Sure, we're all excited about the Nintendo Revolution controller. It offers the promise of
innovative gameplay that will have us swinging at baseballs, slashing at orcs, chopping vegetables, flipping Mario over
obstacles, and pumping our shotguns. But there's a dark side to the new control scheme: it's going to tire lazy geeks
out.
According to the WSJ, "it's inevitable that as such games' use of VR gets less V and more R, those with R-type skills will increasingly dominate — at least in the multi-player scenarios so prevalent in today's games. I can see 'exer-games' catching on and geeks being driven back to the basement to scratch and claw for dominance in the once-again derided world of 'thumb games.'"
In other words, those of us who have been good at games in the past may no longer remain at the top of the gaming pile in the future. Real athletic skill will play an increasingly important role in a gamer's ability to do well. When that happens, we better be prepared to shape up or shut up.
[Via WSJ paid subscription. Sorry about lack of free link.]
