation Move, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Vita, and devices running iOS to Android, motion control has become a core feature of all hardware. 

Why then, besides the difficulty in forming a standard across computers, has there been no major motion capture implementation in pc gaming? Could a standard exist?

It sounds silly to even ask, right? Console and PC gamers rarely see eye to eye. I wanted some real answers so I asked attendees at E3 why they thought PC gamers didn't care for motion control. Here's how they responded: 

  • 14 people said they'd rather sit.
  • 8 people said they'd knock their water/coffee/beer :cheers: over.
  • 6 people said that [number of] hours of [some long action, like zoning out in The Sims or raiding in World of Warcraft] should be fun, not excruciating or tiring. 
  • 5 people said WASD keys and mouse work fine.
  • 1 person said they can't dance in front of a laptop. (Why not? I do all the time...)
  • 1 person said "motion control is a casual gimmick, I'm hardcore."

A Revolution Comes Full Circle

Something is strange here: isn't a mouse capturing your hand motion and turning it into input? Doesn't that count as motion control? Hand motion, selection of objects, direct control, grab, body movement, momentum, etc. - all of this has to count. :left: :right: Right? Isn't a mouse standard?

So what are your thoughts? Is Nintendo going to appeal to the hardcore with the premium Wii U controller? Is Minecraft really possible with Kinect? Does mouse input constitute 'motion control' and is it the reason 'joysticks' are extinct? Or, is Augmented Reality the future? I like AR so I'm sharing a gratuitous photo of iJustine (who really seems to like Opera:o: ) and I with an oversized Nintendo 3DS AR card. Now sound off in the comments, let's hear what you have to say!

Hey! I also want to know who's still gaming on some good older systems and rolling dice - I'm with you on that! :yes:

Readers' comments 19

Left under the original article, as archived.

  • DasRakelMonday, June 20, 2011 8:13:39 AM

    I'm one of those dice tossers. AMA

  • ZeroXMonday, June 20, 2011 8:15:27 AM

    nothing beats keyboard and mouse

  • KaitenMonday, June 20, 2011 8:50:36 AM

    i used to roll the dice, used handheld game consoles, but never tried keyboard and mouse. Nowadays, im into Xbox360 and PS3 games.

  • AsiresMonday, June 20, 2011 8:50:41 AM

    PC does what Nintendon't!

  • DavideMonday, June 20, 2011 9:25:31 AM

    I'm still playing with my SNES :smile:
    Ordered the controller from eBay and played donkey kong 1/2/3, zelda and some other :bigsmile:
    Still, I think today I'm going to buy the 3DS version of zelda :yes:

  • Aleksander AasMonday, June 20, 2011 10:33:10 AM

    I replied PS3, PC, Wii and Old console. Having an old SNES makes me happy and I actually do play it every now and then. I think motion controls can be interesting for party games, but for "hardcore" raiding or RTS games I still prefer having a mouse and keyboard. The problem I see with motion controls are the lack of "micro" skills. In many games I play having a high APM and accuracy separates me from many of my opponents. With lack of finesse and added simplicity in the controls it's harder to make competitive games.

  • nimbuzz loginMonday, June 20, 2011 11:51:12 AM

    I :heart: opera :smile:

  • Rafael LuikMonday, June 20, 2011 5:33:37 PM

    Please stop pointing at Face Gestures!! :bomb:

  • Cutting SpoonMonday, June 20, 2011 8:44:58 PM

    Never stop pointing at Face Gestures. And I am not a fan of current full-motion gaming. Takes a lot of space and reduces the quality of most games.

  • .edMonday, June 20, 2011 8:53:30 PM

    We get a lot of use out of face gestures, haha. I also don't like full body gaming. I game for social interaction and comfort. If you're friends aren't comfortable, and the games are bad, you've spent a lot of money and aren't enjoying it.

    I like subtle motion implementation, like slightly correcting a jump with a tilt of a controller sometimes, or voice/face implementation. But standing is lame; I like my furniture more than Kinect, ha.

  • Dustin WilsonMonday, June 20, 2011 9:45:23 PM

    I've pretty much abandoned PC gaming. You spend most of the time with PC gaming these days battling bugs and dealing with game software that's never designed to work specifically with your machine. With consoles you can almost be guaranteed the game works on your console as everyone's console is pretty much the same. I spent years regularly updating my PC, spending hundreds of dollars on the best or close-to-the-best video cards just for the games only to wait for my friends to do the same so we all could play the games together only afterwards to have to wait for a patch because something messes up in the game. I wish today I could get that wasted time and money back. I still play old PC games, though.

    I don't care for full body gaming, myself. The way the controls work on the Wii is about the limit I'd like to go for motion control as I can still sit in my chair and enjoy the experience. Ideally I'd like a balance between the two, and I think that's what the Wii U appears to be doing. We'll see.

  • Rafael LuikMonday, June 20, 2011 9:56:52 PM

    But Opera Face Gestures is an April fools' joke...! :faint:

  • d4rkn1ghtTuesday, June 21, 2011 12:15:30 AM

    :pssst: I :heart: Classic Atari 2600 Games! :whistle:

  • IMTIAZ HUSSAIN AHMEDTuesday, June 21, 2011 4:16:26 AM

    hi imtiaj here do not mind i do not get much time so i don,t play games on internet

  • avoidzTuesday, June 21, 2011 4:22:17 AM

    Keyboard and mouse for FPS games. Console-type controller is better for driving games, platform games, etc.

  • Paweł PawlakTuesday, June 21, 2011 8:05:33 AM

    Originally posted by Khadgar:

    You spend most of the time with PC gaming these days battling bugs and dealing with game software that's never designed to work specifically with your machine.

    Then we must be living in two different Universes... :lol:
    I upgraded my PC about 3 years ago and I can still play the newest games (they run in the highest details). :cool:
    The prices of games for X360 and PS3 are at least 15%-20% higher, than the prices of PC games. Yeah, console gaming is a huge saving... :sherlock:

  • Dark FurieTuesday, June 21, 2011 10:31:40 AM

    Microsoft are actually working on a version of Kinect for PCs. I can see it being used for more of a Minority Report style interface than gaming though.

  • JulianWednesday, June 22, 2011 4:56:49 AM

    PC games rules :headbang: !!!!!! I love these pieces of art:

    Razer Naga

  • ZeroXThursday, June 30, 2011 1:45:34 AM

    I didnt think that kinect can make me feel how to be sucked into game's dimension. but pc does

About this article

Published inChoose Opera
DateJune 20, 2011
Author.ed
TagsE3, face gestures, mouse gestures, wiiu, wii, control, kinect, move, vita, minecraft, sony, android
OriginalInternet Archive

The Red O » Developers » Choose Opera » A Shakedown in Gaming

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