Motion controls being used in sports games? Bah Humbug! In today's world of gimmicky gaming control schemes, there is nothing more infuriating to me as a hardcore sports gamer than for people to think that motion controls are the future of the genre. I could go off on a long-winded diatribe explaining my disdain for motion controls in sports gaming, but it is far easier to point to the historical failure of existing motion-control schemes to illustrate what a mistake it is to believe this gimmick will catch on.

As my colleague Jared Sexton mentions in his article taking a "pro" perspective on motion controls, the Power Glove teased sports gamers with the possibility of actually interacting with our favorite Nintendo sports personalities. Like Jared, I too was beyond disappointed to don the glove, only to find that its motion capabilities were severely limited, and that you still had to rely on a controller that was conveniently hidden on the forearm of the unit -- I never noticed that in The Wizard. It was at this moment my confidence in motion-controlled sports gaming was shattered. Even at the ripe old age of eight, I knew when I had been swindled, and my distrust of anything mentioning "motion" with regards to gaming was in full effect.

Following the flop of the Power Glove, Sega decided to throw their hat into the motion-controlled ring with their Sega Activator. The concept behind the Activator was to place gamers into a plastic octagon, UFC style, with each side of the octagon containing a light that was supposed to track motion. In concept, and the commercials, the Activator was supposed to pick up body movements and translate them into kicks, punches and jumps in boxing/fighting games. In reality the Activator sucked even worse than the Power Glove, and it faded so fast into obscurity many gamers forget it even existed.

The Activator was such a commercial disaster that no one would have been surprised if motion controls were ignored for the rest of eternity. However, Sony started experimenting with the Eye Toy during the PS2 era. The Eye Toy's game lineup was really just a collection of mini-games, and it was never incorporated into sports gaming the way many thought it would be. Nevertheless, the peripheral did end up doing quite well in Europe, but it never caught on the same way in the US.

It was not until Nintendo released the Wii in 2006 that motion-controlled sports gaming became fully realized. Wii Sports, while casual, is to this day one of the best uses of motion technology in sports gaming. Other games have also taken full advantage of the Wii's control scheme, notably the Tiger Woods series, which has been able to create a very realistic virtual simulation of golf.

I would even go as far to say that the Wii is a technological success when it comes to motion controls in sports games. In theory this should have been the historical tipping point for motion controls to become a standard in hardcore sports titles. Unfortunately, for those like Jared who are looking for motion controls to take over, this has not been the case during the Wii's four year lifespan. For as much as the Wii has proved motion controls can work, the system has been a commercial failure when it comes to sports titles. But why?

Before I answer, let it be known that I am an active individual. I go to the gym 3-4 times per week, played high level baseball when I was younger, and I still find myself playing in basketball, flag football and even soccer leagues with friends to stay in shape.

By no means am I against physical activity, but to answer the above question, I have absolutely no desire for physical activity when playing a sports video game. This is a view I am confident the majority of gamers share, hence the poor sales of Wii sports games.

Since its inception, gaming by definition does not involve physical activity. It involves a couch, a TV and occasionally a bag of Doritos. The current generation of hardcore sports gamers have been conditioned since they first began playing games to sit on a couch, kick back, relax and use a controller to do all the dirty work within a game. You can not tell me that the average sports gamer is going to spend hours and hours standing and making real-world gestures over the course of an 80-100 game season in a game. This is just not a realistic expectation, and the mere thought of a world with ultra-realistic motion-controlled sports games makes me cringe -- I actually enjoy being lazy by using a controller right now, that is my down time.

The recent release of the Playstation Move and Kinect further proves my point. Out of all the sports games launched with both peripherals, only one -- NBA 2K11 for the Move -- could be deemed a non-casual sports game. The "fitness" games that have been released all have potential, but they help to prove my point rather than disprove it. And if you want to stretch the boundaries of what a sports game could be construed as, you could include Dance Central because of the physical activity involved, but that's probably pushing it as well.

Returning to the original point, even in the case of NBA 2K11, the Move support was tacked on as more of an extra than a main gameplay function. I have to imagine 2K Sports realized that it was not worth the development time to fully flesh out the motion controls based on the past sales history of motion-controlled sports games -- perhaps the past sales of the NBA 2K series on the Wii played a part, too. It is my opinion that developers are realizing that motion controls are best for mini-game collections that are played in spurts, versus the hours and hours of gameplay that hardcore gamers involve themselves in at times.

Even the Madden team seemed to learn this lesson by recently taking a more casual approach to the series on the Wii. Previously, the developers had tried to create a more simulation-based game (in both look and feel) that was released for the system in 2007 and 2008.

This is why motion controls will never catch on amongst the hardcore sports gamers, and I can't say that I am disappointed. Call me lazy, call me boring, call me old school, the fact remains that this old-school sports gamer will never be using motion controls in his hardcore sports gaming endeavors. I'm very confident that I'm in the majority when I say that. If I really want to replicate the exact motions of a specific sport, I'll do things the old-fashioned way -- I'll actually go play that sport. After all, sales figures don't lie, and motion-control sim-style sports games have never had success.


Christian McLeod is a staff writer here at Operation Sports. A classic sports game aficionado, he is currently taking on all challengers in NBA Jam HD. Make sure to follow him on Twitter @Bumble14_OS, on our forums via the user name Bumble14, and on Xbox Live/PSN at Bumble14.