Sony Seeks a Cure for “Wii-envy”

I’ve always considered myself something of a Nintendo fanboy. Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid; staple series that I will forever hold dear to my heart. Though it’s not so much the games, but Nintendo’s vigilance for game control innovation that has continued to captivate me. Nearly every idea Nintendo has introduced into controllers have become standards in design. The D-pad, shoulder buttons, triggers, analog sticks: pick up any controller, and you’re almost guaranteed to find them.

However, being an innovator has drawbacks. Aside from being the guinea pig, you showcase the good ideas, as well as the bad. (*cough* *cough* Virtual Boy *cough*). Bad ideas can be avoided, while good ones become the template and eventual standards for others to follow. In business school, they call it leapfrogging the competition- emulating something great and trying to do it a bit better. Sony is desperately trying to do just that.

Despite the fact that Sony already had their swing at a motion-sensitive controller with the SIXAXIS, it was difficult to view it as anything other than a dismal attempt. Poor responsiveness, dropped signals, and overall bad implementation of the motion-sensing were some of the top issues that earned a “thumbs down” from gamers. So much for Sony’s “Let’s do what Nintendo does!” tactic.

Lesson learned, Sony invested more time developing, and recently tested a new break-apart motion-sensing controller. Each piece would have its own individual accelerometer (you know, that part that made the Wiimote work), and players will be able to use the controller as a single piece, or as two separate pieces. (I can only assume future game designs will dictate the preferred control method.) While a finalized version has yet to be shown, supposed patents, renditions, and speculations have been appearing across the blogosphere. My personal favorite: a design that not only includes motion-sensing, but also finger movement sensing, a la the Power Glove. This could make for some really interesting interactions within a 3D environment.

So while I admit curiosity, I also express my deepest concerns. Should Sony succeed in implementing their version of a Wiimote, I fear it may prove devastating to Wii’s sales dominance. Nintendo’s edge in the console wars has always been its ability to innovate. With the Wiimote, it was enough for gamers to overlook the obvious lack of graphical power. So if the same interactive experience could eventually be had on a more powerful system, what’s to keep gamers from leaving their Wii behind? The fanboy in me weeps…