Just last week, Sony announced the new motion controller called Playstation Move, being nick-named "Wii HD" by fans. This week, Nintendo announced that the 3D handheld system called Nintendo 3DS will feature 3D gaming without the use of special glasses to experience it. Later this year, all new 3D HD televisions will be released for consumers to gobble up. What's going on here? Are we witnessing an entertainment evolution or a shallow, short-lived gimmick? In my opinion - a little bit of both.When the Nintendo Wii was released in 2006 and the months (and years) afterward, critics voiced their opinion about it's gimmicky motion controls and that its initial popularity will wane off. Fast forward to 2010 - The Wii is still selling out at retails everywhere and breaking records just this past holiday season. Nintendo has proved that there's a market for motion controlled gaming and a whole new market of video gamers to indoctrinate.
What Avatar did for 3D is the same thing that the Wii did for motion control - it legitimized the medium. Instead of using cheesy 3D effects like a pole sticking out of the screen, it focused on immersing the audience in the film. America agreed that it did this with flying colors. The success of 3D in Avatar is now spawning 3D everywhere from video games, theaters, and television screens.
What is the common thread between the motion control and 3D technology? Immersion. We are getting to a point where the technology is there to help us experience film, television, and video games in a whole new way. Instead of pressing a button to swing a bat, now we can actually swing our arm. Instead of watching a flat 2d screen, we can now experience more sense of perception and depth, which is closer to real life. That's the goal - to match our sense of reality with how we interact with new media.
There are many criticisms of these new development. One is that many people are still not impressed and developers are going to waste most of their time utilizing this new technology with mediocre results. My answer: well... yeah, but only at first. New technology is just that - new. Just like when a new video game system is release, first generation games will not utilize the system's full potential. Give them a few years to learn the ins and outs and then you get amazing games later on. 3D and motion control may not completely WOW us yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Another criticism is that this new technology is not geared toward hardcore gamers and we will be the ones to suffer from it. I say no way! Motion and 3D won't hurt hardcore gamers at all, because there will alway still be developers who will make games for the core gamers. For example, digital music is today's standard but vinyl records are still produced with many who think it sounds better. This evolution won't bring the end to the Grand Theft Auto's, Call of Duty's, or Legend of Zelda's. Trust me, those will still be there. Now we'll just have to share the gaming space with our mom's and their Wii Fit's. If anything, this will help the alienation of core gamers and non-core gamers.
Face it - we're in a middle of an evolution. With new technology, we have to evolve and become better. What we're seeing with 3D and motion control is just the beginning. There will be many hills and bumps in the road, but for every muddy street, there will be a beautiful sunset of a game. And when we reach that destination where we can jack ourselves completely into new worlds Matrix-style, we'll forget criticisms even existed. But for now, I'll just enjoy the ride.
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