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Sony is on the Move.
During an event at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, the company officially unveiled the name of their upcoming Playstation 3 motion control device: Playstation Move. The controller will hit shelves this fall.
"It's fast, precise and accurate," said Peter Dille, Sony's senior VP of marketing. "We like to think this is the next generation of motion-gaming...we're really approaching this as a platform launch."
Sony's response to the Nintendo Wii remote, the Playstation Move system requires both the new wand controller and the Playstation Eye camera to work. Though exact pricing has not been set, Sony confirmed that a "starter kit" of one controller, one Playstation Eye and one game will be sold for under $100. The Move will also be sold as a standalone product or bundled with the Playstation 3 system itself.
The Move packs a ton of tech into its slim controller. A three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer and a magnetic field sensor work in tandem with the camera to purportedly provide more accurate spatial recognition than the Wii remote.
That weird little colored sphere stuck to the top? It's not just a fashion statement -- the camera uses that sphere to pinpoint the location of the controller by first detecting the dominant color of the room's background, then setting the sphere to a different color. That helps distinguish it from the environment...and puts on a nice light show to boot.
The company also showed off a "sub-controller" accessory that functions much like the Wii nunchuk device, a small, handheld joystick that lets players control games in a more traditional way.
Sony demonstrated several Move games, including new titles Sports Champions, Move Party and Motion Fighters (working title) alongside integration in current releases like LittleBigPlanet and upcoming shooter SOCOM 4.
According to Dille, Sony sees the Move as the next step for Wii users who are looking to move on to a high-def experience. He's hoping the Move's increased accuracy will work with "core gamers" in addition to the casual fans.
"Virtually every third-party publisher is on board with Playstation Move," Dille noted, although that might be overstating it a bit. Over 35 major publishers have officially signed on to work on Move games, including industry leader EA, who has already revealed that the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will work with the Move.
Initial reaction has been mixed. Gizmodo was impressed by the SOCOM demo, calling it "much smoother" than similar experiences on the Wii, but considered the swordfighting game from Sports Champions to be only a slight improvement over the Wii Motion Plus.
MTV Multiplayer calls the controller's rounded form factor "much more natural to hold" than its Nintendo counterpart, but also takes issue with its newness -- or lack thereof.
"It's definitely neat, and fun to play, but it hasn't differentiated itself from the competition enough to make it feel "new." Wii Motion Plus with better graphics is a hard comparison to escape from," said editor Russ Frushtick.
Ars Technica agrees, pointing out that "the technology is mature, but it seems like a reaction to the success of the Wii, and not a brand-new experience."
With months to go before it releases, Sony has plenty of time to dial in the tech and announce more games. So what do you think? Are you excited by the Move, or is it just a Wii remote knock-off? Sound off in the comments.
During an event at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, the company officially unveiled the name of their upcoming Playstation 3 motion control device: Playstation Move. The controller will hit shelves this fall.
"It's fast, precise and accurate," said Peter Dille, Sony's senior VP of marketing. "We like to think this is the next generation of motion-gaming...we're really approaching this as a platform launch."
Sony's response to the Nintendo Wii remote, the Playstation Move system requires both the new wand controller and the Playstation Eye camera to work. Though exact pricing has not been set, Sony confirmed that a "starter kit" of one controller, one Playstation Eye and one game will be sold for under $100. The Move will also be sold as a standalone product or bundled with the Playstation 3 system itself.
The Move packs a ton of tech into its slim controller. A three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer and a magnetic field sensor work in tandem with the camera to purportedly provide more accurate spatial recognition than the Wii remote.
That weird little colored sphere stuck to the top? It's not just a fashion statement -- the camera uses that sphere to pinpoint the location of the controller by first detecting the dominant color of the room's background, then setting the sphere to a different color. That helps distinguish it from the environment...and puts on a nice light show to boot.
The company also showed off a "sub-controller" accessory that functions much like the Wii nunchuk device, a small, handheld joystick that lets players control games in a more traditional way.
Sony demonstrated several Move games, including new titles Sports Champions, Move Party and Motion Fighters (working title) alongside integration in current releases like LittleBigPlanet and upcoming shooter SOCOM 4.
According to Dille, Sony sees the Move as the next step for Wii users who are looking to move on to a high-def experience. He's hoping the Move's increased accuracy will work with "core gamers" in addition to the casual fans.
"Virtually every third-party publisher is on board with Playstation Move," Dille noted, although that might be overstating it a bit. Over 35 major publishers have officially signed on to work on Move games, including industry leader EA, who has already revealed that the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will work with the Move.
Initial reaction has been mixed. Gizmodo was impressed by the SOCOM demo, calling it "much smoother" than similar experiences on the Wii, but considered the swordfighting game from Sports Champions to be only a slight improvement over the Wii Motion Plus.
MTV Multiplayer calls the controller's rounded form factor "much more natural to hold" than its Nintendo counterpart, but also takes issue with its newness -- or lack thereof.
"It's definitely neat, and fun to play, but it hasn't differentiated itself from the competition enough to make it feel "new." Wii Motion Plus with better graphics is a hard comparison to escape from," said editor Russ Frushtick.
Ars Technica agrees, pointing out that "the technology is mature, but it seems like a reaction to the success of the Wii, and not a brand-new experience."
With months to go before it releases, Sony has plenty of time to dial in the tech and announce more games. So what do you think? Are you excited by the Move, or is it just a Wii remote knock-off? Sound off in the comments.
Rumble, memory cards, motion controls (funny how they soon announced the Sixaxis would have motion control soon after the Wiimote was unveiled...) some other stuff I can't remember (someone on Gaia showed me all of this, btw, I'll have to ask him for the links and stuff), and now this. Anything that became popular. 
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