I find the stagnancy of video games intriguing. Building off of the rear view mirror concept- there is nothing “new” to videogames. The perception of new is there, but that is not the reality. When asking the class: “have you performed a new motion on the Wii-mote?” The answer by all was “no”. The Wii was a wonderful innovation to the input aspect of the video game; however the software component remains the same- stuck in the confines of what is already in use (familiar). Video games have not broken the boundaries of new motion.
The input and software component go hand in hand. There needs to be a new type of video game requiring a new type of input. During the in class video, it was revealed that someone invented the joystick. This was invented to fly the spaceship with more precision than existing input devices. This can be seen as Guitar Hero set the foundation for the software side of a game requiring a new input device. At first it was applied to a guitar. Soon after, drums and other instruments were tapered into input devices for the existing software. The two are complimentary, and need to advance together.
When thinking of video games, I immediately think of home consoles. Arcades, however, possessed games with other forms of input. Dance Dance Revolution is an example of this. A beat pad for your feet is the primary input device. For fun, I suggest using a home console beat pad on other games. I used to jump around like a fool playing fighting games using the beat pad as the input device. It is fun… It is play.