Get off my Lawn, Natal. You too, Move.

There seems to be a lot of talk these days about the future of gaming, namely, the emphasis on motion control. Following the fantastic success of the Wii, I suppose we all should have assumed that Sony and Microsoft would have followed suit eventually in one manner or another.

However, it still has surprised me just how much attention is being given to Xbox 360’s Natal and Playstation 3’s Move. My biggest concern over E3 this year was that the aforementioned motion controlled gaming systems were going to be the primary point of focus. Turns out, yeah, they pretty much were. Without a doubt, Microsoft and Sony put most of their energy into these projects but a big question still remains: is all that time, energy, and money going to be worth it?

If a new study concluded in June is any indication, the answer is a resounding “no”.

While the study found that a decent amount of gamers were aware of Natal and Move (and really, how could you not be?), only 8% of 360 owners and 6% of Playstation 3 owners planned on purchasing their respective devices. That is a shockingly low number considering you can hardly turn on your console these days without be bombarded with advertisements and proclamations about how motion control is going to change the way you game.

The problem is, what if you’re perfectly happy with the way you game?

Here’s the thing. I’ve always been content relaxing on my bed and moving my thumbs over a controller. You wanna know why? Because it allows me to play and enjoy the game. Yeah, crazy right? I can get into the story and the mechanics without having to worry about bumping into shit. I’m sure by now most of you have seen this somewhat infamous video but I mean . . . really, who the hell wants to play a game like that? Furthermore, who has such a giant, empty room in their house that will enable them to flail around like a moron?

That’s not a rhetorical question. The answer is Wii owners. And do you know what Wii owners are going to play those games on? Their Wiis.

I really do not understand this trend. Not one bit. I’m happy to find out that I’m not alone but I remain astounded that Sony and Microsoft seem to be appealing to casual gamers so much. I mean, they can’t really think their core audiences want this . . . can they?

Urgh. It boggles the mind.

Remember when we got this excited over games? I acknowledge the fact that Twilight Princess ended up being the launch title for the Wii, but what you have here is genuine excitement for a beloved title, directed at its core audience. We certainly had no moments like this at 2010’s E3. Maybe my next year, everyone will have come to their senses and we can get back to real gaming. Or is this wishful thinking? Are the days of controllers and thumbs really going the way of the dinosaurs or am I being overly dramatic?