(click to "move" to a larger image)In something of a follow-up to Monday's story about the then-unnamed Playstation Motion Controller, GDC has finally brought a name to the peripheral: Playstation Move.
Besides the official name, a few other details were unveiled at GDC. The overall design of the move remains unchanged from it's appearance at E3 2009. There is a large ball at the top that glows and can change colors for interaction with the Playstation Eye. Below the ball will be the standard Playstation face buttons (X, Square, Triangle and Circle) a PS button and an analog trigger on the back. The front of the controller also features a large button featuring the official "Playstation Move" logo:
There is apparently a second part to the Move,dubbed the sub-controller, much like the Nunchuk to the Wii-mote. Unlike the Nunchuk, however, the sub-controller does not need to be plugged in to anything. The button setup for the sub-controller features an analog stick, with a D-pad, X and Circle buttons below. There is also an analog trigger on the back, identical to the main Move controller. For a better view of each component, you can check out IGN's gallery here.Speaking of IGN, they got some hands-on time with the new peripherals as well as some vague information on the price: "under $100." Slightly more detail on the pricing can be found in an article at SFGate stating that both controllers are available in a bundle with the Playstation Eye for the sub-$100 price point. A good thing, too, since the Move requires the Eye to function. (Too bad it's not called the Hand, because that would mean it required Hand-Eye coordination.) In general, Playstation Move combines the technology of competing products Microsoft's Project Natal (itself a more advanced implementation of the technology behind the Playstation Eye) and the Wii's standard controller. Although, in regards to the latter, the Move has a noticeably greater degree of accuracy than even the Wii Motion-Plus according to cnet. This is particularly true in the Move's ability to accurately track depth and rotation.
As for the physical controller, IGN says the construction feels "solid" with a good weight and all buttons well within reach of the user's fingers. The exceptions to this are the subcontroller's D-pad, which can be difficult to reach at times, and the PS button, which is recessed and set apart intentionally to prevent accidental presses.
With so much focus on the Move controller the camera-tracking aspect of the setup often gets lost, increase the inevitable comparison to the Wii-mote. This is somewhat unfortunate since the PS3's boasts considerably more processing horsepower to work with, granting not only HD visuals, but true 1-to-1 motion tracking capability. This creates the potential for genuinely new mechanics and gameplay simply not possible on the Wii. All the fancy specifications and potential in the world doesn't count for anything without software to back it up, however.
Fortunately, IGN reports that 36 developers have pledged support for Move:
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.
It's important to remember that just because a company has pledged support does not mean that they will develop games specifically for the peripheral, they may just include optional functionality in a game, or do a remake similar to the Wii version of Resident Evil 4.
A few titles were on display at GDC to show off some of Move's functions. The Shoot is basically a light gun game with the Move controller acting as the gun (pull the trigger to...pull the trigger) and the Eye tracking your movements and translating them to your character, i.e. you duck, he ducks. The big catch with the game being that you're filming movies rather than engaging in "actual" combat (The Shoot = double entendre anyone?) and your lives are actually takes.
Also on display was Wii Sports Resort clone Sports Championship. While nearly identical to the Nintendo title, Sports Championship also goes a long way towards illustrating teh difference in accuracy between the Move and the Wii-mote. Whereas the Wii-mote is based on use of accelerometers, the Move uses motion tracking. So when you're say, swordfighting (and using the second controller as a shield), you can't fake a powerful swing with a simple flick of the wrist, you actually have to make a big swing. The same goes for tennis based games, no quick wrist-flick for his speed hits or serves, you're going to need to actually put some power into those. The game even recognizes when the controller is behind your back.
Speaking of Wii software comparisons, another demo on show was SOCOM 4, said to play much like Wii title Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The subcontroller and it's analog stick handle movement and cover (via the trigger) with the main controller used for aiming and shooting. SOCOM wasn't designed around the Move, however, the funcionality was patched in. Because of this, the game is a better example of what other companies may do with existing titles than what Move software is capable of.
Another title that recently had Move functionality patched in was EyePet. When it was revealed at E3 last year, EyePet used the Eye exclusively, showing what is saw on your TV (most likely you in your living room) with the addition of a ridiculously cute monkey-like pet rendered in the middle of everything.
(click for larger adorableness)
The eye functionality is still there, and is still the primary focus, but now certain interactions -- such as making bubbles with a bubble wand or dumping cookies into a bowl -- will be accomplished via the Move. The real draw here is still the way the Eye creates the illusion of interacting with the pet and, of course, the absurd level of cuteness. While the implementation of Move appears superfluous at this point, there is potential for some interesting ways for it to interact with your EyePet.
For more in-depth coverage on everything Playstation Move, you can check out IGN's coverage here.
Before we end the article, I'd like to throw out a personal opinion:
As cool as I think the Move could be (I'd love to try some sword fighting where I'm actually...sword fighting) I don't know what Sony thinks it's going to accomplish. They're not going to draw any market share away form the Wii, they're just not.
The Wii's biggest audience is comprised of people that don't generally play video games -- your parents, your grandparents, your girlfriend -- with the other segment being the hardcore Nintendo fans who bought the Wii just to play the handful of franchises actually worthy of the title "video game:" Mario, Zelda, Metroid.
Neither one of these groups are going to find anything of interest in the Move. The investment is far too steep for the first group, and the second group only cares about being able to play first-party Nintendo games.
The only way I see this accomplishing anything is the exceptionally rare scenario of "Gee mom/grandma/honey if you/we spend an extra $200 for the PS3 and Move you can play games just like on the Wii and I can still play 'real' games."
Yeah, good luck with that Sony. Remind me again, how well has the Eye sold? You know, that camera peripheral that's also required for Move? I bought your system for the AAA games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted 1 and 2, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet and Heavy Rain that I couldn't get anywhere else, stop making me blush with these "me too" antics.
/rant
/article
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