New Media!

As a student studying 3D Animation, and games art in particular, it's very important to stay up to date with the different ways that gamers can interact with games and their environments. Recently, companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all trying involve their players more by using motion sensing technology to interact with the game.

 For instance, the Nintendo Wii was released in 2006 and used accelerometers and infra-red technology, and while the console was based around the motion sensitive controller, there were some issues with the sensor not always recognising the controller which would lead to some gameplay issues, but many games for the Wii were quick, multiplayer games that would be great for friends to play together



Following a similar style, Sony have developed a new system for the PlayStation 3 called PlayStation Move. This system uses the PlayStation Eye camera to detect a brightly coloured sphere on top of the controller. This controller uses inertial sensors which can tell the system where it is in comparison to its original position for when the light is obscured by anything in the environment, which is something the Wii lacked.



While I would say that the concept of the Wii was interesting, I don't think that it actually involved players with the gaming environment enough. For instance with the above video about the PlayStation Move, and on various others, you can see that because of the use of the PlayStation Eye camera, you are able to track your whole body, therefore your own movements will be accurately shown on screen but with a completely different character. You are also able to see yourself holding different objects from games because of the augmented reality technology.

Something that I was amazed by on my trip to Japan were the arcades there. There was one arcade game called 'Lord of Vermillion'. It was actually card based, which I found quite odd. There was a vending machine selling starter packs for game. You would then place these cards on the screen in front of you, which acted as a map and allowed you to control the layout and formation of your army. You were able to play through the single player story to win more powerful cards which you could then use to battle other players, either online, or on a nearby machine. I really wanted to test out the game but I didn't understand anything and ended up just watching players trying to get an idea of what was going on. Even though I didn't play it, it seemed a lot better at involving the player compared to the Wii, Kinect, or PlayStation Move.