Molyneux: Motion gaming is making devs 'sweat'

Dammit, you beat me to it.

Aren't his games in the first generation of motion gaming for the xbox360? Is he already apologetic?

I'm not sure, but something that isn't an obvious implementation sounds more like Wii waggle than anything else.

"Turn your body sideways to increase elevation!"

No thanks =\.

What exactly did he say in this article that makes him a douche?

Mistakenly thinking that A) Motion controllers have changed anything important to game design. B) Thinking that he knows what he's talking about. C) Pretending his last games we're so much grater than what they actually were.

Maybe I need to re-read the article but he didn't say any of that. He was simply stating that developers are getting a bit nervous because the mechanics of making a motion based game is so different than a regular game.

(By the way, you spelled greater wrong)

A) pretty much every major developer has signed on to develop games for natal/move, in addition to what the wii has been doing for the past several years

B) he's a video game designer, he knows what he's talking about, and just because you play video games doesn't mean you know shit about the development process

C) fable II's metacritic score of 89 and 3.5 million copies sold would like to have a word with you. if you don't like the game, fine, but your opinion is far from absolute.

and i would also like to add.....

D) it's spelled DOUCHE

and

E) for calling molyneux a douche, you've certainly out-douched him by a mile with your own arrogance

A) pretty much every major developer has signed on to develop games for natal/move, in addition to what the wii has been doing for the past several years

This doesn't prove that it will have any lasting effect on game design going forward.

B) he's a video game designer, he knows what he's talking about, and just because you play video games doesn't mean you know shit about the development process

I'm older than you think kiddie and I've worked as a designer/producer in the game industry.

C) fable II's metacritic score of 89 and 3.5 million copies sold would like to have a word with you. if you don't like the game, fine, but your opinion is far from absolute.

When people try to prove something is great by pointing out sales or review scores all they are really pointing out is that they can't think of a real reason why something should be though of as great. Mob mentality doesn't prove anything.

D) it's spelled DOUCHE

You got me there.

and

E) for calling molyneux a douche, you've certainly out-douched him by a mile with your own arrogance

Overall Molyneux is definately a bigger douche as I just started being one today but hes been at it for a decade.

the correct response was for you to shut the hell up and go troll somewhere else.

Maybe you can flap your arms like a bird to activate the angle wings in Fable 3? I'd feel like a total bad ass then! Thats also a great use of motion controls. I can see why all these designers are losing sleep thinking about all the mundane crap NO ON CARES ABOUT.

Classy David. But then I wouldn't have expected anything less from someone who presents so fine an argument.

It does bring about a big change in game design, if motion is being implemented properly. Suddenly we're focusing more directly on making games fun and engaging just to play.

Now its not enough that a game be technically sound, or even have solid gameplay, now games have to be fun to just play, as a concern separate from the other things that make games fun (actual gameplay mechanics, graphics, sound, story, et al)

Game design had been trending towards a focus on multiple elements that come together to make a great game, now it's coming back that a game has to be fun of its own accord, and its much more challenging because you can quantify "quality" in terms of graphics, story, cinematics, sound, even in terms of solid mechanics and programming, but its harder to quantify fun.

An interface isn't part of the game. You need to have a good interface for the player to be able to easily interact but it doesn't fundamentally change what a good game design is. This doesn't enable any NEW kind of experience, motion controls are just a new interface thats it, and only a hack would think that because your waving your making a different motion that constitutes a new gameplay experience.

Lets be honest about what Molyneux is really saying here. "Recently Nintendo has been wildly successful with the Wii and brought a new audience unfarmiliar with gaming into the gaming world. I, as someone who is interested in money, wish to learn how do design games that interest these new enterants into the realm of gaming. It has nothing to do with a paradigm shift in game design just a paradigm shift in my attitude towards my target audience. The games will suffer, but I will line my pockets with all the cash from the poor newbie gamers who don't know any better.

I consider a game to have good controls when I can forget that I'm using them. So far these motion games do the opposite. I don't care if they add waggle controls to every game, but they better allow us to turn them off or else I'm just not going to the game.

Shag, you're problem here appears to be that you just read the first few lines of the Joystiq article, and not what Molyneaux actually said.

Those things you're criticizing him for saying are things that he didn't actually say.

OH EM GEE, shag and tige trolling in an Xbox thread.

What a shocker.

@David: good points all, but I agree with the poster that Molyneux seems like a Douche. However, I have been a fan of his earlier works, so I'm blaming the media for portraying him douchily. IOW, he just sounds like a douche.. I mean, come on.. The world's best-known and most influential Natal proponent saying "My baby is making everyone else quake in their sweaty boots!" ? That's pretty douchey. It's just as bad as the people claiming the Cell was going to have so much processing power that it would disrupt the earth's magnetic field and cause earthquakes. As if.

The sections Joystiq took from his interview do make Molyneux sound like a complete wanker, if you actually read the whole interview though he isnt that bad..

I havent played any of the fable games, and I dont know what else he has developed, but anyway I digress, his whole section into motion controls came from a question that asked him if he had any exposure to the new PS Move, to take another quote from the interview:

"It looks like they've taken a step forward but it's not as big a step as something like Natal, I don't think. This is purely me talking personally, but I think maybe it's slightly more a device for the core than it is for the casual market, because I think it's quite precise ... As a designer it's another one of those things I'd love to get my hands on and to play around with." Molyneux

He is talking about the ps3 Move, he does try to belittle it, listen to his wording. Even though he tries to belittle it I think he knows its the better tech, especially how he notes ".. device for the core ... its quite precise"

This alone should start sending a little alert to your brain, by this is he inferring that the Natal is not able to match the precision of Move ? Is he indirectly confirming suspicions a lot of us have had about Natal ? Is he trying to say something about Natals appeal ? Will the Natal be targeted towards the core on the 360, does the 360 have the processing power / memory required ?

I think in reference to "all this stuff is making designers sweat" put another way, trying to work with the Natal, which is the only thing he has access to the only access to motion controls he has is making him sweat.. Change the "designers" to be in reference to his game designers or to him talking about himself..

Maybe trying to integrate the Natal is becoming tough and he has to deliver on it so it will be making him sweat..

Joystiq didnt link the video showing the facial and body recognition the ps eye/ move is capable of.. That boxing game (shadow boxer / dukes?) is actually tracking your body its not just tracking your hands check this clip out:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-sony/63057

I can really see Microsoft sweating over this right now ...

R being overly sensitive in a 360 thread . . . what a shocker.

I'm with ya 100%

I like sony and I liked heavy rain's QTEs but even the parts when I had to move the entire controller up or down got annoying a little bit. I think that it is right on the edge, I think any more movement than that and I'm not interested or I'm just going to turn it off.

It keeps you from just sitting back and relaxing.

You guys are looking at it the wrong way. It's not like it's meant to be a replacement for regular gaming, it's simply for fun, like if you have friend's over or something.

Amen!

Agreed. As long as we have the control option to sit on our fat asses and mash buttons on a controller, he can be as revolutionary as he wants to be with all the motion sensitive crap. Just so long as it's not *required*, I'll keep enjoying games the old-school way.

It is meant to be a replacement for "traditional" gaming, make no mistake.

It is a legitimate concern that motion gaming involves more effort than some gamers are willing to put in, but as it is refined, it will be able to replace most experiences as we know them, and in a way that consumers will enjoy

The company's that try to cram motion down our throats will fail, but those who seek to make motion controls natural will succeed.

This past week I went to the gym and stepped it up a bit more than normal. This entire week my arms have been sore. you know what I did all week? played video games with my hands...not my arms.

What about the people that sit at a desk for 8 hours a day at work?

MS and Sony would be crazy to put everything on 3rd parties like Nintendo has in terms of motion content. That hasn't and will never work. They need to make stuff internally and lead the way which is something Nintendo never took the time to do.

I don't really care because no one has proven to me that motion controls make a game better. If Sony or MS can do that then I'll get excited. Otherwise, it'll just be another toy for the kids to enjoy (like the Wii currently is in my house) and me to ignore 95% of the time.

i agree that instances of motion controls "bettering" a game are few and far between, but i'll never forget how much the port of resident evil 4 improved the game. i enjoyed it on the PS2, but it became one of my favorite games of all time on the wii.

@David

I'm not even talking specifically about pre-existing games with motion patched into them. I'm talking about motion gaming in general. It has convinced me that it's really that big of a deal. Sure, some of it has been cool but nothing I couldn't have lived without . . . I haven't had that AH HA moment yet with motion controlled gaming. Until that happens I probably won't care about it. Give me something like a 1:1 light saber star wars game that kicks ass and we'll talk.

"put everything on 3rd parties like Nintendo has in terms of motion content. "

When did this happen?

This entire generation.

And what Tigre just said, my friends, is what we refer to as "revisionist history". Any questions?

I agree. I think people view him negatively cause he seems to always have something to say and people think he's being arrogant or self-absorbed by talking about his own games and trying to draw attention to himself. Honestly though, I think he's just enthused about the industry and he is excited and proud of the works he has been a part of over the years. I think he has every right to be.

was all the rehashed trolling necessary at the end? You had a great post until then.

Of course it wasn't.