“Battlefield 4” will release this fall and questions are being asked about what new features will be added to it to make it different than “Battlefield 3.” Developer DICE says that one thing that will remain the same is there will not be motion controls in the first-person shooter.
DICE executive Patrick Bach spoke to Edge about leaving motion controls out of “Battlefield 4” becacause they are a “gimmick.” Dice, he says, will not include anything unnecessary in its games for the sake of extra cash.
“We are not interested in things that don’t make the game better,” Bach stated. “There are a lot of gimmicks – people throwing money at us – ‘can you implement support for this quirky control thing’. No, it doesn’t make the game better.”
Motion control technology is expected to play a large role in Sony's PlayStation 4 as well as Microsoft's upcoming Xbox. Whether it is as poorly implemented as it was in this generation of consoles remains to be seen.
“We are extremely open to innovation, but if it’s a gimmick, there’s no point unless it adds value to the player. Touch screens used to be a gimmick, because no-one could get it to work until iPhone came out and used it right,” he tells EDGE. “It adds to the experience, and now everyone is doing it. To us it’s the same with motion control and perceptual gaming in general; if it adds, great. If it’s a gimmick, ignore it.”
“Battlefield 4” is expected to arrive for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC this Fall, possibly on Oct. 29. Next generation consoles, on the other hand, have yet to get a solid release date.
