Launching motion controllers will be "big challenge" for rivals, says Miyamoto

By Ellie Gibson Published 3 August, 2009

Plus: "have confidence" in Vitality Sensor.

Shigeru Miyamoto has warned Nintendo's rivals have a tough road ahead when it comes to launching their new motion controllers.

"One of the challenges is not just to create a natural controller, but how do you get it into the hands of the people? How do you do that cost effectively?" he said, speaking to the Mercury News.

"I think we've accomplished that. We have sold millions of controllers at a good price point. And we have that delivery system successfully already implemented."

So Nintendo's got a head-start - but what about Microsoft and Sony? "For other companies starting from zero and trying to figure out how to get it out there at a decent price point is a big challenge," Miyamoto said.

Having mucked about with motion controllers for a while now, Nintendo has moved on to the Vitality Sensor. It was shown off by bossman Satoru Iwata at E3 but no one really understood what on Earth the point is, as it sounds like Miyamoto is aware.

"Ideally we would have been able to talk about this in terms of the software implementation rather than just the sensor itself," he said. "I don't have any indication for you (of what we have in the works) other than to say that we have lots of very creative ideas.

"We understand the challenge before us, and we have met these challenges in the past. We just ask that people have confidence in us."

Remember, every time you say the Wii Vitality Sensor looks rubbish a fairy dies.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • blender #1 3 years ago

    vitality sensor on the EAR with motion detection . MARK my words.
    Edited by blender at 03/08/09 @ 09:28

  • kestral #2 3 years ago

    This is of course for Wii Fit 2 to ensure no lawsuits are brought to Nintendo. ;)

  • ChrisS #3 3 years ago

    I think the reason most people are (rightly) cynical about the Wii Vitality Sensor is that it seemed like a rushed announcement so Nintendo also had some new piece of hardware to show off. The very admission that the software for it is nothing more than "a series of creative ideas" shows that Nintendo itself isn't entirely sure what to do with it, which means that Pulse Training or whatever results from these creative brainstorming sessions will be some way off yet.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #4 3 years ago

    "have confidence" in Vitality Sensor

    Shan't!

    :p

  • Moribundman #5 3 years ago

    Yeah "we (or should that be wii?) can do it, nobody else can".

    Hmm. I'm quite sure Natal and Sony's dildo can penetrate (haha) the market. They're totally different in concept and work with much higher spec machines so there's more possibility there.

  • schnide #6 3 years ago

    "One of the challenges is not just to sell Wii's to fat housewives because we 'invented' motion control first, but how do you get people to still give a shit if Sony and Microsoft gain ground on our only USP? How do you do that and still keep printing money while ignoring the hardcore?" he should've said, speaking to the Mercury News.

  • gav_and_the_gavster #7 3 years ago

    It's a sad day when Miyamoto is talking about business challenges and not games themselves - sign of how his role at Nintendo has changed probably. Makes me sad, he should be talking about his latest hobbies and dropping hints for us all to guess at what games could originate from them.
    Edited by gav_and_the_gavster at 03/08/09 @ 10:12

  • ChrisS #8 3 years ago

    I think the problem Microsoft and Sony have is that they're going to have a hard time convincing publishers to pump serious money into developing games for their respective devices. Natal's the best bet because it has the whole industry talking, and Microsoft will market the shit out of it (and quite a few will want to be first out of the blocks, so they can pick up sales while the buzz is still strong around launch day). But ultimately, it's an add-on rather than the de facto standard for the console - publishers will be slightly reluctant to make games designed solely for Natal given that they've got a substantially reduced userbase to aim at. I can see a lot of games utilising Natal as an optional extra, but not actually designing too many games around the new hardware.

    I actually think Sony's device has more potential for core games given its reported precision, but for my money, Sony really faces a struggle because it's asking people to buy an expensive console, a camera add-on AND this wand. I've no doubt there'll be bundles which will make it more attractive, but will people really want to spend THAT much more for a slightly more precise type of motion control? I can see it turning out like MotionPlus - great for the games that use it, but you'll be waiting a long time between releases which do make the most of the device. I mean, given Red Steel 2's delay, it's going to be the best part of nine months between MotionPlus-centric games. Even the balance board had more support than that in its first year.

  • LazyDan #9 3 years ago

    I actually do have confidence in the vitality sensor.

    It annoys me when I see the same unimaginative responses when talking about it (which go along the lines 'vitality sensor? it's just going to be a fitness thing omg omg rubbish, ps3 xbox graphics graphics'.) They wouldn't have come up with it if they didn't have a use for it. Everyone thought the rumble pak, DK bongos, DS and Wiimote were all ridiculous ideas too that wouldn't work in any sense at all, and everyone was proven wrong.

    They'll use it in regular games in ways graphics-tards would never be able to imagine until they see it (making the music swell to increase tension and throwing in a random surprise when it senses your heart rate goes up in a survival horror game?) and it'll end up being copied by both Microsoft and Sony. Without a doubt.

  • triple_a #10 3 years ago

    @LazyDan: I agree we shouldn't judge the vitality sensor completely before we see some software. That said, at this stage it looks incredibly stupid.

    And didn't Iwata mention something about "putting the player to sleep" with the help of this new peripheral? Well Mr. Iwata, I can tell you that you don't need a new peripheral to do that considering the Wii's current software situation ;)
    Edited by triple_a at 03/08/09 @ 11:02

  • Burkey123 #11 3 years ago

    I just hope they use the thing for some good games. Not casual crap. Although, that's unlikely.
    I won't judge though until I see some software.
    Edited by Burkey123 at 03/08/09 @ 11:55

  • ChrisS #12 3 years ago

    I can see some genuinely interesting uses for this. Again, though, unless market penetration is incredibly high (and for that to be the case Nintendo would have to come up with one of the biggest-selling pieces of Wii software ever to bundle with the damn thing) it's going to be an optional extra at best in most games. First-party stuff will use it, and it'd be good for survival horror games. That forthcoming Ju-On title which adjusts scares according to how much you move the remote when you jump would make perfect sense - tailor the shocks to your pulse and you've got a genuinely unique haunted house/ghost train type experience.

  • peterfll #13 3 years ago

    I like Wii Sports Resort and I like MotionPlus..... when it works, as I don't like having to put it on the table every 5 minutes to re-calibrate it. So what happened with making it work out the box all of the time Nintendo? As you say, you have more experience in this fields that most.

  • KrissAkabusi #14 3 years ago

    I agree with Shigs, MS and Sony are going to have to find something different to do with motion control to convince the masses to pick it up. Even if both do produce a better version of Nintendo's efforts, I don't think it'll be enough.

  • GWH #15 3 years ago

    "For other companies starting from zero and trying to figure out how to get it out there at a decent price point is a big challenge," Miyamoto said.

    Wii remote + Nunchuck + Wii Motion Plus = €45 + €20 + €25 = €90 for one complete Wii controller.

    It seems the best way to get it out there at a decent price point is to gradually sell it piece by piece, eh Nintendo?

  • SeesThroughAll #16 3 years ago

    @ChrisS:

    But publishers will be able to quickly churn out new IPs or ports from sucessful Wii games, with a near 1:1 precision. For the wand, at least. I bet LucasArt is already in talks with both Sony and Nintendo. Expect that long awaited 1:1 lightsaber game to finally come out on the console of the highest bidder.

  • Domovoi #17 3 years ago

    and it'd be good for survival horror games. That forthcoming Ju-On title which adjusts scares according to how much you move the remote when you jump would make perfect sense - tailor the shocks to your pulse and you've got a genuinely unique haunted house/ghost train type experience.

    Again that "Vitality sensor is great for horror games!" example... What on earth is the point? What good is bringing more scares if the player isn't scared enough? Perhaps they should've just put in more scares from the start, so that you -know- people will be scared and won't have to read it from a vitality sensor?

    I want the game to control my pulse by scaring the shit out of me. I don't want my pulse to control the game.

  • robg #18 3 years ago

    Vitality sensor = lie detector game for couples. Hot damn that'd sell.

  • penhalion #19 3 years ago

    This article may as well have read as Miyamoto tries desperately to discourage rivals from motion control as their efforts are bound to show people just what is possible when motion is coupled with actual good graphics!

  • Sharzam #20 3 years ago

    Graphics dont make a game , but they sure as hell dont hurt it. Personally i think that the ps3/xbox360 are better than wii not because of graphics but because of there raw power that allows details and ideas that coupled with full online and media capablitys.

    So motion controls on systems that can actually use it when it is a benefit, and not just shoehorn it in because you have to. I can think of alot wii games that are actually damaged by motion controls as it simply not the best way to do that game.

    I also think its sad that Miyamoto is thinking about business these days rather than the next crazy game.

  • Arwin #21 3 years ago

    Totally agree, it will be a big challenge indeed. However, there's something to be said for a motion controller that you don't have to rest on the table each time to have it recalibrate itself. :p

    If Sony brings out the motion controller with just that spray paint demo with some features that allow me to save my work (zoom options and larger canvasses would be even sweeter) then I'm getting it day one! Everything that comes after that is extra ...

  • zedzee #22 3 years ago

    "Nintendo's rivals have a tough road ahead when it comes to launching their new motion controllers."

    > Not true. Nintendo themselves have proven that it can be done. So if they can, I don't see why Sony or Microsoft can't do it "cost effectively" as well.

    "We have sold millions of controllers at a good price point."

    > It's not the main reason. The concept and application are the most important thing. People will not come just because you've 'built it'. One could argue that the Atari VCS 2600 had a rubbish controller - in contrast with today's - but it had a new paradigm to offer, the birth of the home console.

    I really hate this guy. He thinks he's cornered the market with just one character concept that Nintendo keeps repeating and putting into just about everything that they can think of...What's next? Mario Super Fart with an appropriate 'controller' that measures farting sounds, strengths and smells?!

    I for one am quite happy to let the "fairies die".