MagicSolver

How Motion Controls are putting the ‘Person’ into First Person Shooter

The App Show went to Apps World in Earls Court, London last month and stumbled upon the Virtuix Omni - a new device that uses a treadmill, a virtual reality headset and plastic gun to turn First Person Shooters into a surprisingly literal experience.

Do you remember what it was like when the original Wii came out? Nintendo’s 2006 “waggle remote” powered console opened gaming up to a whole new audience of casual players, who had previously seen those ‘big complicated game pads’ as a barrier. It was, in many people’s minds, the start of the casual gaming phenomena that has lead (seven years down the line) to the phenomenal rise of Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans and Hay Day.

Unfortunately though, the motion revolution was incomplete. Despite offering people a more natural way to play games, the Wiimote used to control most games was simply too inaccurate for most players. Even today after much development in the motion tech field, and the emergence of immersive tactile touch screen games like The Room and Device 6, developers and manufacturers have struggled to truly realise the potential power of motion-powered games.

However, the arrival of the Virtuix Omni suggests that pure motion-controlled gaming might be on the way. Compatible with apps and PC games, the Omni uses a special treadmill, an Oculus Rift headset and a light gun, allowing players to control the action with full body motion and virtually leap into first person shooters such as Team Fortress 2.

After watching an exhausting demonstration of the device alongside Colton Jacobs, Product Manager at the company, the App Show spoke to him in depth about how his company hopes the Omni will redefine gameplay.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link below. This month’s show also features interviews with Hailo and App Generation as well as the news, reviews and the Free App Magic App Chart.

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