Red Steel 2 was reviewed favorably, but that doesn't mean it was a success. Its disappointing sales performance, says the game's creative director, can be chalked up to gamers unwillingness "to get up and move and exert themselves for fun."
Speaking at Game Developers Conference Europe, Jason VandenBerghe introduced "audience willingness" as a factor facing developers of motion-control games.
"There is a small group of people that is willing to get up and move and exert themselves for fun," VandenBerghe said, according to Edge Online. "We had to ask ourselves: how many gamers are willing to move? I don't know how many there are, but it's no higher than 20 per cent. That's actually probably optimistic."
It's not to say many gamers don't enjoy motion-controlled gaming, when they're introduced to it. But it very definitely seems there's a problem in seeking it out.
VandenBerghe said the only solution is time - basically, that motion control evolves into a more standard expectation of gaming. Kinect and PlayStation Move would seem to push things in that direction. "Things might suck now, but I think they'll get better," he said.
If and when they do, "my recommendation to you is that you should ship on multiple platforms. Nobody will want you to. Sony won't, Microsoft won't, Nintendo won't. But the market will ... Many genres will remain unchanged, and some people will still not want to exert themselves. But if the hardware remains an add-on, motion control will remain niche."