Do gadgets make gaming more fun?

There’s a revolution going on in gaming. Some of today’s most popular games are played not with a controller, but with a guitar or drum sticks. The Wii remote introduced video games to senior citizens. And then there’s this vest that pokes you in the ribs when you take a hit in “Call of Duty 2.”

Peripherals — add-on gear for console and PC gaming — aim to make gaming more accessible, more realistic and more fun. Sounds promising, but we’ve heard these claims before. Remember the P5 virtual reality gaming glove? OK, how about the Virtual Boy? If the answer is “no,” you’re not alone.

Flight-simulation joysticks, steering wheel controllers and elaborate foot pedal systems have been available for years. “Duck Hunt,” for the Nintendo Entertainment System, used the NES Zapper light gun in 1984. But until recently, the really popular games were played with a regular controller or, on a PC, with a mouse and keyboard.

So what’s different this time around?

In a word: Wii. Nintendo’s console has ripped the mass market wide open. According to industry analysts NPD, Wii outsold both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 in 2007, despite chronic supply shortages.

TN Games The 3rd Space FPS Vest, by TN Games, lets you feel the impact of your enemy's bullets and body slams.

Games like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” are making gaming more accessible to a broader audience. If you’ve ever held a guitar, you can rock out in “Guitar Hero.” No strings on the plastic axe you use to rock out in this game — just buttons.

Peripherals based on familiar items — it's no accident that Nintendo calls the Wii controller a remote — opened gaming to folks that don't know a PS3 from a 360.

“For some that may be intimidated by a traditional controller and the learning curve, these (games) offer a more intuitive experience,” says Anita Frazier, video games analyst at NPD. “That’s key to getting the uninitiated to try gaming.”

Big points for game design
U.S. game sales reflect the accessibility of peripheral-based games. “Guitar Hero III” and “Guitar Hero 2” together sold 4.61 million copies for PlayStation 2 last year, just shy of the number one game, “Halo 3.”

But no intuitively shaped input device can compensate for a poorly-designed game. For every mega-hit Wii game, such as “Super Mario Galaxy,” there are several not-so-great cash-ins that vanished without a trace.

“If the gameplay in ‘Guitar Hero III’ hadn’t been so solid,” says Game Developer magazine senior editor Brandon Sheffield, “you’d be seeing a lot of guitar peripherals in thrift stores and landfills, alongside light guns, virtual reality headsets and track balls.”

But consoles aren’t the only systems getting into the add-on act. Mark Ombrellaro, CEO of Redmond, Wash.-based TN Games, designed his company’s newest product, the 3^rd Space FPS Vest, a sophisticated contraption that lets you feel the impact of your enemy’s bullets and body slams.

“Once [games] become that real,” he says, “you know you’re going to want to interact with them and you’re going to want them to interact with you.”

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