DS Daily: Motion

You see, motion controls on the DS can be very tricky. I'm not sure if they are doing this because of the iphone or what, but just like the touch screen as long as developers find SMART uses for it, it's all good.

My suspicion, if they really do incorporate the motion sensing directly into the DS card, is that it is a way for them to fight piracy. I think you'll see it in a lot of games, even if unnecessary, just so people can't play a pirated version.

Do I want a game that requires me to shake my small, breakable, 120$ electronic device rapidly?

No. No I don't.

I'm guessing that this would be awkward in most public places.

My personal opinion is that it is not a good idea to shake your controller when your screens are attached to it. In other words, motion controls would have to be really subtle or else you risk having a hard time following the action on screen.

As long as you can hold onto the ds, shaking it isn't going to adversely affect the system, just don't drop it. I'd like to see another mario kart with the ability to do a little shake and get a trick off a jump, a tetris game that is controlled by moving it this way and that way, ect. I have a feeling this is being developed so the DSi can take advantage of motion in dsiware. Looking at the iphone, its short, stupid games that make the best use of the motion sensing capabilities. I look forward to seeing what nintendo can do with it.

Pass.

Yay, another gimmick. -.-
I can see a Wario Ware game and maybe one or two other games using it decently, and then it will either be ignored or used in a whole bunch of crappy shovelware - depending on the price of the motion cart.

Unlike the mic which is part of all DS units, developers wont be inclined to just add a minor feature which uses it - if they're going to pay for a motion sensing cart, they're going to milk it.

And as other have said, it would be silly looking to play in public, and too much shaking could have a bad impact on the hinges.

That said, I imagine movement would be more subtle, for the simple reason that your controller is also where your screens are - and if you're shaking it too hard, you can't see what the hell is happening on the screens. Hell, even games with nice slow tilting and whatnot could suffer from viewing angle and reflective glare issues.

Pass.

I hate motion controls in handhelds, mainly because it's impossible to execute properly. I can't play most iPhone/iPod Touch games that use the motion because of two general reasons:
1) You look like a freak when you're tilting left and right trying to look at the screen directly (this even moreso than the Wii)
2) It's got sensitivity issues where you barely tilt the thing and you go careening to your death, or you have to hold hard right in order to move slightly. See 1) for reasons holding hard right sucks.
And a third, DS-exclusive issue
3) Accelerometers would make some DS cards the new SuperFX cartridges: they'd cost more than normal because of the extra tech they've got to put in. Fail.

I have an iPod Touch and I agree that, for the most part, motion just doesn't work very well with handhelds because the screen(s) and controls are in the same place. The only kinds of motion I think would work at all would be tilt controls, for games like Mario Kart or Super Monkey Ball, or even the tilting portions of Wario Land: Shake It!, but definitely not any shake or waggle.

Marble Madness DS would be an awesome title with tilt controls

Honestly, I'm leaning more towards "I'll pass," but it depends on the game and the controls. I'd honestly have to see a demo before I'd make up my mind.