Sony's wand circa 2005

[Bobtheduck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpNdkm9s8AY&feature=player_embedded

The version shown at the latest E3 is a combination of this idea and an actual controller with buttons.

I still think they're a bit late with it, but... no one can accuse them of being a simple Wii ripoff, for sure. Eyetoy was really great tech, and it wasn't just a webcam, it was the software to go with it.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I'm kind of starting to wander in the direction Yahtzee's assessment of gaming tech. I really hope it doesn't turn in to a gimmick with console devs abandoning the core group of gamers in order to make a quick couple bucks off of the casual crowd. I don't think MS and Sony have really taken note of the fact that so far in to the Wii's life cycle we've yet to see the technology really bloom. I mean, yeah, we've got some great games out of it, but for the most part the control schemes have been simple gimmicks rather than mostly solid setup. I'd like to see the technology come to the fore, but I'm really worried that no one is actually gonna be able to pull it off with great success.

Which is to say, I'm not saying there aren't any great games on the wii. There really are, but a lot of those games either relied on something closer to the traditional control scheme, or they allowed the option for it.

[EricTheFred]

No industry is ever loyal to a demographic, I'm afraid to say. As a group they are loyal to the biggest market. However, if consoles become designed more for the mass-market than the high-end gamer, I would eventually expect someone serve the smaller market as their niche, as you see in the automotive industry. (Or as you see in computers, with Mac serving the crowd unsatisfied with the PC. For many years, there was a continuing market for the Amiga as well, long after the rest of the world thought it was ancient history, as the video editing system of choice for small videography businesses.)