Exclusive: In2Games Spill All on 'Wii Killer'?
Exclusive: SPOnG interviews the guys behind ‘Fusion’
In2Games' Harry Holmwood
SPOnG caught up with In2Games’ Director Harry Holmwood, to quiz him in a little more depth about the recently announced ‘Fusion’ motion-sensing game control technology being developed for PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360.
If you need a quick reminder on what Fusion is, then you can read SPOnG’s news announcement from last month, in which we dubbed the tech as a potential ‘Wii Killer’.
Harry gives us a good background to In2Games as well as a detailed explanation of the ultrasonic technology behind Fusion. As he told us, “Anyone who's seen the original (wired) Gametrak Real World Golf will know that it can track a point in 3D space with great accuracy and speed, anywhere in a big area around the unit. That, for us, is the Holy Grail of motion sensing. Doing it without the wires is incredibly difficult - we have some of the cleverest hardware and software engineers in the world, and it took us more than two years to crack it.”
In2Games is developing the tech in order to bring proper, full-on motion-sensing control to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 and 3 games.
Harry also told SPOnG interviewer, Adam Hartley, that the company had received some interesting fanboy hate mail after the recent Fusion announcement, “One kind soul emailed us to say (and I quote) ‘I really hope your company burns to the ground and you are all homeless one day’".
In contrast to this though, Holmwood stressed that, “The vast majority [of feedback] has been from Sony and Microsoft 'supporters' delighted to be looking forward to a 'Wii Killer' for themselves.”
Holmwood cheekily added, “By the way, the BBC Micro pissed all over the Spectrum.”
Read the full and exclusive In2Games interview to get the full background on this intriguing, potentially disruptive tech (in the good ‘Nintendo’ sense of the word).
If you need a quick reminder on what Fusion is, then you can read SPOnG’s news announcement from last month, in which we dubbed the tech as a potential ‘Wii Killer’.
Harry gives us a good background to In2Games as well as a detailed explanation of the ultrasonic technology behind Fusion. As he told us, “Anyone who's seen the original (wired) Gametrak Real World Golf will know that it can track a point in 3D space with great accuracy and speed, anywhere in a big area around the unit. That, for us, is the Holy Grail of motion sensing. Doing it without the wires is incredibly difficult - we have some of the cleverest hardware and software engineers in the world, and it took us more than two years to crack it.”
In2Games is developing the tech in order to bring proper, full-on motion-sensing control to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 and 3 games.
Harry also told SPOnG interviewer, Adam Hartley, that the company had received some interesting fanboy hate mail after the recent Fusion announcement, “One kind soul emailed us to say (and I quote) ‘I really hope your company burns to the ground and you are all homeless one day’".
In contrast to this though, Holmwood stressed that, “The vast majority [of feedback] has been from Sony and Microsoft 'supporters' delighted to be looking forward to a 'Wii Killer' for themselves.”
Holmwood cheekily added, “By the way, the BBC Micro pissed all over the Spectrum.”
Read the full and exclusive In2Games interview to get the full background on this intriguing, potentially disruptive tech (in the good ‘Nintendo’ sense of the word).
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Comments
majin dboy 13 Nov 2006 19:52
1/11
ladies and gentle,here we have a smug t**the line about the positive feedback sayin that sony and ms fans are happy to c a wii killer only highlights the nervousness felt by all nintendo's compitition.
has anyone seen the in2games stuff,its taken a great idea and distorted it.be it nintendo's original idea or not.e.g the bowling game,do people really wana buy a seperate controller for each game?NO!!!!!!!!
i have seen this guy on a few shows and read about him a bit,he is so smug and false,even that plugs of his game just dosent sit well with me and hopefully a lot of others.
this situation makes me very angry.
has anyone seen the in2games stuff,its taken a great idea and distorted it.be it nintendo's original idea or not.e.g the bowling game,do people really wana buy a seperate controller for each game?NO!!!!!!!!
i have seen this guy on a few shows and read about him a bit,he is so smug and false,even that plugs of his game just dosent sit well with me and hopefully a lot of others.
this situation makes me very angry.
zoydwheeler 13 Nov 2006 21:04
2/11
Why does a potentially good but unproven new technology which, should it work (technically and commercially) mean better motion-sensing controlled games in the future make people so angry?
I think Real World Golf showed promise, apart from the obvious let-down which was the really fcuking annoying wires and glove-puppet controller... So, if there's an ounce of truth in their PR patter about Fusion, then I say it would be wise to not rush to dismiss them as 'copyists' or whatever and keep our minds open until we get to see/play some of the games.
It's all about the games, obviously, so I suppose it all depends on if they can make proper next gen games themselves (doubtful) and/or get third parties to make them (an unknown, as yet)...
I think Real World Golf showed promise, apart from the obvious let-down which was the really fcuking annoying wires and glove-puppet controller... So, if there's an ounce of truth in their PR patter about Fusion, then I say it would be wise to not rush to dismiss them as 'copyists' or whatever and keep our minds open until we get to see/play some of the games.
It's all about the games, obviously, so I suppose it all depends on if they can make proper next gen games themselves (doubtful) and/or get third parties to make them (an unknown, as yet)...
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YenRug 13 Nov 2006 21:53
3/11
And all it needs is for Nintendo to buy the rights to the tech...
Ditto 13 Nov 2006 23:35
4/11
I agree, it's easy to bash these people - but don't forget they're providing competition for Nintendo, which can only be a good thing.
Could be easier said than done if In2Games are a small, dynamic and innovative, well-funded private company... (I have no idea if they are).
YenRug wrote:
And all it needs is for Nintendo to buy the rights to the tech...
Could be easier said than done if In2Games are a small, dynamic and innovative, well-funded private company... (I have no idea if they are).
Jay 14 Nov 2006 10:18
5/11
"Wii Killer?"
Really...
Really...
majin dboy 14 Nov 2006 11:02
6/11
u can say ohhhhhhhhhh this gu(a)y is to easy to bash,any compitition for nintendo is good etc etc.has anyone seen this guy and how he thinks his inferior product is goinf to dominate next gen gaming and how he thinks in2games has a better grasp of motion sensing than nintendo?i hate the way he is so smug,so sure when really he is more of an actor portraying these believes and attitudes.i would never go as far as saying,"listen mate,i hope u die slowly in a fire", but i certianly do not agree with him and his attitude and i do wish awful things for in2games because of HIM.
tyrion 14 Nov 2006 13:26
7/11
majin dboy wrote:
has anyone seen this guy and how he thinks his inferior product is goinf to dominate next gen gaming and how he thinks in2games has a better grasp of motion sensing than nintendo?
How do you know it's inferior? Have you used it?
It is possible for someone to produce a better piece of hardware than Nintendo you know. They aren't all-powerful. They aren't infallible.
Given that all this company does is motion sensing and that they claim to have been doing it since before the GameCube came out, don't you think they may have a chance of being better than Nintendo?
I'm not saying that the Fusion is definitely better than the Wii, all I'm saying is give the thing a chance.
SPInGSPOnG 14 Nov 2006 14:24
8/11
tyrion wrote:
I'm not saying that the Fusion is definitely better than the Wii, all I'm saying is give the thing a chance.
All we are saying is give Wiis a chance.
majin dboy 14 Nov 2006 15:03
9/11
How do you know it's inferior? Have you used it?
have u seen it?seen this smug git demonstrate it?in my opinion its poor.the bowling ball for example,there is no need to have it shaped like a bowling ball,its motion sensing not mirror gaming.
people are just gona throw it around.
have u seen it?seen this smug git demonstrate it?in my opinion its poor.the bowling ball for example,there is no need to have it shaped like a bowling ball,its motion sensing not mirror gaming.
people are just gona throw it around.
Joji 14 Nov 2006 15:43
10/11
Their concept seems interesting especially so since their golf game worked well. However despite this, I can't really see this going anywhere, unless it gets proper solid support as well as a redesign.
The major flaw is in having all those bits kicking around to play specific games, its like jumping back to having joysticks to play flying games like many do on PC still. It might work well in practice, but I really don't see gamers buying into it, like they might for an established brand like Nintendo. Even Konami had to convince people to buy into DDR and many mats and game never sold out.
Sony might show interest but they also have to sell their PS3 Sixaxis already, so I can't see them really jumping on it. MS might possibly be more interested but again if they do will gamers jump on in? Hasn't 360 already got enough accessories than a ladies handbag?
The Wii deserves a chance to prove itself and I think it will succeed regardless of this In2Games stuff. What people seem to forget easily is that the Wii, like the DS is a catalyst to games, games that Nintendo etc do very well. In2games own games would have to be very very strong, because we buy hardware to access games software, and this is something I just don't see happening. Even established developers have trouble trumping Nintendo games, so In2ames have little or no chance.
Another point someone mentions is In2games working on motion sensing sense GC or before and that's cool, but Nintendo have been working with this same or similar tech since Kirby tilt series on GB/GBA. Wii is just an extension of that thinking on a larger scale.
Wii Killer? Very far but no Wii cigar. Wii is offering too much for them to get a look in.
The major flaw is in having all those bits kicking around to play specific games, its like jumping back to having joysticks to play flying games like many do on PC still. It might work well in practice, but I really don't see gamers buying into it, like they might for an established brand like Nintendo. Even Konami had to convince people to buy into DDR and many mats and game never sold out.
Sony might show interest but they also have to sell their PS3 Sixaxis already, so I can't see them really jumping on it. MS might possibly be more interested but again if they do will gamers jump on in? Hasn't 360 already got enough accessories than a ladies handbag?
The Wii deserves a chance to prove itself and I think it will succeed regardless of this In2Games stuff. What people seem to forget easily is that the Wii, like the DS is a catalyst to games, games that Nintendo etc do very well. In2games own games would have to be very very strong, because we buy hardware to access games software, and this is something I just don't see happening. Even established developers have trouble trumping Nintendo games, so In2ames have little or no chance.
Another point someone mentions is In2games working on motion sensing sense GC or before and that's cool, but Nintendo have been working with this same or similar tech since Kirby tilt series on GB/GBA. Wii is just an extension of that thinking on a larger scale.
Wii Killer? Very far but no Wii cigar. Wii is offering too much for them to get a look in.
majin dboy 14 Nov 2006 18:46
11/11
so In2ames have little or no chance
word joji.
word joji.