WEBVTT - The Future of Video Game Controllers 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.959 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello there, everyone, 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.759 Welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:22.720 I am the tech editor here at how stuff works 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:26.040 dot com. And across from me, sitting there as usual, 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:30.200 is Senior Ryan Jonathan Strickland. We control the horizontal. We 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:35.479 control the vertical too. Nice. Yeah, Actually, this, this podcast 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.559 is all about control and lack thereof. No, okay, no, 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.879 just just control. We're normally out of control on this podcast, right. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:51.479 The genesis of this comes from a little listener mail. Yes, 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.280 listener mail comes from Josh and not not our Josh, 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.680 not Josh Josh creepy hands clark. Um, this is different, 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.040 Josh says, Hey guy, I was just wondering if you 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.880 could do a podcast explaining Xboxes project and at all 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.800 and how it works. Thanks Josh. So let's start. We're 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:08.720 gonna actually talk about the sort of the future of 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.440 video game controllers in general, but we could spend a 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.720 little time talking about the toll. Yeah. I thought it 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:20.839 would be interesting to discuss, like, very very briefly, where 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.880 we've come from, because I mean the very early video 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.840 game controllers were rock tied to a string attached to 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:35.120 a another rock. We call that poe really now, um, now, 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.560 they were very simple. I mean on Pong, you had 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.280 a paddle. Yeah, a paddle, which is essentially a potentiometer, 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.360 you know, electronics device that goes you know, it's a 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.720 knob that goes left to right and back again. Um. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.920 And it's very you know, are sure that's a that's 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.080 a paddle or because that sounds to me like a 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:55.680 like a dance. I think that's how you did the 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.640 tutsie roll left and right and back again. Okay, stop it, um, 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.400 but no, yeah, I mean those the paddles were very early. 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:06.360 And the joystick, um, you know, it's just a series 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.919 that basically a um, a series of switches that were 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.360 controlled by the position of the joystick. You know, the 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.480 early buttons, and those were used in in arcade games, 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.840 in the early home video games, and you had stuff 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.239 like your favorite the in television. Now for our younger listeners, 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:28.600 there used to be these places called arcades. There's still arcades. Yeah, no, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.799 there are arcades. But you know what's disappointing is that 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:32.760 when you see arcade now they're talking about like some 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.720 sort of like courtyard. It's very few times that you'll 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:40.520 find a video arcade. Actually, those were around before video arcades. 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.480 What I thought that they took their name from. Are 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.160 you sure? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. But let you see 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.240 that Wikipedia page. I'm just kidding. We do not use 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:53.560 Wikipedia people, um no, um no. So all right, so yeah, 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:55.840 the arcade being a place where you would go and 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:57.519 they had lots and lots of video games that you 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:02.080 would exchange either quarters or token in order to play them. Yeah, 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.280 and a lot of them we're talking about very very 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.520 simple uh switches. I mean you had them. You had 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.160 the paddles that go left and right. You had track balls, 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.440 which are essentially, you know, the old roller style mice 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.640 turned upside down where you roll the ball with your 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.200 hand to control stuff like Marble Madness, for example, if 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.640 those centipede um you know, where you control your the 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.639 movement of the thing on screen by rolling the ball. Switches. 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.560 You had the bi directional joystix, which only get left 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.920 or right, you know, and then you had the kind 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:32.960 where you could do up, down, left and right and 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.240 again these were just switches he would you would push 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:37.440 the joystick in a certain direction that would put pressure 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.920 on the switch, which would indicate, hey, this guy wants 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.320 Mario to climb up the ladder. Mario used to go 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:46.440 up and down ladders a lot, Yes, he did, was 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.600 before he had the ability to jump, leap tall buildings 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.920 in a single bound. Yeah, go three D turn into 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.800 a paper airplane, that kind of stuff. Those were the days. Yeah, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.280 but no, Uh, video game controllers, you know when they 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.240 moved into the home, basically used the same kinds of technologies, 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.080 just the uh, the leaf switches, um and a lot 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.240 of them. You know, we're very simple. Even a key 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.240 pad would have a membrane over there with the numbers 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.920 or whatever else. And in television had that. Yeah, and 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.640 those were you know, very very early controllers. Atari trying 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:22.280 the the ridiculous with controller and it's you know theoretically 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.840 three sixty degree non centering joystick, which was a pain 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:27.920 in the neck. Oh yeah, yeah, I heard about that. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.400 I never had at so I never got to experience 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.200 the joy of the broken joystick. Yeah. They break very 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.000 easily because the joy six I mean you could put 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.200 those behind a truck back over it and it would 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.440 still work, yeah, and not really being a little exaggerating 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.520 a touch, but those they were rugged. Yeah. Joysticks were 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:47.720 a lot more, but they were very simple as far 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:51.240 as these things that these things go. And I think, um, 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.320 I think the first game controller that that was like 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:56.400 a real game had that I remember was from the 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.720 NES and Nintendo Entertainment System. There was actually sort of 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:04.520 the four runner of the modern four directions direction direction 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.280 pad and the two buttons BN A yes plus start 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.560 and select. Yeah. I mean there were other the controllers 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.280 that were sort of like that, but they were they 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.960 usually had they were big and he didn't you know, 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.359 you held them usually sort of vertically like the Colico 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:20.640 Vision the in television HR joysticks like that Dell. They 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.120 were all sort of vertical, and there was a most 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.800 first yeah, yeah, and then I mean there were tons 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.839 and tons you know, the other nintended control pads, and 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:36.560 then the Genesis and then the PlayStation pads you know, 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.679 but they were all sort of you know, evolutionary based 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.719 on that. They were a little more ergonomic, you know, 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.600 they weren't square and candy bar shape anymore. You got 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:48.359 to the Dreamcast controls that that was one of the 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.640 larger controllers that had the um the different analog joysticks 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.200 as well as the buttons, and then it also had 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.400 a slot for a memory card. The slot the memory 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:02.400 cards actually had a little uh displays on them. You 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.800 could in some games, actually had many games that would 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.480 play out on your controller's little miniature screen, which I 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.680 thought was kind of innovative and interesting. Now, granted, I 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.400 got a Dreamcast after the Dreamcast had already gone off 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.200 the market. I got a used one, and I got 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.240 a bunch of used games, um, and I even got 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.839 some old memory cards and stuff. And uh, I was 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:26.840 really surprised at how ingenious the Dreamcast system was and 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:28.760 and kind of sad that it never really took off, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.880 because it was in many ways uh and equal or 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.360 superior to the other systems that were on the market 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:38.120 at the time. But um, but that controller. You can 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.800 kind of see similarities between the Dreamcast controller and the 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.000 Xbox controller. Well that's the thing. I mean, for the 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:48.719 last couple of generations of game consoles, just about everybody 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.320 who's brought something to market has a nice, comfortable, ergonomic 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:57.560 controller that is that's easy to hold the button. I 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.760 hate the PlayStation controller. I okay, look, I love the 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.200 PlayStation system. I love the games. I think they're great. 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.440 I hate that controller. It's just too cramped for my hands. Yeah. 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:13.280 And and since since we're talking about hate and controllers 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:14.840 and the same thing, I think we should point out 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:19.360 we've gotten some some recent comments about about our feeling 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.400 on video games. And I don't think there's a video 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.720 game console that I'm speaking for you here that either 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.320 one of us doesn't like, you know, as a video 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.320 game console. I think we might well, okay, but I mean, 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.240 if you had an opportunity to play one, you would 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.240 probably take the opportunity to play one. I mean I 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:39.000 would even play I had a chance. Sure, I would 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:40.840 take the opportunity to play one, because I'm a video 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.360 game We do not hate any game console in particular. 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.040 I mean, there's there's always but and and that's an 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.560 aspect of the thing. But I haven't actually, uh, you know, 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.080 had a chance to mess with the PlayStation three that much. Um, 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.280 not because I don't like it, but because I just haven't. 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.720 I haven't had the time in grad school, um so 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:02.760 you know. But that's the thing is that these are 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.960 are in general fairly comfortable, They're rounded, they have buttons, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.200 in in convenient places. For the most part, some of 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.680 them have lots of buttons. Depending on the games, it 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.960 might take a little learning to figure out where are 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.000 Some of us old folks will still be spending the 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.280 time saying, all right, which one allows me to jump? 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:21.960 And you meanwhile, you sniped us forty three times in 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.080 a row. Yeah, yeah, we understand. We're not as good 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.760 as you are. Ha ha, great, we make more money 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:33.760 than you do. Possibly not, but come on, give me something, man, 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.640 Come on, alright, alright, so anyway, Veronica Belmont befriended me 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:43.720 on Twitter. There I don't have that so um but uh, 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.560 you know, one of the things that that has come 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.960 up with the current generation of game consoles is, I 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.160 mean much has been made of the Wee Remote and 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.199 Nunchuck because there they were the first to market with 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.720 a wireless controller that can be used um, you know, 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.360 because it's got accelerometers and things, and you can actually 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.640 use it to make motions like you would if you 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.920 were actually playing, uh, like a phishing game. You actually 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.360 act like it's a fishing run, right right. It was. 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.920 It was the first really innovative step in video game 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:17.320 controls that we have seen in a very long time, 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.880 because everything up to that point had been an evolution 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.640 of the basic control system. Even even the wireless controllers 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:29.160 for the older systems were the same controller that didn't 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:33.720 have a leading to the to the actual console. It 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.920 was the same exactly, and so the we mode was 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:39.840 the first time in a very long time that we 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.720 had seen some innovation. The Nintendo is actually known for this. 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.640 They've tried it a few times, not always successfully. Do 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.959 you remember the power Glove? I do remember the power glove. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:55.120 Not the most successful implementation of a video game user interface, 0:09:55.280 --> 0:10:00.840 nor the most attractive. Yeah, hey, that thing was pretty 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.000 you know what, I there are no superlatives I can 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.319 use that I will actually make it into this podcast. 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.240 They'll all be bleeped out. It was. It was cool 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.960 from a from like a twelve year old perspective, that 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.559 thing was. It was like you're a freaking robot when 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.720 you push it on. I mean, every kid wanted that 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:18.719 I knew wanted one of these things, even the kids 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:23.600 who didn't have any Supernantendo system or whatever, they wanted one. 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:26.840 But yeah, as a game controller. Because I actually got 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.640 to play with one because one of my friends got one. Um, 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:31.960 it was it left a lot to be desired. It 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.080 just didn't have You know, you weren't able. You you 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.080 thought you were suddenly going to become like super Leak 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:39.640 in all these games because you just be able to 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:41.600 point your hand at the screen and make your little 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.120 guy move around and jump and fire, and it would 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.079 all be at a twitch of a finger. It didn't 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.199 quite work that way. Um. However, it did show that 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:54.200 Nintendo was already even back then, thinking of ways to 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.600 create new forms of gameplay so that, uh, you know, 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.160 they could sell more games. I mean, ultimately it means 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.120 making more money, but it also means not falling into 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.080 the trap of just doing the same thing over and 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.160 over and over again. What's something else that Nintendo is 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:12.160 often accused of doing because they depend so heavily upon 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:17.040 certain franchises like the Mario franchise of the Metroid franchise. Um, 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.560 but they also are known for really being innovative when 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.000 it comes to hardware. So the We mode was another 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:23.880 step in that where you finally finally get to a 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.480 point where this is a system that actually works. Unlike 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.719 the power Glove, this system worked pretty well. You could 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.800 do lots of neat things with the game. The biggest 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:37.840 Prominintendo's faced since the introduction of the Wii is a 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:42.280 real lack of compelling software. It's not that the hardware 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.280 is is a lackluster It's just that there aren't enough 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.880 really great games for the Wii too for people to 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.080 to have their attention be held by this device. I mean, 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.520 most people will say, I got a Wei, I played 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.520 the heck out of it for about three months, and 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.439 then I turned it off and haven't turned it on since. 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.360 M Yeah, it seems like, um, well, it's the very 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.520 first that the titles that came with its launch, there 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.880 were very few that really took advantage of the we 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.160 remote capabilities. I think it would be safe to say 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.880 means WE Sports did definitely do that quite a bit. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.680 Sure there, but their third party title, sure, the third 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:19.280 party talk well, I mean when you think about it, 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.880 they were okay, but they weren't as advanced as the 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.040 ones that are currently in the market. And that's the 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.320 danger of creating a really innovative form of gameplay is 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:31.200 that you have to hope that developers can keep up 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.520 with you and create content that takes advantage of your 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.720 new hardware. Um, if you have created a brand new 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.520 style of gameplay. Then that that's a big hurdle. It's 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.600 not like, oh, we have to learn how to program 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.040 for this new video card, or we have to make 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:50.120 sure that the game system sound card UM is supported 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.560 that kind of thing. It's we have to figure out 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.880 how how we want to interpret certain motions and and 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.080 translate them into game action. It's a totally different way 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:03.880 of thinking. So it's actually, when you think about it 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.920 that way, it's a huge challenge from a game developer standpoint. 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.680 So I'm not terribly surprised that the early third party 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:15.319 games UH did not take advantage of the MOATS capabilities 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.120 to the extent that most of us had hoped. And then, 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.679 of course UM over the past year, year and a 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.760 half or so, you know they've started they released the 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.559 add on, the Motion Plus, which plugs into the back 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:33.240 of the more precise UM and that's you know that 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:34.880 that will probably give it a little more life to it. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.040 I think the other issue we need to look at 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:40.959 it's not just the gameplay for the WEI, but also 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:45.880 the target audience, because we really targeted casual gamers in 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.800 a way that the other game systems don't. UM. Not 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:50.800 to say that there aren't casual games on the p 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:54.280 S three or Xbox three sixty. There are, uh. And 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:58.040 not to say that there are no hardcore type games 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.920 on the Wii, because there are core games as well. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.360 It's just that, in general, the perception is that the 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.520 we was for casual gamers, like families. You know, it's 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.240 the sort of thing that a mom and dad could 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.959 play with their their kids. Um, not just because the content, 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.400 but because the control system was so intuitive that you 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:17.800 didn't have to sit down and learn, oh wait, I 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.240 need to do half circle forward be a to pull 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.480 off that move. It was just you know, you flip 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.480 your wrist and you push a button and there you go. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.160 And UM. The thing about that is that, yeah, these 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.440 casual games are fun, but it's like a board game. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.960 You know, you don't want to play it every day. 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.120 It's not the kind of game that gets you sitting 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.680 down in front of the television and playing for hours 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.400 on end, day after day after day, like other hardcore games. 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.840 So ultimately, yeah, you're gonna lose interest in these games. 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.200 It's just that's the way we work. We don't tend 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:53.239 to want to play the same sort of casual things. Uh. 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.800 For a prolonged period. I mean, you might want to 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.080 go and revisit them now and then, but it's not like, 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:00.440 you know, you're not making time to do it all 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.920 the time. Yeah, well, I don't know. I mean I 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.560 think it sort of depends on on the gamer, but 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.680 I think it's the same. I mean, casual games have 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.800 an appeal in a way that that the hardcore games, 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.520 uh don't depend It depends on the obviously depends on 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:17.000 the game. There are a lot of them that have 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:18.720 a story that goes along with him, and once you've 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:20.560 played through to the end of the story, a lot 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.000 of people don't go back to the start of the 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.720 story and go again. They go find a new game. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.200 Well yeah, but even like even like party games that 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:33.920 kind of stuff with like little mini games things like that. Yeah. Um, 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.200 and I mean it's the sort of thing that could 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.200 definitely still be brought out every now and then whenever 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.640 you got friends over. I just don't think that it's 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.960 the I mean, we've seen this in sales figures where uh, 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.400 November of two thousand nine excluded, uh, the we sales 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:49.920 started to kind of drop off. Part of that was 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.160 probably for another session. Part of that was because back 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.120 in September we had the Sony announcing the price cuts 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:58.240 for the PlayStation and and Microsoft announcing price cuts for 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.000 the next plus three sixty. And also think part of 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.040 it is that the stores actually have We's in stock 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.560 now as a normal thing, that the demand has been 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.280 meeting the supply. A lot of people, a lot of 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.000 people who wanted to WE already have one, so that 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.840 also helps. Um. But but the point being that that 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.720 interest in the WE appears to be waning. It's a 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:27.280 WE waning and Nintendo has admitted that that that's going on, 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.720 that they're selling fewer of the consoles. But but at 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.560 any rate, the WE what it did do is it 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:36.840 spurred both Microsoft and Sony. I mean, you could argue 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.040 that maybe the WE didn't spur it. Okay, well, I'm 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.680 sure the companies would, but they've started to develop their 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.440 own innovative game controller systems. Yeah. As a matter of fact, 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:47.440 Sony was and I know for a fact that Sony 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:52.240 was working on uh some motion sensitive controllers for the 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.800 PlayStation for for a quite a long time. So I 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:57.800 imagine though that that's the kind of that having the 0:16:57.840 --> 0:16:59.560 WE out there and having it be a success as 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.200 the kind of think that proves that, yes, people really 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.520 are interested in having this kind of experience when they 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.320 play games, right, you might want to ramp up the 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:08.600 research and development on those kind of projects once you 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.000 see the success of the Wei um and yeah, and 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.239 Sony had some experience with this already because they had 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.520 their their eye toy stuff, the uh, the camera based 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.920 games that for the PlayStation two, where you would hook 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.080 up a little it's kind of like a webcam to 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.080 your PlayStation two and you would you could play games. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.359 You would be inserted into the game system. You might 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.720 see like little bubbles floating around you as you look 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:33.720 at the screen and you see yourself and you move 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.119 your arms around you pop the bubbles. And they had 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.880 lots of little mini games like that. Actually know someone 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.760 who used to work on that project, and um, he 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.879 had done a lot of mo cap stuff motion capture 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.359 stuff as well, sou. But that was just kind of, um, 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:52.440 that's kind of like the the very the beta version, 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:54.439 if you will, of some of the control systems were 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.800 starting to come out. Now, now you said you had 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.520 looked into some of the other stuff Sony had done, well, yeah, 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.119 because um, because you know, it was just last summer. Uh, 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:04.960 and it makes them look late to the game. But 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.560 I don't really think that they were. I think that 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.560 they were actually sort of um investigating it and doing 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:12.080 R and D on it. Um. But last summer, Sony 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.280 announced um that they were going to come out with 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.560 a WAND type controller. UM. As a matter of fact, 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:23.840 I believe they're unfortunate timing there. Um press, you know, 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:28.080 formal press announcement came the day after Microsoft announced project 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:32.840 at all. But um, Sony actually announced this WAND style controller. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.720 It's got. Um it looks kind of strange. It really 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.639 does look like a wand because it's got a glowing 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:42.639 ball on the end of it. UM. Maybe maybe not 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.800 depends on the game. Uh, but no, it actually works 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.119 in conjunction with the PlayStation I and uh, by the 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:52.000 accounts I've read about it, Uh, this particular controller is 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:57.439 extremely precise. Um, and especially for things like fighting games, 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.480 could be really uh you know, could out we the 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.199 we as far as the you know, how precise the 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.399 controller is and how how well you can capture the 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:09.160 motion even when you're interacting with the game. UM. Yeah, 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.480 So I mean I don't know, Uh, the the articles 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.720 were I was checking out. We're immediately following that in 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:16.920 pre we Motion Plus. So I mean I haven't seen 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.080 any uh you know, hard evidence of either. Of course, 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.200 the wand control of the new UM motion controller for 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.639 the PlayStation three isn't due out until next year. But 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.960 you know what kind of game I'm gonna want for that? Yeah? 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:34.680 What what type of game this? You're gonna say something 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.400 involving a lightsaber? Yes, I want a lightsaber game. That's awesome. 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.240 I'm I'm guessing that Lucas Arts will be happy to 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.240 help you out with that, I should hope so. Because 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.760 he still owes me for episodes one, two, and three, 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:51.120 I'm holding him personally responsible on behalf of true Star 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.360 Wars fans everywhere. As long as I get the payoff, 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.520 I'm happy to bear that burden. Yeah. But the but 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.359 the weed doesn't actually have a camera. You know, it 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.520 does have you know, infrared, and it has the accelerometers 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.200 and it could tell what's going on. Um. But the 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.720 the PlayStation does has the combination of the PlayStation I 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:13.080 and this one controller, so you should be able to 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.080 be somewhat more immersive. The camera is able to track 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.280 the motions of the one. The one itself has its 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.560 own accelerometers and everything in it, so so it should 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:22.080 be pretty cool. I think I'd like to have a 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.879 chance to to mess with it. Of course, again that's 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.920 very different from what Microsoft is proposing with Roget and 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:34.720 that really took off again because the popularity of you know, 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:36.760 the Wei. Of course, they were kind of dismissive of 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:38.679 it at first, Oh, this is just a toy, but 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.800 you know, it proved doubt that people actually liked the 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.120 game that way. Yeah, and and the thing about at 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.879 All is that kind of took everyone by surprise at 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.919 three this past year. Yeah. Um, I was at E 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:53.320 three when they announced it. I was not at the 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.720 press conference where they unveiled it. I actually arrived too 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.760 late to attend that that press conference. But that was 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.080 all I was hearing on the show floor that first day. 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:05.720