Factor 5 boss backs Sixaxis, Wii

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 April, 2007

Wii went "extra 10,000 miles".

Factor 5's Julian Eggebrecht has paid tribute to Sony and Nintendo for introducing motion sensor controls in their next generation consoles, arguing that it's "the next logical evolution" and critical to the success of the developer's next game, Lair.

"For me, I am not in the rumble camp. I am in the motion control camp. Give me the choice any day and I will choose it as the next logical evolution," Eggebrecht told San Jose Mercury News.

"You get more disk space with Blu-ray. You get more CPU power with Cell. The pixel shaders with RSX. What changes about the controller?

"That's my one gripe with the Xbox 360. It is very nicely done. Don't get me wrong. On the controls, nothing changed. Sony and Nintendo went the extra mile. Nintendo went the extra 10,000 miles. But Sony said we have to have something fresh in every area."

But while the PlayStation 3-exclusive Lair is coming along nicely thanks very much and uses Sixaxis as the basis for its aerial dragon combat controls, Eggebrecht warns against overdoing motion control.

"The history of the game shows you can overdo Sixaxis support. At the Tokyo Game Show, we had a version where you could use Sixaxis controls on the ground. That was forcing something that didn’t feel natural," he admits. "Flight is natural because you have a wider range of motion than you could ever have with a stick. On the ground, you are used to the analogue stick."

"You have to balance it. Use traditional controls where applicable and integrate motion control as one more tool. With Lair, we believe you get the complete PS 3 experience which does include Sixaxis."

Eggebrecht also reckons that the Sixaxis is "surprisingly subtle in realising the motion". "You get very detailed curves out of it. It works great for the gestures. The gestures are heaven sent."

For more of his views on Sixaxis, as well as some knowingly controversial comments about Unreal Engine and how it compares to Lair's technology, check out the rest of the interview.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • gizmo #1 5 years ago

    But the Sixaxis is frankly... poorly implemented. Its a solution looking for a problem.

  • moggsy #2 5 years ago

    What's wrong with having both motion AND rumble then?

    Also apart from motion control the PS3 pad is based on a design from over 10 years ago so it's hardly fresh. The 360 pad is a joy to use, it's a refinement of a design yes but it's a bloody good one.

    The Wii is where it's at when concerned with innovative control methods...
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/07 @ 08:58

  • Dizzy #3 5 years ago

    Tilt was hot in the 80s

  • steoc4 #4 5 years ago

    The thing about the sixaxis is that the whole console isn't built around it. If a game is better without motion control, then it still works great on PS3 because you have the same great pad you always had.

    If motion controls don't work very well for a specific game then the Wii version is essentially screwed however. You can get around it by the ever annoying 'replace button presses with often inaccurate gesture recognition' approach but in many cases it'd be better if the game was just out on Gamecube.

    It's the same problem as the DS started with, people were building games to suit a control system and not building a control system to suit their games. Time has passed and that phase is gone, but in all honesty the majority of great DS games (with some exceptions) rely on traditional controls, and that's fine because the DS has all the buttons the GBA had. The Wii on the other hand lacks the flexibility to do traditional controls well and you end up with the ridiculous situation where to play super smash bros brawl, you need to first buy a whole new console and then buy a new controller to make that new console function the same as your old console.

    Motion controls work well for some games, but not for all games and not even for a majority of games. That's why I prefer how Sony are doing it, they have both sides of the coin covered while all Nintendo's eggs are in one basket.

  • The_Programmer #5 5 years ago

    "The thing about the sixaxis is that the whole console isn't built around it. If a game is better without motion control, then it still works great on PS3 because you have the same great pad you always had."

    No you don't. The pad doesn't have rumble & therefore is not "the same great pad you always had."

  • blicko #6 5 years ago

    "If motion controls don't work very well for a specific game then the Wii version is essentially screwed however."

    You are essentially wrong. The nunchuck does the traditional movement. A traditional-styled pad is usually going to be better for those sort of games, but the combination of nunchuck + Wii-mote does a pretty good impersonation.

  • penhalion #7 5 years ago

    Anyone seen those Lair gameplay movies. You know the ones with the pop-up at close range, the grass that looks frankly ludicrous and the gameplay that looks decidedly last -last gen!

    I think taking this guys opinion seriously just got a lot harder!

    http://ww w.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php...
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/07 @ 09:50

  • steoc4 #8 5 years ago

    "No you don't. The pad doesn't have rumble & therefore is not "the same great pad you always had."

    Rumble isn't a big deal, I haven't noticed it missing once while playing my PS3. It's also coming soon now that they've got the court case settled. Rumble is a nice little bonus, and happens to be a part of a joypad because the joypad is the bit in contact with your hands, but it has nothing to do with your actual input options with the game so it doesn't effect controls whatsoever.

    And if you really want to nitpick, the 360 doesn't have analogue face buttons anymore like the original Xbox, PS2 and PS3 have. It's minor but it's no less minor than losing rumble, and unlike rumble it actually does reduce the input options the player has.

  • joeking #9 5 years ago

    He has a point though. BY rushing to market, MS have screwed themselves out of a next gen DVD format, and any sort of motion sensing technology.

    Then again, looking at how they willfully disregarded making a HD standard in every machine, it's debatable if they would have been up for including them anyway.

  • AcidSnake #10 5 years ago

    @steoc4:
    Actually I have to disagree here, see to you it might not mean that much but there are a lot of people who'd rather have rumble than motion control...
    As for the analogue face buttons, I can't honestly remember a single game which used them to good effect, though my PS2 library is relatively small I'll admit...

    Also when talking about the Wii being screwed if a game plays better with a traditional setup it's beside the point...The Wii stands for easy access, so they can't allow developers to use what they see fit, as the majority would just use the twenty button layout all over again...This way developers have to build a game around the wiimote...Only problem is that not all developers are as able or willing to do this...

  • morriss #11 5 years ago

    lol.

    I wonder what consoles he wants to develop for.

  • SeesThroughAll #12 5 years ago

    You have to balance it. Use traditional controls where applicable and integrate motion control as one more tool. With Lair, we believe you get the complete PS 3 experience which does include Sixaxis.

    I'm very excited about this game, but still, in order to have the complete experience, shouldn't that translate to massive multiplayer online dragon battles? So far, it looks like the game will be single-player only.

  • zuljin #13 5 years ago

    "You have to balance it. Use traditional controls where applicable and integrate motion control as one more tool."

    I so agree with what he says. Motion sensing is nice, but it does seem tacked on in some cases. For me personally I thought the motion sensing aspect of Resistance was just silly, Flow on the other hand controlled really nicely.

  • joeking #14 5 years ago

    "lol.

    I wonder what consoles he wants to develop for."

    The Wii?

  • 3william56 #15 5 years ago

    @Acidsnake: Wipeout Fusion had a decent analogue button for the proton cannon; the harder you pressed, the higher the fire rate, which was nifty. And many racers have done analogue throttles; works well on Burnout.

    I personally agree that rumble is not a biggy; my logitec wireless PS2 controllers take out rumble when the batteries get low, and keep going for months afterwards. Hardly notice. Will be nice to have it back for sure when the inevitable sixaxisII comes out, but for now, it's a shrug.

    Maybe The Proclaimers should go work for Ninty.
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/07 @ 10:34

  • Skooch #16 5 years ago

    This guy seems a bit of a dick. Yes, motion capture is the way forward but only when it works and when it is in addition to other features, not at the expense of them.

  • SeesThroughAll #17 5 years ago

    when u play ports like the scarface,madden or godfather ect.

    Most ports you referred to are shit, regardless of the platform. Especially Scarface. More of a situation of the controls being crappy, because the game sucked, rather than the other way around, innit?

  • Steroyd #18 5 years ago

    Headbog you do know what you've seen of Lair of late is the Alpha build?

    A bit like looking at the Halo 3 alpha build and criticizing it for looking like shit.

  • Avaloner #19 5 years ago

    Almost 10 years ago (1999 in fact) Microsoft released the Sidewinder Freestyle Pro. It had tilt controls along one axis. Few heard of it because it was not supported too much by developers. Motion control the future of gaming? I think not. At least if youre gonna implement it do it the right way. Even Nintendo fouled by not including a second analog stick on the wiimote so while they opened a whole new way to control games they shut off a few old tried and tested ways.

  • bigbadbeasty #20 5 years ago

    @ Shaka-

    I know what you are saying about it being better having the Wii being a graphical powerhouse as well, but if they did choose to do that, then all you would get is ports from the PS3 and 360 with tacked on motion controls. Pretty games cost alot more money, and hence greater risk, that would mean no orginal gameplay.

    @ Avaloner-

    I personally hate the second analog stick, and always have. I would annoyed if they added such a feature in the future.

  • Avaloner #21 5 years ago

    @ Shaka

    What part of 'Sidewinder Freestyle Pro' did you miss? Sidewinder is a range of joypads by Microsoft. The Sidewinder Freestyle Pro is just one type of joypads in that range.

  • Les #22 5 years ago

    "Pretty games cost alot more money, and hence greater risk, that would mean no orginal gameplay."

    High Def games cost a lot of money, has not much to do with being pretty (but I guess that is what you mean). Might even be the opposite (processing time wasted on extra pixels could have been used for advanced effects). Had 360 and PS3 focussed their power to deliver proper SD games, most people would probably have been more impressed.

    "Few heard of it because it was not supported too much by developers. Motion control the future of gaming? I think not."

    Motion sensing controllers aren't revolutionary. Making them standard for a platform is. This way, there's real benefit for developers to invest in the feature as they know the userbase will be able to benefit from it. Motion control can add a lot to gaming as long as the game concept is structured around it. It definitely shouldn't be shoehorned in each and every game. I don't think it is 'the' future, but it broadens the palette available to game developers and that can only be applauded.

  • NegativeZero #23 5 years ago

    Long time Sony, Nintendo developer backs Sony, Nintendo.



    I'd never have expected it.

  • stephenb #24 5 years ago

    I really wasn't that bothered for this game. But after seeing the Dev diaries in HD i am totally hooked. It looks absolutley stunning. Especially the water and particle effects.

    Just hope it plays like it looks. Think this will be the first major show off title for the PS3.