Moving Targets Comments by Dan Whitehead

If you wanna see these weird peripherals in action with some quite funny commentary then you cant go wrong with the AVGN:

http://www.screwattack.com/AVGN/2006/Pow...

http://screwattack.com/AVGN/2008/NESAcce...

Oh god, every one of those videos are both funny and embarassing. Fantastic stuff.

Good write-up, as well. Standard controllers are going nowhere in a considerable future, though at last the companies seem to understand that they can be complemented, not replaced, by additional movement.

Good read Dan. I tell ya all this waggle in E3 made me feel old, but I've excepted it's the way the industry and many of the masses want to go, they always have really as the attempts here show, I just don't think I'll follow now Ninty has helped them pull it off TBH.

/ hugs all his controllers

"it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise if one day we find ourselves kicking up a stink in some futuristic nursing home with our crotchety insistence that things were simpler in the days when games were controlled with plastic buttons and tiny joysticks."

One day? I do it now! "Young hooligans back in my day games were games and you had real controllers!"

/ waggles walking stick

Oh, who else always thinks of little Fred Savage in The Wizkid when the Power Glove is mentioned. Might hunt it down for a giggle :)

That Mega Drive activator pad also had a PlayStation compatible version. I remember we had one in the shop where I used to work. I don't think it ever sold.

I had a Power Glove...

I really should've kept it, as they're more collectors items today. Oh well.

"and even more likely to make you look like a tit" Oh yes.

I bet Retroid's got a U-Force packed away somewhere... :)

I remember seeing Uforce on Tomorrows World and thought it was the most amzing thing ever!

Seriously, how do you write an article about motion control, mention something as uselessly obscure as the U-Force, and in speaking of modern motion control that worked - leave out Samba de Amigo's maracas?

This was true motion control, was precise, massively fun, critically popular if not commercially successful, well-known in the gaming community as a true and utter classic - and predated the EyeToy. And it was *the* accessory of the modern, post 16-bit era that brought motion-sensing back to the forefront of gaming.

EyeToy brought it to the masses and made it commercially huge; it was Sonic Team, however, that brought back motion-sensitive gaming in a big way.

Cry more douche.

@Ame.Otoko

If you're talking about trends, I'd argue that the EyeToy did reignite interest in motion control. Unlike most of the devices listed in this article, the maracas were only used in one game which fell well below the radar of most thanks to a small print run and high price. In comparison the EyeToy was cheap, accessible and actually had more than one use.

So while the maracas are technically relevant to the article, IMO they're more associated with the rhythm action genre...which is a whole different minefield of bizarre, costly proprietary controllers :P

Very true, JHuxley, they do fall within the (dizzyingly huge and insane) gamut of music-game devices.

Also, of course, they are proprietary and, one could also argue, not even originally designed for console as the game started otu in arcades.


Despite all this the maracas *were* motion-sensitive. And they were the accessory that brought back motion-sensitive gaming back to the console front, this time making it - most importantly - actually work.

Certainly it was limited to one game, and had a limited range (but then, so did EyeToy). But it did differ from DDR et al in that it did use motion-sensing. Also, commercial success isn't really relevant if you're writing a history on the topic. The maracas did predate EyeToy, just as did SEGA's DreamEye in its function as a camera. EyeToy expanded the concepts much further and made them more universal.

Someone should tell the guy in red in the picture on the last page:

"Dude, they're not laughing with you..."

That power glove video is amazing, I nearly pissed myself.

Interesting article, thanks Dan.

JOHN BARNES

It has only just dawned on me that the beeps he gets from pressing the buttons on the power glove at the start of that video are the notes used to communicate with the aliens in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind...

@Ame.Otoko

The DreamEye was never used as a motion control device though, was it? And if we're talking cameras then I'd guess Nintendo got there before the both of them with that Gameboy camera thingy, rubbish as it was.

Also, commercial success isn't really relevant if you're writing a history on the topic

Maybe, but a list of every single motion control device would be pretty tedious. I mean, if you were to go even deeper in to niche markets you could start talking about all those god-awful VR headsets that were popular back in the 90's. I can't be bothered researching them, but I'm sure some of them would have used motion detection.

I agree the maracas were probably worth mentioning in passing at least, but I wouldn't call him up for lazy research just because he didn't.

I refuse to take any such article seriously if they don't even bother mentioning the close-to-release wii-like motion control for the dreamcast.

That Konami Laser Scope Ad is genius :D

Natal? "Vaporous"? Has the backlash begun already? For shame...

Surprises me none of the big 3 has adapted or proposed to adapt their motion control to a VR helmet. It's the only way (IMHO) Natal could deliver real immersion (no point turning your head away from the telly). The Sony Diildo, or MotionPlus would also make it work nicely, without the ginormous podium and bonkers arsehat from the 80s virtuality games. There's already lightweight wearable screen glasses. You'd think it was a no brainer to pair them up.

Shame the SEGA Menacer (and possibly the SNES Superscope) wasn't mentioned. It's realtime crosshair (as opposed to the old skool click-screenflash-hit/miss) meant you could control a paddle or torch and move it around the screen with flick of the wrist with preserved momentum etc.

Obviously they died a death with no software support, but they predated the wiimote pointer and it's possible usage well in advance.

Good article but you should have mentioned the Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle Pro for the PC:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_S...

I dare say that the LaserScope must be a factor in most cases of child murder around that time.

"Fire Fire Fire Fire"

"Don't fucking tempt me!"

1989? How about the Le Stick for Atari and C64 in 81? Other than lacking an axis and not being analogue, it's not a million miles away from the Wii remote.

http://www.cedmagic.com/tech-info/remote...

Interesting article. Now that I read about Gametrak I can remember that I saw video ads by the company looking for people to test this device. It looked fairly interesting in the video demo videos they showed but I totally forgot about it later. First time I am hearing about this again since seeing that video back then.

I love my activator.

It was our old pal games, not soppy old love, that eventually got the world in motion

centripetal force and gravity had more to do with it i reckon

"I love the Power Glove. It's so bad."

I hadn't thought about Sony's wand thing in that way before.

I tried that Gametrak thing a while back, and it was surprisingly good. Tyhe use of miniature "ropes and pulleys" give the impression that it will be inaccurate or slow, but it was dead accurate and lag free.

The golf game was genuinely fun (the fighting game was ok, but lacked the depth needed for proper longevity). Definitely worth bagging if you still have a PS2 and see a set on eBay or in a bargain bin.

Would have worked better Kitchen Gun style: "BANG! BANG! BANG! I LOVE YOU POWER GLOVE!"

I have a U-Force! The box describes its best feature as making your favourite games harder!