Many have labelled motion-based gaming as a fad – but it’s something that just doesn’t seem to abating at all. It mostly started with Nintendo’s Wii – but now Sony and Microsoft have motion-sensing peripherals and camera’s. The 3DS, smartphones and even Sony’s imminent PlayStation Vita all include gyroscopes so their tilts and turns can be translated to on-screen movement.
Microsoft’s Kinect is arguably the most technologically advanced motion-control system available right now, and even though its application for gaming has proved limited, Sony seems enamoured enough with the technology that – according to reports at least – they’ll be including similar functionality with their next home console.
According to Taiwan’s Digitimes, the PlayStation 4 will feature full-body motion tracking, not dissimilar to Kinect – when it ships at the end of next year. According to the report, Foxconn and Pegatron Technology – the current factories assigned with assembling PlayStations will continue to do so. Personally, I’m not convinced. I think, based on what we’ve seen so far, that Sony realises that a controller is necessary for many fully-fledged gaming experiences. If Sony does include a Kinect-like system with their next console, I suspect it’ll work in conjunction with the already established PlayStation Move.
If it does come to pass that the PS4 does indeed have Kinect-like controls, expect the rapid Sony fanbase, who’ve been saying Kinect is the worst thing to happen to video games ever, to do an about-turn, proclaiming full body motion-control to be THE FUTURE.
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