If you look much into VR and where it's going you will find that people expect the next step (after HMDs) will be a glove. Given Nintendo's expressed disinterest in visors and their haughty claims about NX redefining our gaming lives, it's been speculated by a few analysts and journalists that a VR glove is what makes the most sense for the NX. It would be something that could hook a lot of jaded hardcore gamers while bringing back some mainstream attention like the Wii did-- and it would be cheaper than Morpheus be a long ways. But how viable is it as a mandated purchase at launch (not optional like Morpheus) and how would it really impact the playing of games?
1. Pricing- While a glove would certainly cost less than a $300 Morpheus or Oculus Rift, it could still potentially be more expensive than a 3D tracking remote (with buttons and an analog stick). I would like to think Nintendo could make a $30-ish glove utilizing their gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, and inexpensive fiber optics to track the fingers. As a standalone purchase, how much we anticipate out of it could be directly linked to whether it inflates the cost of the system $30 or $80.
2. Implementation/Design- If Nintendo is going to push a glove as the next step in motion controls, the glove has to have 3D 1:1 tracking, it has to track at least 4/5 of the digits, it should be on the left hand, and it has to be paired with a right-handed 3D tracking remote that has an analog stick and buttons.
3. Controls- It would be all upon Nintendo to show, like with Mario 64, how this thing should be used. It is upon Nintendo to show how this can allow things in games that couldn't be done before.
A. Metroid- You would think that Metroid would be the poster child for a VR glove but you can't do Metroid with a glove. You have to be able to jump and shoot in Metroid and you would have to have jump on R3. Metroid dictates that Nintendo either build NX around dual 3D tracking remotes or present a new dual analog pad (without touch screens). The same applies for Zelda-- but who would want finger control in Zelda in the first place?
B. Mario- Despite being a third person title, Mario is the singular best patient to demonstrate how a glove should be used. Imagine Mario and Luigi come up out of the Mushroom Kingdom sewer system, the players make the characters run and jump with their 3D-remotes while controlling the left hands with their gloves. Mario runs and jumps at a floating block, the player throws a punch and Mario breaks the block with his fist. A fire flower drops from the block and Mario automatically eats it upon contact. Now Mario is tossing fireballs with the left hand-- underhanded, overhanded, tosses to the side, fly balls, ground balls, curve balls, etc. This is where the game demonstrates how the interface can potentially revolutionize sports games (or combat titles with grenades). If the software can accurately express the tiny changes in the fingers and how they interact with a virtual ball, then you may have a hit on your hands.
C. Cockpit Game- Whether it's a realistic driving title or a next gen Star Fox, the use of a glove to interact with a cockpit/dash will be the ultimate test of its accuracy and whether players want to interact with virtual environments (or just push buttons on a controller). One player may be excited with the idea of touching everything in a car-- the lights, the blinkers, the radio, the AC, etc. Another player may feel they are pretending to play the game.
You're probably setting yourself up for some really big disappointment thinking about virtual reality and stuff . Anyway, I'd rather just use normal controllers with their next console.
(Nope, and I have no idea where that other gif is from, either)
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Topic: Is a 3D Tracking VR Glove Viable?
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