The game: 100-metre hurdles. What you do: Run on spot in front of the screen, and jump. The result: The character on screen clears the hurdle in a sweep. Motion sensing gaming, some of it handheld controller-free, is out in the next few months, and gaming addicts can barely wait, says Sowmya Rajaram

From the grunts and whoops, it would seem like Venus Williams was battling sister Serena for the Wimbledon trophy on Centre Court. Closer inspection reveals it's just a regular game of tennis on the Nintendo Wii being played by sisters Ahalya and Ananya Krishnan at their Dadar home. Complete with racquets, golf clubs and a steering wheel for their favourite game, Speed Racer, the sisters settle down before the Wii at most at-home parties, where their friends indulge in a workout of sorts, swinging their paraphernalia instead of squatting motionless before the 50-inch LCD screen in their drawing room.



It's probably gamers like them that Microsoft and Sony have decided to lure with their motion sensor gaming innovations that will be out in the market in the next few months. The Microsoft Kinect and Sony PlayStation Move are yours to try in December and September respectively, say the two companies who are trying to expand their user base to include the adult target audience and attract casual gamers and families, the way the Wii has.



Make faces, show the finger
So what can you expect? "Controller-free gaming," is the answer from Jaspreet Bindra, Regional Director-Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd, who's quick to stress the difference between their technology and the one that Wii operates on. "With the Microsoft Kinect, you won't be holding anything. There's nothing between you and the game. We eliminate all hurdles." How can that work? "Say you are playing a car racing game. You will not be holding a steering wheel. You will instead use just your hands. If it's 100-metre hurdles, the gamer will run on spot and then jump in his place before the screen to get past the hurdle in the game."




You move, you are captured on 3D
Not so with the Sony Playstation Move, which will use a combination of movements with a handheld motion controller and the Eye Toy, a motion sensor camera. "The idea is to capture a player's movements in 3D, and judge the depth of his/her space accurately to translate it on screen," explains Atindriya Bose, Country Manager, Sony PlayStation India.

Will that mean a compromise on the graphics, you wonder, scarred by the Wii's cartoon-like racers and baseball players, obviously meant for a younger audience. "In fact, the Kinect will have graphics richer than current Xbox games. You'll be able to see every blade of grass and every shadow on your screen," says an emphatic Bindra.

But this doesn't mean motion sensor gaming is meant only for the not-so serious gamers. "You'll also be able to play a shooting-intensive game like Heavy Rain with the Move. We plan to straddle both categories of gamers; those who can spend a few hours shooting down people and working on strategy, and the ones who want to liven up a party with a bit of visual baseball," says Bose.

Gamers can't wait
Game junkies, of course, are seriously excited to be able to up the ante. Kandivali resident Vidit Kundra owns a PS3, but is excited about the Move. "I plan to upgrade when it's out," says the 29 year-old, citing the example of God Of War III, the tale of bloodthirsty Kratos. "Imagine being able to swing an axe and actually get the feel of attacking with weaponry! It will be more accurate, more physical, and more real," he says.

Thirty five year-old Kane Kong Lew, art director with a digital media firm, agrees. "The Wii pioneered motion sensor gaming, but lacked the serious graphics that the Xbox and PS3 offer. I'd like to see what the Move is like, because the experience of playing a game with a controller in your hand will be something else." A hardcore gamer himself, Lew isn't certain of how the Kinetic's no-controller strategy will work, though. "I would prefer a controller to my bare hands. It'll make it more engaging. Also, if you've played the Wii, you know that after a point it gets really tiring. You need a controller for the more serious games," he says.