Opinion: Vita, BioShock Infinite, Wii 2 and more E3

As day one of E3 draws to a close and the much-anticipated Nintendo press conference approaches, where the next-generation console will be revealed, we can only speculate on the “future of gaming.” That phrase has been tossed around today more than a beer bong at a frat party.

There were some very cool announcements including Gears of War 3, Overstrike, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Uncharted 3. Without a doubt, graphics are becoming more realistic at an alarming rate and these games just keep getting better. Kingdom of Amalur looks amazing and we can't ignore Elder Scrolls V, which I've already had some requests for the honor to review the title for AbleGamers just minutes after the conference.

But there's something concerning about the so-called “future of gaming.”

The PlayStation Move was given quite a push at Sony’s press event. There are lots more titles coming out and even Patrick thinks this could be a good thing. The PlayStation Vita, the next generation of handheld gaming, will take advantage of dual analog sticks and simultaneous touch screen abilities - both sides of screen will have the availability of the touchscreen and the camera. Couple that information with the knowledge of BioShock Infinite, Little Big Planet 2 and Mass Effect 3 all supporting motion gaming, one has to wonder, how long will this trend continue? Is the standard controller on the way out?

Motion gaming can be a big attraction for many gamers, even some disabled gamers, because of the unique interaction you receive - you're moving around and jumping with your character, making you feel like you're really there.

Unless of course you can't play that way, or don't want to, and in that case… Well…

I found a lot of comfort in reading the comments on various gaming sites. “When will people realize that both the Wii and Move suck,” asked one gamer. “Stop putting out pointless games,” said another. These comments and others just like them were in response to the rumored list of games being announced during E3 which include over a dozen motion gaming titles.

As extremely physical handicap gamer, I would really like the Wii to just go away. It's bad enough consoles are already interfering with PC gaming (just take a look at what Bioware did to Dragon Age II if you need an example), but I don't want to think about how badly developers are going to mess up by porting World of Warcraft to the Wii 2.

One of my favorite incidents at PAX-E was when we rolled by Dance Central. “Can my friend play that?” asked Mark sarcastically as we passed their section. “Sure,” a cute little booth babe exclaimed right before realizing he was talking about the guy in the wheelchair. “Well, you can wave your arms and have some fun,” she said. To which we both shook our heads. The sheer humiliated look on her face was priceless. No, those who are completely wheelchair bound and not play your title.

And that's okay. We always said that we don't want every game to be accessible to every single disability - we want as many options put into each game as possible to allow as many gamers as can play, but even at that there will never be a time where every game is playable by every disability. There are thousands of variations on thousands of disabilities.

But that was before I realized that these companies are not only going to put out crappy titles - the only interesting title for Kinect last E3 was Kinectimals and that's only because I wanted to play with Skittles - developers are going to begin porting and/or supporting our favorite titles for motion gaming.

Isometric camera views have become a thing of the past because consoles don't support them. Does that mean that Star Wars the Old Republic will only allow 3 buttons so that motion gamers aren't at a disadvantage? Before you laugh, don't forget they do make Call of Duty for the Wii, even though no one plays it that way.

I, for one, hope the trend ends soon.