Games, they are a-changin’

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This article was published 11/06/2010 (5870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — Video-game makers are about to try to persuade you that fancy 3-D screens, gesture-recognition cameras and ultra-sensitive motion controllers topped with brightly glowing spheres are what you need to have a good time.

They’ll do this as they try to emerge from a recession slump that shocked a business long believed to be protected from, if not totally immune to, the workings of the broader economy.

Much of the industry’s success this year is riding on whether Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and game publishers are able to sway consumers toward new, maybe even pricey ways to experience games — even as free or inexpensive options on Facebook, smart phones and the iPad compete for their attention.

Beginning next week at E3, as the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles is called, game companies will show off several new mechanisms for playing games. Among them will be Move, which is Sony’s new motion controller for the PlayStation 3 and launches this fall, when it is expected to cost less than $100. A black remote with a colour-changing ball on top, it builds on the success of the Nintendo Wii’s popular motion-control wand, but it promises more precision. A camera called PlayStation Eye recognizes the glowing orb and uses it to track the remote’s position in a 3-D space, further immersing players in the game.

Even so, Fidel Martinez may need a bit of convincing. The 19-year-old PlayStation 3 owner says he likes his button-filled video-game controllers just fine, thank you. Walking out of New York’s Nintendo World store recently, Martinez said he doesn’t think he’ll buy Move.

"It’s too weird," he said. "The times I’ve played (motion-controlled) games has been strange. I’d rather use the old kind."

Sony is betting he’ll change his mind. Richard Marks, senior researcher at the company and the brains behind Move, thinks the controller will appeal to gamers like Martinez, even if they snubbed the Wii’s gesturing wand as kids’ stuff.

"One of our design goals was to make sure it stood out as a completely different experience that has never been seen before," Marks said.

Serious gamers like Martinez are not the only ones on Sony’s radar. The company has been pouring millions of dollars into marketing its PlayStation 3 with the tag line, "It only does everything." The goal is to rope in consumers more likely to watch movies and play party games than shoot on-screen enemies for hours on end.

Microsoft, too, wants to expand its gaming audience.

Natal, Microsoft’s upcoming game technology, uses a camera and gesture recognition to turn players’ bodies into controllers. After the camera recognizes you — your body shape and movements down to the smallest toss of your hair — you’ll be able to swing your hands to swipe at on-screen dodge balls or pretend you’re Godzilla and smash virtual buildings with swing of your arm. You could even scan in your real-life skateboard to ride a version of it in a game.

"This is really what we like to think of as the rebirth of our brand," said Dennis Durkin, chief operating officer of Microsoft’s video game business.

Analyst firm DFC Intelligence estimates the worldwide video-game retail industry will reap revenue of $59.5 billion this year, down slightly from $60.4 billion in 2009 and well below the $68 billion of 2008.

 

— The Associated Press

 

Our guys at the E3

Watch for live coverage of E3 in Los Angeles next Monday to Thursday with the Winnipeg Free Press team of Tyler Walsh and John White, at www.winnipegfreepress.com.