How Does The "Sony Move" Move you?
Yesterday's Sony press conference at GDC brought further confirmation of the imminent arrival of the company's motion control device now dubbed "Sony Move." We've all sen the photos of the black stick with the little red ball on the end, but Sony reveled there would be a second wireless "sub controller" that would allow for easier navigation in some games. The whole contraption is wireless utilizing blue tooth and has a rechargeable battery. All the tracking for the device is done via the PlayStation Eye camera and all three parts of the puzzle will be sold as a bundle (as well as individually) when the product launches this fall. There is already a long line of developers (see after the jump) who will be supporting the new device which includes EA, Capcom, Disney Interactive, Namco, Square Enix and many more.
So this begs the question: How will consumers react to this new controller and how much will developers actually support it? Sony themselves will of course be supporting it with titles like EyePet and a few other titles that were shown yesterday and Warner Bros. has already announced the release of The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest which will support the new device. The long list of developers seems full of big names, but how will they use the technology. Will we end up with another long string of family party games and a few interesting innovations like the Wii?
This question of course leads us to the elephant in the room. What is Nintendo thinking about all of this? I mean, let's face it, they came up with this idea first and have implemented it to varying degrees of success over the last several years. Is Sony coming a little late to the party, or will they be able to take this technology to new levels? And where does Microsoft fit into all this? We've seen the beginnings of Project Natal which will presumably give us all these same functions but without the actual controller, but when will we see it come to fruition. The race for motion control dominance started years ago and Nintendo is far ahead of the competition. Will Sony and Microsoft be able to catch up?
So, what do you think of the Sony Move? A great new addition to the PS3 or another gimmicky controller. Do you plan on picking one up right away or will you wait until that game you really want to play come out and requires the special controller to function? Tell us what you think in the comments!
Companies supporting the PlayStation Move Motion Controller
505 Games U.S.
Activision Publishing, Inc.
AQ INTERACTIVE Inc.
ARC SYSTEMS WORK CO.,LTD
ATLUS Co., LTD.
Bigben Interactive
CAPCOM CO., LTD.
CCP
Crave Entertainment
CYBERFRONT Corporation
Disney Interactive Studios
Electronic Arts Inc.
FromSoftware, Inc.
Game Republic, Inc.
GUST CO., LTD.
HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD.
IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC.
Koei Co., Ltd.
Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Majesco Entertainment
Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
ONGAKUKAN Co., Ltd.
Oxygen Games
PAON CORPORATION
Q Entertainment Inc.
Q-GAMES, LTD.
SEGA CORPORATION
Sony Online Entertainment
Spike Co., Ltd.
SQUARE ENIX GROUP
TECMO, LTD.
THQ Inc.
UBISOFT®
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Zoo Entertainment, Inc.
Fruit Brute
Posted to GDC, Hot Stuff, Video Games on 11 March 2010
· Comments (12)
Other stuff like this: gdc, motion control, sony, sony move
OK so does the bulb ended controller look like a hitachi magic wand to anyone else? All it needs is a label that says "for personal and non-medical use only" and it'd be complete. I mean really, just look at it, that's begging for someone to kick on the inevitable vibrate function fire up Bioshock 2 and then yell "DRILL ME BIG DADDY!"
"or will you wait until that game you really want to play come out and requires the special controller to function?"
aww come on fruity you know that's crazy talk
"or will you wait until that game you really want to play come out and requires the special controller to function?"
aww come on fruity you know that's crazy talk
Ok, first of all, who decided to fire everyone at Sony that knows how to name a product? NEVER name your product, an object, after a verb. As a writer, I can't wait to review games that use the Move controller and talk about how easy/difficult it is to "pull off moves with the Move." Ugh. And Subcontroller? Double ugh.
It seems like it has all of the functionality of Wii MotionPlus, with the added element of having a camera for games like Move Party. I'm all in favor of that. My main worry though is how much of an incentive will Sony be giving developers to actually use it. They showed off SOCOM yesterday, and treated it as a big selling point that Blu Ray discs allow them to have both standard controls and Playstation Move controls programmed into the game for both styles of play. While it's good to give players a choice and not force them to take on a new control scheme, this also would mean that developers aren't going to be motivated to put a lot of effort into Move controls if it's seen as just a side-project.
I mean, look at the Wii. There are a lot of developers that get how to do good Wii controls, but a majority still can't seem to get it right. I'm not saying that there aren't games that use Wii control beautifully, because there are. But it's not coincidence that most of those games are made by Nintendo (with a few Capcom, Konami, EA, and THQ games thrown in too). And the Wii doesn't really give developers much of a choice in the matter. Sure there's the classic controller for Gamecube support, but those are seen as side features and can't be assumed by a developer that gamers will have those accessories. Now, if developers are still struggling with the Wii where they have little other option, then what are they going to do for the Playstation Move, where the motion controller is the side feature that not every gamer will own?
I really, really want the Move to take off and be a huge success for Sony. I would love to see Wii MotionPlus control on the PS3. But they need to encourage more developers to make Move exclusive content to have that happen. Then again, I see Disney on the list of developers, and if Sony could get an HD port of Epic Mickey for the PS3, that might do it.
Until there's a game that looks truly awesome and requires the Sony Move to function, I have zero interest in it.
And what's up with that big bulb at the end? It's hideous!
@Keith
The ugly glowing ball actually (unfortunately) serves a vital purpose on the controller. The Move controller basically functions in reverse of how the Wii remote works. The Wii remote has a tiny camera built in that senses for the 2 IR dots coming from the sensor bar. Since the camera in the Wii remote is only aiming out the tip of the controller, that's why Wii games pre-MotionPlus could only work when the Wii remote was aimed directly at the screen/sensor bar. I'm not sure how exactly the MotionPlus fixed this issue, but whatever it did, it works.
The Move controller has it in reverse, with the PSEye camera sitting on top of your TV, and a giant glowing ball on the controller so that the controller's position can be tracked by the camera no matter where you hold the controller. The glowing bulb actually will change color depending on what other background colors the PSEye senses in the room so that the system doesn't get confused as to what it should be tracking. Say your walls are white and you're wearing a blue shirt, then the bulb will avoid the colors white and blue. This is nifty, but could make the controller completely useless if you dream of having a rainbow colored room.
So yeah, I'm right with you that the glowy bulb is a complete eyesore, and makes the Move controller look far more like a "toy" than the Wii, but unfortunately without that eyesore there is significantly reduced motion control.
Considering all of my favorite Wii games are the ones that allow Gamecube/Classic controller play, and I only begrudgingly use Wiimote controls when I'm forced to (with the single exception of Silent Hill, which actually uses the Wiimote/Nunchuck WELL), my interest in the Sony Move is well into the negatives.
Add a little lube and let's get the party started!
I was thinking of getting a PS3 since a few of my friends have migrated that way so I'd still be able to play with them. After seeing this, hell-to-the-frak-no!
I'm not sure one way or the other, unless Eyepet absolutely needs it.
What I will say is I can't stand how hypocritical both Sony & Microsoft are being. When Nintendo announced the WII & during the release, they both trash talked the Wiimote something terrible. When it trashed their respective systems, sales wise, they jumped all over it. Yes I know it's business, but still it pisses me off.