Motion control is ‘here to stay’ says EA

Harvey Elliott, head of EA Bright Light studio in Guildford, has said he believes motion control has a long future in video games, although does not expect the technology to replace traditional control devices.

“I think where motion controls really work is making games more accessible. I would never have imagined my mum playing a bowling game, she’s in her late 60s. I couldn’t imagine her bowling, I couldn’t imagine her doing exercise in front of the TV, I couldn’t imagine her knocking down a tower of things with a control pad. The Wii and the motion control makes it accessible,” Elliott told VideoGamer.com at London’s recent Shine Week. “I think that’s what motion control does – it makes games more accessible to people.”

“I don’t think they replace typical control devices or typical interfaces, but they do definitely augment them. The right games work on the right platforms. They’re definitely here to stay and they’re definitely cool, and through the accessibility they’re bringing more people into gaming.”

Asked for his thoughts on Microsoft’s Project Natal, Elliott said:

“It looks awesome. I just think it looks lovely. I was really impressed by what they had to show and I’m positive we’ll be making games for it. Anything like that where you can broaden your audience or the way people access games, I think is perfect. We’d love to see stuff on it. Whether it’s this [Boom Blox], I don’t know.”

Pushed on the prospect of seeing Boom Blox for Xbox 360 with Natal, Elliott said: “Yes, I could imagine games like this playing on Natal. But I also think that Boom Blox really captured the essence of the Wii, and I think it works for the Wii, it’s designed for the Wii. I think for Natal there are things out there that would do the same job that Boom Blox did for the Wii, that we could do for Natal.”

Would you like to see Boom Blox released for Xbox 360 or would you prefer EA Bright Light work on something all-new to take advantage of Natal?