For the past decade, Call of Duty (CoD) has dominated the world of console first-person shooter (FPS) gaming. But what will happen to CoD when consoles do not exist? Experts believe the age of consoles is nearing its end and a new platform will emerge as the next evolution in entertainment and multimedia – the PC‐TV. This new platform presents unique challenges, as well as opportunities, in FPS gaming control. Gamepads, keyboards, and mice have dominated FPS gaming controls for years and the opportunity now exists to break away from this paradigm to a more advanced, engaging method of control.
Our design target has been to create a game controller for CoD PC‐TV that delivers a superior gaming experience to today’s CoD console game controller. But what exactly is a superior gaming experience? Through our need finding and prototypes, our design team has identified immersion, performance, and ergonomics as three major factors that characterize the gaming experience. Our product, the Activision Warlord, revolutionizes FPS game control in the context of these three factors through a combination of unique features.
Using a gun controller is the ultimate immersive experience for FPS gaming, but such a controller has never been created for a mainstream game as complex as CoD. The Warlord is the first ever controller to successfully map the extent of PC FPS game functions onto a gun form factor. Physical recoil will greatly enhance haptic feedback beyond the light rumble sensation felt in current console gamepads. User‐activated ambient scent will enable a dimension never before experienced in mainstream gaming.
Current FPS point‐and‐shoot aiming systems (Nintendo Wii and Sony Move) impose severe limitations on performance due to the coupling of aiming and turning in the game. The Warlord breaks free of these constraints with its novel double‐aiming technology. Users can point their controller to aim the crosshair and use a conveniently placed touchpad with their trigger‐hand thumb for quick turning of their character and rough aiming. This auxiliary aiming feature greatly increases performance over existing technologies, all while making the controller standalone from external sensors.
Furthermore, the controller’s performance is directly tied to its ergonomics. The Warlord’s double trigger cage and logical function layout virtually eliminate the need for the user to extend their fingers from the default gripped position. Less movement means more speed in gameplay. Additionally, a twistable front grip makes the Warlord one of the first ambidextrous one‐piece controllers.
Overall, the Activision Warlord will provide the ultimate gaming experience for Call of Duty. We strongly believe the Warlord can be a very high impact product and, quite frankly, will become the weapon of choice in FPS gameplay.
