[IndustryGamers would like to thank EA Sports for sponsoring our trip to GDC this year]
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At GDC, Sony Computer Entertainment today officially announced the title for their motion controller and it's not Arc or Gem... it's PlayStation Move. The controller has a three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, and a terrestrial magnetic field sensor, rumble functionally in addition to its “color-changing sphere,” which work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye to deliver “precise movement, angle, and absolute position in 3D space.”
Additionally, Sony announced that Move would launch with what is being called the sub-controller. This complementary device has directional buttons and an analog stick for in-game navigation and can be used in conjunction with or separately from the Move controller.
Sony additionally announced 36 third-party publishers and developers are supporting the PlayStation Move. From a first party perspective, Sony said it will have 20 games from SCE Worldwide Studios supporting the Move in one way or another; also, SOCOM 4 was shown being controlled using the Move and sub-controller quite capably. In total, the package including the Move, sub-controller and PlayStation Eye will retail for less than $100. There are also plans to create a PS3 hardware bundle that includes Move, but the pricing and details on that haven't been shared publicly yet.
It's clear that Sony is directly eying the Wii's market space with a controller that has so many functional similarities to a Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus and Nunchuk. Still, it'll be a challenge for them to overtake Nintendo's mindshare without good pricing and some killer-app software.
14 Comments
March 10, 2010
By under $100, I assume you mean $99.99. The PS Eye retails currently for $39.99 by itself, so this seems reasonable. Considering a separate Wiimote, nunchuck, and motionplus add up to $80, this is quite comparable (although you can save $10 by purchasing a black, blue, or pink Wiimote that includes motionplus). The most ironic part of this whole situation is that third parties will likely take much greater care to use the PS Move in a way that adheres to core gamer sensibilities than the wagglefests they've produced for the Wii. I say this for two reasons:
1. The Playstation 3 gaming audience (as opposed to early adopters who bought it simply as the best Bluray player in the early days) are mostly core gamers in their 20s and 30s. Third parties are trying to appeal to that market.
2. They've learned from negative feedback that the reason core gamers are wary of motion controls is how poorly they've been implemented in the majority of third party Wii titles. With the benefit of hindsight, they don't want to repeat that mistake.
The reason I deem this as ironic though, is that the PS Move will very likely result in better thought out control schemes not just for PS3 software, but Wii software as well. Having a better model to follow from PS3 development, third parties will reevaluate their attempts at motion control on Wii and realize that with motionplus, Nintendo's controls are probably capable of 70-80% of the accuracy the PS Move is. As a current Wii owner, I therefore welcome Sony's entrance into motion controlled gaming for that reason, as well as any possible innovation they can bring in on the first party software side. I hate to admit it, especially since I like Nintendo's franchises more, but Sony arguably has the best first party development studios. Though no slouch in this department, MS puts less emphasis on first party besides Halo and it shows. They are clearly third in this respect, but that doesn't mean they're not still impressive.
March 11, 2010
The Playstion move demos were great but the best one to me was socom 4 the fighting game was ok just not for me. Socom 4 play like Gears to me and you dont have to do alot of movement when playing , i think alot of us hardcore gamer will like that. Yes there was some lag with the fighting game but i think it was more with the guy trying to do show us something great . Yes the game controler are a copy of the Wii but all controler are. Day 1 buy for me and i see alot of ps3 systems this year as well.
March 11, 2010
There is one very major functional difference between the Move and the Wiimote outside of the "motion" aspect. This often overlooked element is that the Wiimote gets its screen pointing based on pointing at a part of the screen by moving your wrist. The Move doesn't get "pointed" at the screen, its position is assessed by the camera and that is interpreted onto the screen.
Bottom line:
Wiimote = point by moving the wrist, not particularly accurate.
Move = point by moving the arm, very accurate.
So for example it is impossible to draw with a Wiimote. It is very easy to draw with a Move.
Potentially the Move will be more tiring to use in terms of pointing, but it is so much more satisfying. Providing games are designed with the fatigue factor taken into account, using the Move will be a much better experience.
All that said, ~$100 without a marketing push won't achieve mainstream adoption. To really crack it they'd need to sell the PS3 with the Move bundled at the current PS3 price, which they can't afford to do yet.
March 12, 2010
Good point, who would have thought that Sony's new MOVE was going to help Big N's games!
But I really like the design of this MOVE it looks great! If these photos are any indication they are solidly built.
May 17, 2010
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May 25, 2010
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May 26, 2010
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May 27, 2010
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June 12, 2010
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