“Yet, since the Wii Remote birthed the great Wii Sports, it’s no stretch to claim that the revolutionary Remote has spawned no other great motion control games.”

Though, Totilo very clearly writes about the wide, sweeping trends of Nintendo’s motion controls (the revolution), statements like this are just garbage. Even if he was going by the sales numbers, that’s just one way of measuring a game’s greatness. He also seems to make an odd distinction between games completely controlled by motions and every other type of game. Looking at Wii games like this fosters a kind of all-or-nothing, exclusive view that creates greatly polarized options like his and yours. Without understanding the design of controls, wiimote controls, or motion controls everything that’s said from here on out tends to be myopic at best.

“Gamers groan at the flimsy motion controls mapped to action games. A shake of a hand replaces what could have been the press of a button. In game after game, motion control presents a different option, but one that seldom seems better.”

What’s “better” in this case is tricky. The industry as a whole thought more buttons on their controllers was better. In some ways it was. In other ways, like how it influenced the development of overly complicated games, it wasn’t.

So if motion controls poorly replace buttons in low quality games, sure gamers groan. But, like with every console and every kind of innovation, who cares about the bad games/examples that are copy cats doing things all wrong. Every console has a wealth of “bad” games.

Even when motion controls present a different but not better options, that’s still acceptable. Even for a revolution, every aspect can’t have a hands down 100% conversation rate.

“Mario and Zelda have not been transformed into adventures of motion-based brilliance.”

Let’s see. The games were amazing. Sold well. Reviewed well. And had motion control (in addition to pointer control) throughout the game. Seems to me that Totilo’s lame criteria is more evident here. He’s merely making excuses for games and poorly throwing around his opinion.

“Blockbusters Mario Kart Wii and Guitar Hero tucked it away in shells shaped like wheels and guitars, doing little to convince anyone that motion control was a must.”

Convince anyone eh? And who is anyone? All the gamer parents I’ve talked to/overheard talking about how great the Wii wheel is? Those gamers that wouldn’t play without the Wii wheel? To them it’s a must.

“A new Zelda down-played it. A new Mario limited its motion-control element, as have so many Wii games, to the occasional vibration of a player’s right hand.”

Occasional vibrations means every time you want to swing your sword? Perhaps. But every time you want to spin in Galaxy? That’s falls under frequent (unless, of course, you’re one of those players who doesn’t use the RUN button in SMB. You could very well get by without spin attacking much).

Still, analyzing the motion controls of games like this is more than counting the number of functions that require it. It’s about looking at the design as a whole and how the game is played. Totilo’s doesn’t seem to do any of this.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I wasn’t aware that I had to be helpful to your argument, nor had to agree/disagree with it to make a comment.

“but I the little I know about game design is more exploratory analysis”

Call it what you want. I have a problem with the ideas expressd on this page. Whether you’re responding to a comment from another place or not, what’s written here is what I focused on. If I find a point of weakness or contention in the writing, it reflects on the exploratory analysis.

“Generally, there’s that gross oversight again, I don’t have much to say when it comes to the nitty gritty of game design, because at best I would be a washboard amatuer.”

Don’t beat yourself up, and there’s no need to play that card. It’s not so nitty gritty as thinking carefully and thoughtfully. You don’t have to have a lot of game design experience to write cautiously and carefully about things at the fringe of your experience. If you have limited experience, then say in my experience. If you haven’t studied an example thoroughly, then express that. If you have an idea that may or may not pan out, then propose it in a way that lets the reader know where you’re coming from.

Also, you and Totilo seem focused on “motion controls,” yet you ignore the Wiimote’s pointer controls as if they don’t require motion to utilize. Like the DS, which has a variety of different control options/features that many games writers arbitrarily prioritize as being more important than others or worse look at with an “use all the features!” view, the Wiimote has accelerometer, pointer, and button controls. Using any combination of these controls qualifies as motion controls.

“Resident Evil: Umberlla Chronicles was very underwhellming and would have been better with the light gun”

Better? Perhaps. More expensive? Surely. Impractical. You bet. Underwhelming? Aren’t we talking about control implementation. I thought the game was fine control wise.

“Super Mario Galaxy I ended up using the Wii-mote and Nun chuck like a controller and found really no value with the motion control”

So you found no value? Does that mean you weren’t looking for it or you just didn’t find any. Because I value how I can spin the controller to make Mario spin in the game. I Value always having that function easily accessible because it’s not mapped to a button but built into the motion controls of the controller itself.

“Wii Sports granted was perfect but its too simple for much more than a Wii-mote tutorial”

Simple meaning it has a lot of intricacies, nuances, and variation to its precise controls? Wii Sports was one of my games of the year for many reasons. But one of the reasons is because there’s so much to learn and delve into with just the mechanics. Try getting platinum metals on the Tennis/Bowling/Boxing games and you’ll understand how engaging the controls are and how precise they can be.

Seriously, a tutorial? That’s just a rash and shallow opinion on a product that doesn’t deserve it.

“Wario Ware: Smooth Moves granted worked well but only on account of the fast and reckless pace of a 15 person muliplayer free-for-all we played.”

Wow. It’s like everything you say ignores large parts of these games. Smooth Moves does have a whole single player mode with mini games to play. The controls work fairly well throughout.

The way you related your comments on iconography to the Wii controls topic is the part I disagreed with most. Introducing the idea like you did wasn’t enough to support it or weave it into the post as a whole. Even if the topic is worth investigating, it wasn’t here.

@Richard Terrell First off thank you for the link, I will read it when I get around to it. But secondly, though I appreciate your critique of my writing, it isn’t really helpful to my arguement. In fact not once do you stipulate whether or not you agree with it.

I stated an opinion that was at first in response to a podcast. These are merely thoughts and are not backed up by design expirience as I have none and freely admit that. I understand game design is your blog’s thing and I accept that, but I the little I know about game design is more exploratory analysis than iron fact. Additionally this is not the place I do design analysis. I work for a design blog. That is where any of that type of analysis goes.

This was done as a response, it is linked, to the cultural idea of where the Wii stands. In particular one section of the podcast that talks about the difference in motion control to the other consoles. Generally, there’s that gross oversight again, I don’t have much to say when it comes to the nitty gritty of game design, because at best I would be a washboard amatuer.

But if you want examples to my experience with the Wii’s controls: In SSBB the motion control is pointless as we used gamecube controllers, Resident Evil: Umberlla Chronicles was very underwhellming and would have been better with the light gun, Super Mario Galaxy I ended up using the Wii-mote and Nun chuck like a controller and found really no value with the motion control, Wii Sports granted was perfect but its too simple for much more than a Wii-mote tutorial, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves granted worked well but only on account of the fast and reckless pace of a 15 person muliplayer free-for-all we played.

As for my comments on iconogrpahy being the extreme interpretation of a common human tendency, I have to dissagree. If it is a common human tendency than it merits some thought and consideration. At the moment I feel myself to be right and have hit upon something worthy of futher consideration. I will look into the idea further, but like I said before, that type of post will not appear here, but on CreativeFluff.com. I do post links to my writing on other sites if it is a full post unto itself.

Instead of getting into the design of controls or mechanics you fumble around in generalities. You also make a few vague mentions of some interesting design problems (1 to 1 motion and the possibilities of a disconnection between input and the reaction of the game), but without specifics or any real insight, even those comments come off as cursory as the rest.

If you programming for the Wiimote and/or studied the games that best use motion controls/pointer/some combination of what the Wiimote has to offer, then you’d understanding things more clearly.

The way you talk/think about complexity and the inaccuracies of the Wiimote need to be readdressed. In my article 3D Control of 3D (http://critical-gaming.squarespace.com/blog/2008/7/24/3d-control-of-3d.html) I talk about how the type of controller input can bridge the input gap between the player and game because you can control more intuitively and directly instead of translating inputs all the time. Instead of talking about imaginary gamers and how they play games poorly, get confused, and flail about, you should just study the games.

Every time you say “developers” and “most games” and “people” I cringe at the gross oversight. You comments about the iconography of the control/symbols is an extreme interpretation of a common human tendency that doesn’t add anything to the post as a whole.

Better luck next time.