Old Discussion Thread for all 3 motion controllers

[Toaddio]

As awesome as LBP was, its sales were not. Sony's priority should be on making a new killer-app game, a la Wii Sports, not retrofitting old games that didn't meet sales expectations with the control scheme.

If you could 'retrofit' an old game and make it a $20 download, it might be worth the effort. Perhaps neuter it enough so the cheap version is not playable with a regular controller.

I also think Sony should court every decent third party Wii game developer that didn't have successful sales on the Wii and encourage them to migrate their games to the PS3. If sales were poor on the Wii and more viable on the PS3, then there might be a steady migration or at least viable dual platform development.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I also think Sony should court every decent third party Wii game developer that didn't have successful sales on the Wii and encourage them to migrate their games to the PS3. If sales were poor on the Wii and more viable on the PS3, then there might be a steady migration or at least viable dual platform development.

That might be a significant uphill battle unless Sony throws in some financial incentives.

Considering the install base is a fraction of Wii's and doesn't currently have a reputation of being casual friendly. Developer's I would imagine would think they'd have even less chance of success on PS3 as they had on Wii.

Although some of the more hardcore/adult games like Mad World might see a dev like Sega taking a chance porting.

Add to that the PS3 is going to require more resources even for a port probably than just developing another native Wii app.

Regards,
SB

 

[patsu]

As awesome as LBP was, its sales were not. Sony's priority should be on making a new killer-app game, a la Wii Sports, not retrofitting old games that didn't meet sales expectations with the control scheme.

New motion sensing games will naturally be planned.

However, user generated motion sensing games will help to foster new ideas and rally support around the concept. It should be more convincing than one-direction marketing campaigns. In addition to paying for the campaigns, Sony and MM have a chance to earn some money via the extension or even new LBP apps.

As for LBP not selling to expectations, I don't think it's a failure either. Word of mouth remains strong. It's a new franchise and a new concept. Some dev mentioned that LBP has long legs and good DLC response. I have encountered many non-gamers and 360 gamers who are curious about the game. Kids who played it want to know what it's called (despite it's difficulty). There should be quite a few mileage in the franchise.

Now that PS3 price has dropped. More people will get to try it out.

That might be a significant uphill battle unless Sony throws in some financial incentives.

Considering the install base is a fraction of Wii's and doesn't currently have a reputation of being casual friendly. Developer's I would imagine would think they'd have even less chance of success on PS3 as they had on Wii.

Although some of the more hardcore/adult games like Mad World might see a dev like Sega taking a chance porting.

Add to that the PS3 is going to require more resources even for a port probably than just developing another native Wii app.

They will do it because they know they can sell to all 3 vendors with similar concept. The additional investment helps them to prepare for Wii HD too.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

New motion sensing games will naturally be planned.

Perhaps equally important in getting it used and devs willing to adopt it, retrofitting existing games to add new experiences should be a cheap yet effective motion-gaming offering. LBP provides a near perfect engine for 3D object manipulation in an existing game where creation is key. That fits perfectly with the motion controller and existing demos, and would make the creation in LBP much more accesible where at the moment it can be a bit awkward.

TV ads have shown LBP's results, but not the effort to create them. I'm sure TV ads showing people drawing levels intuitively would do a good job of showing PS3's motion control, and as part of an overall package, would be a cheap yet worthwhile target to pursue.

 

[Quaz51]

for LBP, just use wand for draw 2D shape and extrude is already a good improve

 

[JPT]

As awesome as LBP was, its sales were not. Sony's priority should be on making a new killer-app game, a la Wii Sports, not retrofitting old games that didn't meet sales expectations with the control scheme.

I am always intrigued by comments about games not having enough sales.

I believe LBP has sold 2.5M copies, why is that bad? Especially since you need no where close to that to qualify for a Platinum re-release.

And if we remove the Halo, Gears of Wars, MGS, COD etc how many titles do actually get that kind of numbers?

 

[patsu]

Ha ha, I supposed some people have very high expectation of the title. Before LBP was launched, I have seen people saying that user generated content won't work after the initial launch period. I myself felt that LBP momentum may not sustain beyond a year if MM doesn't follow up with simpler tools, and easier levels.

Based on forum thread activities, it seems fine so far. It's not a problem finding people to co-op online too. I still think MM stands to gain more if they simplify LBP levels further. Fortunately, new players are coming in due to strong word of mouth, and the title's inherent sexiness.

 

[archangelmorph]

If you can talk, does the prototype have an analog stick ?

Dunno how much I'm officially allowed to say but, bearing in mind that it's still a prototype so the exact nature of the final retail device may very well change considerably between now and then, it was pretty much exactly the same as the one in the Sony R&D video from their blog site..

Sony definitely seem to have big plans for the peripheral as far as I'm aware and so it'll be interesting to see what we & other studios decide to do with it on the software side..

 

[ShadowRunner]

Dunno how much I'm officially allowed to say but, bearing in mind that it's still a prototype so the exact nature of the final retail device may very well change considerably between now and then, it was pretty much exactly the same as the one in the Sony R&D video from their blog site..

Sony definitely seem to have big plans for the peripheral as far as I'm aware and so it'll be interesting to see what we & other studios decide to do with it on the software side..

Are you able to comment on wether it is likely to have an analogue stick or not?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

At this point he doesn't know. It's still a WIP and subject to change., such is the nature of prototypes.

I quite like the idea of something less prominent than a full thumbstick. A pressure sensitive thumb-pad thing would work well to record grip strength (in cahoots with an analogue trigger), giving more options.

 

[ShadowRunner]

As long as there is something there that enables directional input i dont care what it is. My fear is that this wont be the case. I wish they would just go the whole hog and just copy nintendos nunchuck, maybe making it wireless.

 

[Asher]

I am always intrigued by comments about games not having enough sales.

I believe LBP has sold 2.5M copies, why is that bad? Especially since you need no where close to that to qualify for a Platinum re-release.

And if we remove the Halo, Gears of Wars, MGS, COD etc how many titles do actually get that kind of numbers?

I didn't know LBP was up to 2.5M. According to VGChartz it looks like it has 2.35m, which is much higher than I thought given its peak monthly NPD charting was like 130k. It looks like it got some legs due to word of mouth.

Still, there are 22 Xbox 360 games alone with more sales than that. Including Kung Fu Panda. There's only 10 PS3 games that've sold more, so I guess it's not too bad.

 

[Iron Tiger]

As long as there is something there that enables directional input i dont care what it is. My fear is that this wont be the case. I wish they would just go the whole hog and just copy nintendos nunchuck, maybe making it wireless.

I think Nintendo's idea was ingenious, putting a precision controller in your dominant hand and traditional analog controller in your other hand. The sheer brilliance of that didn't fully hit me until I tried out SplitFish's FragFX 2 at E3. Having that analog "fragchuk" to go with the mouse was just so much better than using a keyboard. I really don't understand why so many company's try to make supplimentary controllers for FPS games that have a digital keyboard-style layout when it's so much more comfortable and freeing to use an analog nunchuk.

 

[thatdude90210]

I think Nintendo's idea was ingenious, putting a precision controller in your dominant hand and traditional analog controller in your other hand. The sheer brilliance of that didn't fully hit me until I tried out SplitFish's FragFX 2 at E3. Having that analog "fragchuk" to go with the mouse was just so much better than using a keyboard. I really don't understand why so many company's try to make supplimentary controllers for FPS games that have a digital keyboard-style layout when it's so much more comfortable and freeing to use an analog nunchuk.

The keyboard layout does offer a few more buttons for weapons selection and other functions that are normal to FPS games.

But yeah, aiming with one hand and moving with nunchuk analog stick is awesome. That's why after playing Wii RE4, I didn't even think about getting RE5 for the 360.

 

[patsu]

Still, there are 22 Xbox 360 games alone with more sales than that. Including Kung Fu Panda. There's only 10 PS3 games that've sold more, so I guess it's not too bad.

Not sure it's relevant to compare those 22 Xbox 360 games with LBP. Not all of them are released at the same time as LBP. Remember 360 launched one year earlier, it had more time to achieve higher sales number. What's more, the games are targeting different audience. It's safe to say LBP is doing well. We have not even counted the DLC contribution yet.

As long as there is something there that enables directional input i dont care what it is. My fear is that this wont be the case. I wish they would just go the whole hog and just copy nintendos nunchuck, maybe making it wireless.

I think Nintendo's idea was ingenious, putting a precision controller in your dominant hand and traditional analog controller in your other hand. The sheer brilliance of that didn't fully hit me until I tried out SplitFish's FragFX 2 at E3. Having that analog "fragchuk" to go with the mouse was just so much better than using a keyboard. I really don't understand why so many company's try to make supplimentary controllers for FPS games that have a digital keyboard-style layout when it's so much more comfortable and freeing to use an analog nunchuk.

Yes, I am curious what they intend to do with the very important thumb stick.

The original Wiimote does not have a gyro, so the analog stick is even more crucial. The PSMC controller has a built-in gyro. Perhaps Sony feels that the twist of the wrist may be able to substitute the analog stick. I have not given it enough thought to poke hole in that line of thinking.

 

[archangelmorph]

Are you able to comment on wether it is likely to have an analogue stick or not?

Well I can't really say..

It's Sony's decision either way and I'm sure we'll know one way or another..

If not though I'd speculate that they may go the Wii direction w/ respect to analogue stick support, of which I'm sure they're already considering it..

 

[patsu]

I think the analog stick may be needed for core gamers.

It may be possible to replace the analog stick with a combination of wrist twisting and head movement, but I think using analog stick is like moving eye-balls without turning your head. The behaviour's etched into core gamers. May be awkward to force them to use other body parts when twiddling their thumb suffice.

For casuals, I think head tracking and wrist movement may be fine.

 

[_phil_]

Well I can't really say..

It's Sony's decision either way and I'm sure we'll know one way or another..

If not though I'd speculate that they may go the Wii direction w/ respect to analogue stick support, of which I'm sure they're already considering it..

hmm.. ,i agree 100%

 

[archangelmorph]

hmm.. ,i agree 100%

You know something too dont u phil?

 

[Arwin]

I'm willing to bet that with a big TGS motion controller presentation coming up, the truth is out there, and several developers have prototypes and a means to give feedback to Sony, so I believe you guys.