We often say game design and video games, on the whole, lack innovation. From time to time originality and unique ideas come when they're least expected. In the Do-It-Yourself domain, Johnny Chung Lee shows us the, currently unexploited, potential of the Nintendo's Wii Remote technology. Seeing what this guy was able to pull off by improvising with the controller's motion sensing capabilities, made us realize that there are so many uncharted territories still in the gaming world and plenty of new directions for game designers to take.
Of course, there's no better way to explain this than letting Johnny explain it himself:
We wanted to know more about Johnny and his work, so we gave him a nudge. Although he's been quite busy lately, he found the time answer a few questions. We talk about various possibilities of the custom-made technology, what it could mean for video games and how Johnny generally feels about the gaming scene today.
ActionTrip: First off, please tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Johnny Chung Lee: I am a PhD Graduate Student at Carnegie Mellon University in Human-Computer Interaction. I have a Electrical and Computer Engineering background. I like to tinker in all sorts of different domains and having both the skills to do hardware and software has helped a lot.
AT: What's your general opinion of the Wii console and how do you find today's choice of Wii games (any favorites)?
JCL: I think the interface controls of the Wii remote are quite innovative. I think the Wii remote is one of the most sophisticated input devices available today and I think a lot of developers are still struggling to wrap their brains around how to use the data effectively because it is so different than what they are used to from previous generations. But, this is true for a lot of new technologies. As a result, very few Wii games today really explore the unique strengths of the controller. Ports of games designed for consoles using the standard joypad are fundamentally not going be great uses of the Wii controller. That said, the few games that have been designed for the Wii remote from the ground up are quite good. Wii Sports, obviously, is fantastic and the minigame packs like WarioWare and Rayman Raving Rabbids have all been great. Mario Galaxy and Zelda: Twilight Princess are great even though the uses of the controller were largely joypad-like.
AT: When did you first start experimenting with Nintendo's Wii Remote technology?
JCL: It has been on my to-do list ever since the Wii remote came out. But, I didn't have time to participate in the reverse engineering of it by the greater community. It wasn't until this past summer that I found time to play it. One of the first projects I did was to make an adapter and a program that allowed me to play Xbox 360 and PS2 games using the Wii remote - basically, creating a box emulated a controller, a project I read about on the Web.
AT: How long did it take you to come up with a concept for some of your WiiRemoteProjects?
JCL: They all happened on a plane ride back from a conference back in April. I decided to sit down and hammer out as many concepts that I think could potentially be done using the components within the Wii remote. The key was to think just about the components and not as a whole device.
AT: We were especially impressed with the DIY Head Tracking device for Desktop VR Displays, based on the Wii-mote technology. Do you plan to further improve the device?
JCL: Hmm.... not significantly. There are a few tweaks that could be done like making better glasses, using multiple remotes to increase the range of movement. But, it already works well enough for applications and games to be made for it. So, it's primarily up to content developers to use this in future products. I don't personally have the skill sets to make great games.
AT: The custom-made head-tracker, if someday marketed, could basically change depth and perspective in next-generation gaming. That could very well mean gamers can peek around corners in first-person shooters, look through windows while in the driver's seat during a racing game, etc. The possibilities are limitless, don't you think?
JCL: I think there are definitely a lot of things that this could be useful for. FPS games are probably the most obvious and immediately useful places for it. There are also sports games that could benefit by associating head movement with leaning or jumping. I'm excited about newer genres that weren't quite possible before like exploration and puzzle games.
AT: Here it comes. Do you believe a potential Star Wars game can be made utilizing your custom-built device for tracking finger movement (manipulating objects, force powers - hint, hint)?
JCL: Hehe possibly. Using the Wii camera as an object or finger tracker is very powerful and opens up genres for lots of new gameplay mechanics. So, I would definitely hope to see some games that encourage physical movement.
