Interaction in Games

So companies are always trying to find new ways to involve the player within the game, allowing them to be more interactive in the whole experience.

The most recent idea is motion control, but to be honest, I think this is a bit of a gimmick. Yeah the PS2 tried it with eye toy, then Wii made a whole console based around moving with your body to control the game. But even Nintendo is passed that now and have moved on to new things (Wii U) while Microsoft and Sony are still playing catch up with Move and Kinect. 

Nintendo’s new console the Wii U, features a touchscreen key pad which can supplement or replicate the television. If you’re a fan of golf (I hate golf) you’d have the course on the television, the controller on the ground showing the golf ball and you, over it taking your swing. It’s like real golf !

Playing first person shooters, you attach the controller onto a plastic weapon and use it as if you are aiming down the sights of the gun, whilst viewing the environment on the TV screen. Pretty innovative stuff if you ask me.

All this is well and good. But at the end of the day, the average gamer is most likely overweight and wants to sit on a couch, eat food and blow people’s faces off. The best interactive controllers are those where you don’t have to physically exhaust yourself to play the game.

If you want to play aircraft simulation, then you buy a joy stick, because pilots have those. If you want to play a racing game, you buy a steering wheel, because drivers have those. They also have pedals and not a go button. Basically the reason these devices are so good is because they’re like the real thing.

Just like how a controller has vibration feedback, some top end steering wheels go so far as to have force feedback. Basically the wheel will be respond with different amounts of resilience suitable for the moment. You can feel the texture of the ground, the resistance of the tyres whilst cornering and when the car is about to lose traction; adding an extra degree of realism to the experience.

As far as gaming on consoles is concerned, the current controllers are holding up well pretty well. Time ago games used to have all sorts of quirky configurations, but It seems that overtime, all the buttons merge into one control scheme almost becoming universal (depending on genre) this really helps as the moment you pick up a game, you don’t have to consult the manual for controls. Some games still however insist on having over complicated controls. Metro 2033, for example, is such a difficult game to pick up and play if you haven’t for a while…

Until games are like the Matrix where we will be able to plug ourselves into a machine and explore a different kind of reality, interaction with games only goes as far as pushing sticks or jumping around like a Wii-tard (see what I did there)

Hurry up technology !