EDITORIAL
Disclaimer: Over the next few paragraphs, I will be talking about the gaming controller verses motion-controls, with Microsoft's Kinect first and foremost in mind. So, when reading this article, please remember that I may use the term motion-control loosely at times, but I am almost always talking about hands-free hardware and its effects on they way we've gamed for so long.
With the recent announcement of Steel Battalion making a comeback on Microsoft's beloved little box via Kinect capabilities, I started thinking about what had actually made Steel Battalion so popular in the first place. Back in 2002, Capcom released a game that flew under most players' radars called Steel Battalion. A Mechwarrior-inspired game at its core, Steel Battalion was a modern marvel of its time, not because of its content, but because of the giant, sprawling 140-button controller that came with the game. A replica of the inside of one of the game's skyscraper-like, walking tanks, Steel Battalion was known, not so much for what it offered in terms of gameplay, but because of this hulking peripheral that took immersion to a whole new level. Complete with foot pedals, Capcom's mechanized offspring was a force to be reckoned with due to this awe-inspiring controller that made players feel as if they were actually in the game, piloting one the colossal vehicles. It was the controller that made Steel Battalion what it was and is today, not the game. It was this abundantly large piece of plastic coated with candy-colored buttons that made gamers squeal with joy and delight. It was the controller that pulled the player into an otherwise slightly above average first person mech-embedded shooter. It was the controller that made the experience so great. It was the controller that gamers loved.
If you were to survey a handful gamers and ask them to list the reasons why they game, more than likely you'd see one constant statement across the board: To escape the stressors of everyday life. In other words, people are playing games to alleviate some sort of physical, mental, or emotional detriment or malady. In essence, by using games as an outlet, people are able to obtain and maintain a higher quality of life. This sounds like a bold statement, but it is most definitely true. Games, just like any other sport or hobby, invigorate us. They give us time to feel good about something, whether that be ourselves, our accomplishments, or some other uniquely exclusive idea. The time in which we play games, enables us to essentially take care of our own personal needs. This relaxation time has a direct spillover effect into the rest of our lives, allowing us to perform more effectively and efficiently in our other life roles (whether that be as a worker, student, father, husband, mother, wife, sibling, etc.). Essentially, games give us this capacity, and they do so by providing a means to temporarily put life on hold so we can enter into an arena that exists outside of the conflicts that present themselves in our 'real' lives.
So, the question is: where does real life end, and fantasy begin? I say real life ends at our fingers, and fantasy begins at the controller. The controller is a potent device that has profound power over our minds. We may not realize it at a conscious level, but on a deeper, more intricate and complex plane, the controller is giving us certain things simply not possible if we weren't holding it inbetween our hands. Since the conception of the Wii, the gaming industry has been in a frenzy over motion-controls. And, now with the soon-to-be-released Microsoft Kinect, the purpose, meaning, and value of the standard controller is exponentially diminishing to the point in which one can only assume that its extinction is inevitable. It may not happen anytime in the immediate future, but it doesn't seem unlikely think that the way of the controller may be an obsolete one sooner rather than later.
The purpose behind motion controls, and especially the Kinect, is to immerse players in the game world at an unprecedented level that cannot be reached through standard means, i.e. with a controller. Moreover, it is of absolute no surprise that most gamers out there want to feel as much a part of a game's world as possible. Being transported to an alternate universe and feeling as if you are actually there is something that only video games can truly do. However, there's an important factor in this equation that is often times overlooked. When we enter a game's world, we're transported to fictional land in which grants us the ability to forget our own. We do this at a conscious level, and we are none the wiser that the real world exists if a game is doing its job right and well. That being said, even the best game can not alter our unconscious mind, which is always aware that we are hooked up to a virtual reality machine. It knows this through various means, one of which I believe is the controller in which we're holding. Because the physical act of holding a controller is a rather foreign one, our body is constantly sentient of the fact that we're still very much so strapped into reality. Thus, having two hands glued to this little (or in Seel Battalion's case, big) piece of plastic is what keeps our minds where they need to be to optimally enjoy gaming for what it is. In the end, it's only our most alert thought, our conscious thought, that's being suppressed by the game not the part of our mind, the unconscious part, that governs the majority of our behavior.
So, in theory, the controller is almost like door to an imaginary kingdom of endless possibilities that are not limited by the laws of our own world. The Kinect and other, possible, future body-gesture recognition devices don't have a door – there is simply no journey to a fictional land. There is no vehicle, no pathway, no warpgate, and certainly no door to take us there. We're just instantly wisped away with the snap of a finger through time and space to the game world with nothing but ourselves. Like being stranded on a deserted island without food, shelter, or an iPod, there is no safe zone, no security blanket that we can cling to when we feel vulnerable. It's just us and the game world, much like it's just us and the real world every morning we wake up to go to work or school. The lines here become apparently blurred and suddenly fiction is, in fact, fact and that game, or 'fake' world becomes a hassle just like our real life. At this point, it's simply not fun or immersive anymore. It's a second life that eventually becomes just as real, stressful, and tedious as our first. Our beloved fantasy realm quickly becomes a reality of its own, which is ultimately counterproductive to most gamers' primary reason for playing games in the first place. In essence, what occurs is, instead of making the transition from reality to fantasy by coming home from a stressful day at work and winding down with a video game, one is merely making a lateral move from one reality to another. As soon as this happens that sense of magic, intrigue, and wonderment the games offer, is gone, null and void.
To me, the controller is what reminds us that we are playing a game – it allows us to enjoy that fantasy world – and I think this distinction, between imaginary and reality, has to be made, not because we need to separate reality from video games for moral purposes, but for the sheer enjoyment factor. We need to know we're playing a game to enjoy it in the way we do. The minute it becomes something other than a video game, is the minute it loses its positive and dare I say, healing, value and effect. Unfortunately this newfound war between classic controller and motion controls is a battle that may prove to be the beginning of the end in terms of how we've played and enjoyed video games for almost half a century. If the pendulum does indeed swing in favor of motion controls with an emphasis on free-hand motion controls (the Kinect), I think gaming will not have the same impact it has on players right now.
When I hear, read, or see anything about the Kinect, I always ask myself one question; what's more fun, being paid in Monopoly money or real money? To me, the Kinect is much like that. I don't want to mime Ryu tossing a Hadouken at Saget, I want to roll the joystick and press the heavy punch button and watch the madness unfold. Gaming is much like a sport that has been finely tuned and well-established. So, if you were to look at video games as such, it may be fair to say that a gamer's controller is like a baseball player's bat or glove. Without a bat or glove, baseball wouldn't necessarily be baseball anymore. These two items are the monikers of one of the world's oldest sports - they are more than mere tools the players use to propel the game forward. They have meaning, purpose, a history. Sure, there may be a better way for baseball players to hit or catch a ball, but there's a reason why they haven't implemented it in the near 300 years the game has been played. Simply put, just because one has the means to make something possible, doesn't mean they should, NOTE: the Atomic Bomb. While this may seem like a dramatic comparison, one would be simply daft to not understand the point behind my correlation.
But, aside from the controller being gaming's banner and symbol, I believe it also has an abstruse influence on us at a deep, cognitive level. Having a controller gives players a kind of feedback that is invaluable to the brain. If you think about it like the textbook example of Pavlov and his salivating dogs, you can better understand the significance and purpose of the controller. Ivan Pavlov was a psychologist who studied behavior in dogs and applied his research findings to humans. He hypothesized and demonstrated that if you ring a bell before you give a dog food, the dog will begin salivating, not at the sight of the food which is what originally caused the reaction, but rather at the mere sound of the bell. A controller, I believe, has a similar effect on our brains.
A controller provides us with precious feedback every time we press a button. It's this instantaneous response that essentially keeps us going. It's that immediate reward we receive when we hear with the simple sound of a face-button being compressed and decompressed, the feeling of a right shoulder trigger sticking at inopportune times, and the silky glide of a joystick or d-pad rotating beneath your thumb, carrying out the orders we command at the simple flick of our boney digit. It's that kind feedback that keeps our minds stimulated much like those Pavlovian dogs. We feel the controller and all it offers, and we are turned on, euphoric even. It provides us a pleasure that we seek over and over again hoping the next time will feel just as good as the last. The controller keeps players coming back for more on a incalculable physiological and psychological level. And I'm afraid that with the emergence of hardware like the Kinect, developers and gamers alike will forget what it truly feels like to game.
In the end, a controller can do more for us than kicking our legs, jump up and down, or even flailing a goofy-looking wand above our heads. We don't need these things to feel a part of the game and its world. No matter how close developers can get to having one-to-one recognition, a controller will always overshadow the competition with its comfortableness, responsiveness, and familiarity. Steel Battalion showed to the world the importance of a controller, and just how it can make a game better than it really is. Guitar Hero illustrated the same thing as did the invention of the arcade stick, racing wheel and light gun. The controller is a magnificent invention and can heighten our gaming experience in a way I just don't think is possible by other devices that are 'hands-free'. But, tragically, it looks like this spectacular device could be on its last leg. Its flashy, action-sensing cousin is the new kid in town, and looks like it could be telling the controller to kick rocks. So, here's hoping our adored remote stands up for itself, and punches the Kinect right in its motion-reading eye.
But, of course, for every point there is a counterpoint, therefore it's important for you, as a gamer, to figure out what your thoughts are on this matter. Agree with it or disagree with it, love it or hate it, when the battle lines have been drawn, which side will you stand?