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Sony Unveils PlayStation Move Motion Controller
Sony used its GDC press conference to officially name its PS3 motion controller, PlayStation Move.
The company said that the technology, which works with the PlayStation Eye, had been in development for two years and will launch this autumn. Supporting the main Move controller is the Nunchuk-like 'Sub-Controller', a wireless unit sporting an analogue stick and d-pad, pictured below.
Move will be available in three bundles - standalone for those who already have the PS Eye, with the camera and a PS3, or with the camera and a game. The third bundle will cost less than $100.
Sony said that Move’s latency (or lag) is nearly non-existent at under one frame, a similar response you get from the DualShock 3 controller.
The company demoed a one-on-one battle title called Gladiator Duel and a table tennis title, both of which are featured in a game called Sports Champions.
Alongside a brief gameplay demo, it also confirmed that the recently-announced SOCOM 4 will be one of the first shooters to use the Sub-Controller.
Check out a video of Sony’s GDS conference here.
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No, thanks. More crap surrounding my tv, a peripheral I will only use a few times and lots of expectations that won't be met. And the design of the thing is downright ugly.
The unstoppable expansion of capitalism. My feelings toward this are two fold: one the hand i believe that sony will produce some stellar first party titles with this new controller, however, it was only a matter of time before Sony and Microsoft move to try and poach some of nintendo's market. I don't see them solely aiming for the 'casual gamer', nintendo has a monopoly in that genre, so it will be interesting to see how this fairs.
Well every controller in existence is a rip-off of nintendo controllers anyway. I dont see where that is bad considering the success it has given everyone so far. Why do people come and say "its a wii-mote rip-off", well mate the dualshock is a nintendo rip-off, the X360 controller is a nintendo and sega dreamcast rip-off, the analog sticks and rumble features are a nintendo rip-off. So fuckin what? Big deal. It works and thats what people have come to know over the years. I thought that in the year 2010 people would be over this already but it does not look like it.
I was under the impression that Nintendo "borrowed" the concept of the D-Pad controller from MB Games, the first self-centering analog stick was available on the Vectrex (also the first console to do 3D gaming), And Microsoft predated Sixaxis and the wii remote with the Sidewinder Freestyle Pro gamepad back in '98.
The Sidewinder Freestyle Pro looks nothing like a Wii-mote and afaik, only tracked up and down motions. The power glove was more interactive (imo) than Sidewinder Freestyle Pro and pre-dates it.
I'm not sure you can really call the Microvision controller a D pad. It was 4 buttons and not really much different from any other group of buttons where as Nintendo Donkey Kong hand-held used a D-pad.
Yes, I'm aware that a D-Pad is really no different from buttons when you look at the board but as far as actual use there's a huge difference, imo. Nintendo didn't invent the idea of buttons but I think saying the D-pad from from Microvision sort of implies they did it first which is untrue even if you exclude joysticks and speak about button based controls only.
I think his point is more to the fact every modern controller resembles still borrows heavily from a SNES pad's design which I think everyone can agree the SNES pad is probably one of the most perfect controller designs and while analog existed long before nintendo as did force feedback, Nintendo popularised both.
D-Pad just means Directional pad so yes, you can call it that, it's also widely acknowledged that it was the first (connected) design and the precurssor to the modern pad.
Also it was just supposed to be an overly pedantic post to somebody who was pointing out that none of this matters.
The thing is guys its nowhere near a copy of the Wiimote in reality its totallty different and the concept was Sonys way before the Wii was ever introduced.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSzmRt7HhQ
So much for it copying the Wii huh?
This is also interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYHr0I-iFHE
No matter how much you try to spin this, the Move apes the Wiimote and Nunchuk. It's indisputable.
Irregardless of those videos, Nintendo implemented it into the Wii in 2006. Sony is doing it now in 2010. Those vids don't mean anything.
Eye-toy was released in 2003, doesn't stop Microsoft from claiming natal (shit name by the way, why do people not comment on that more?) as being a revelation / next step for gaming / etc. Sony did it in 2003, M$ in 2010...
A) Natal isn't the official name - just the internal project name. Although, if MS doesn't release the real name soon they may get stuck with it.
B) If you think Natal is just a camera or Eyetoy you haven't been paying attention. 360 already has a camera - Natal is more about the software and its application than the hardware being used - and that is something which has not been done at that level before (automatic visual user identification and sign in/Gesture based UI/etc.).
C) I'm surprised no one else has commented on how Sony appropriated not just the Wii controls, but Natal in yesterday's press conference. Now Sony's Move suddenly has some type of rudimentary voice interface too?
Personally, I don't have very high expectations for Move or Natal from a gaming perspective, but I do find Natal's interface potential intriguing (not just for 360, but other hardware). It's not too hard to see Natal being the first of many mass market devices to visually recognize users/consumers and respond to your voice and gestures (like at work and shopping).
Fair point about the name, I just have heard Natal for so long I assumed it was the final name now. Its still shit.
I have been paying attention though and what I see in Natal is a camera that tracks the motion of people to control or influence the actions occurring on screen, exactly as I did 7 years ago with the Eye-Toy, but with a few more bells and whistles. People probably haven't commented on the voice interface as its not exactly something new for Natal either, I seem to recall using the mic on my DS to activate certain game features, not as advanced as Move or Natal, but the idea is the same. So what your saying is Sony nicked something from M$ who nicked it from Nintendo?
Natal is an HD eye-toy.....
I kind of agree here. If you're going to diss the Move as being a "very accurate copy of the wiimote", then you have to diss natal for being a "very accurate copy of the eyetoy".
Both are just super-accurate versions of existing ideas.
I think if they have support for Natal on HTPC's then microsoft will be on to a winner.
Yep, that's the end game. MS stated from the moment they announced the original x-box that this was intended as a Trojan Horse into the living room.
The lines will continue to blur between game console and all-in-one convergence device; and a visual/aural interface is the obvious way to make that user friendly to the masses for a complex device which will encompass games, music, movies, tv, internet, computing and eventually control your appliances and thermostat, etc. - both at home and remotely.
Live is now in the second generation of the online infrastructure necessary to accomplish this and Natal is the second generation in terms of interface (after controller/remote/keyboard/mouse).
Fuck me, that just sounds like a devious plan for world domination....
Yeah, pretty much. But at least they're being up front about it! :)
I have to admit, this is actually slightly better than I thought it would be, sure its a blatant rip-off of the Wii controller, but they've done a pretty good job, and that coloured ball on top is pretty cool. Not sure I need two Wii's in my life, but I reckon this will do better than Natal purely because at the end of the day its still a controller and gamers understand controllers far more than they'll ever understand using a camera alone to control a game. There is no way you can get the same precision needed in a video game with camera control alone. Plus by nicking a couple of Wii remotes and just copying them must have saved Sony billions in R&D!
Ahh the innovate/imitate debate.
This couldn't be more of an endorsement of the Wii by Sony, but it'll only be a commercial success if all the hardcore gamers who've been mocking the Wii for years swallow their pride, eat some humble pie and buy it. Maybe the games coming out on 360/PS3 will be more mature, but if they don't copy Nintendo yet again and embrace the wider demographic of new/casual gamers then won't they just be competing over the same continually shrinking demographic that Nintendo had the ingenuity to move away from?
If all the hardcore gamers buy it, Sony will still see it as a failure. You see, Sony wants to tap into the Wii's market. They've said this. They want Wii owners to "upgrade" to a PS3. If that doesn't happen, Sony will definitely be disappointed.
Does it have vibration?It looks kinky...
SexAxis... ;-)
Dualcock? *cough*
Earth Move
Who cares if it's copy , so long as it's put to good use.
I'm really looking forward to both Move + Natal !
Well said.
Talent imitates, genius steals etc. This is entirely distinct tech which is housed in a familiar form factor. I can’t imagine a more efficient way to package such a device, so this is really a controller born of the anthropic principle.
If the Wii relied entirely on the novelty of its controller (which some might uncharitably say it does), then Nintendo would have something to worry about. But that is, thankfully, not the case, and this an inevitable evolution catalysed by Nintendo’s far sight – just as Natal is similarly standing on Eyetoy’s shoulders.
It’s a good thing. And besides, the distended lifecycles of this generations consoles mean that there is more opportunity for everyone to afford to own more than one of them in time, and experience all of these devices.
Yeah it takes a genius to fail to copy an idea once but have to still support and manufacture it over the lifetime of their product (sixaxis). At least they've covered their bases this time by just making a straight 1:1 copy of the wiimote.
Sony's track record is hardly good in this department, remember the baterang controller which they had to ditch cause it was shit and so they stuck with the same pad Nintendo designed for them 15 years ago. How about Rumble or the (almost) entire featureset of XBox live that they have stolen, maybe achievements.
Sony do not innovate, they steal and last place in this gen is where they deserve to be.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal
Just ask Xerox / Apple / Microsoft.
Ah yes, the 'batterang' :-)
My heart sank when it was unveiled as it looked like a third party PC pad. Nasty stuff, I agree!
I think this generation, as with every before it, there is a really healthy spread of ideas and games across all platforms and I only wish I could afford to buy my third 360 (two RRoD casualties) and a Wii to complement my PS3 and PC. As for Sony's innovation, without wishing to appear an apologist or enter into a tiresome cross-format superiority debate, the PlayStation consoles have brought some astonishing, innovative software to the table (many of my favourites among them), and deserve more credit. I'd make a clear distinction between commercial and critical success as an identifier of quality. And don't forget that the PlayStation was originally designed as a SNES add-on, but then rejected by Nintendo due to their decision to remain with silicon storage media.
Carefully avoiding a label again (this time a maternally doting far left kids presenter hippy ;-D), I'm happy to label all of this generation's consoles as 'winners', and us the beneficiaries of probably the richest gaming landscape in history.
"I'm happy to label all of this generation's consoles as 'winners', and us the beneficiaries of probably the richest gaming landscape in history."
never a truer word spoken!
That's right!
And there's now more of an incentive for developers to invest time and money in the development of motion control games.
We could see gaming being taken into completely new and exciting directions , and also see a greater level of immersion in established franchises/genres.
Lets not forget that this is their second attempt to steal motion control from Nintendo. Feel the innovation from Sony.
It really is a rip-off, no class at all. And someone said the tech is different, let me say its not that different. The biggest difference is that the camera is not on the remote.....even the promo pics are nearly identical....
At least Natal seems to be different.
If you look at the pictures of the Move and Nunchuck together on the report "36 Third Party Developers Supporting PS Move" you can see that the PS Move has a wrist strap (just like the Wiimote) but the wireless PS Nunchuck doesn't - again just like the Wii Nunchuck.
Clearly the Wii Nunchuck doesn't need a strap because it is attached to the Wiimote - which is attached to your wrist - but the wireless PS Nunchuck is free to be thrown through TVs throughout the land. Why? Either the PS Move doesn't need a wrist strap, or the PS Nunchuck does...
...or maybe (just maybe) Sony's brief was "make something like the Wiimote" and the design team took that so literally that even common sense went out the window!
I'll still be buying one though...
The PS3 nunchuck doesn't have motion sensors (at this time), so would only be hurled in frustration (a boxing game has been demoed with two Moves in hand).
Apparently that could change though, and then I'm sure they will add a wrist strap to protect your landlord deposit ;-)
The word rip-off has a new meaning, even the prmo pics are almost the same....
It's not like the world's second ever car manufacturer felt like they had to make vehicles with 7 wheels just to avoid feeling like tea-leafs. If it works, then why change it? If you think your customers would use it, why not let them have it?
I'd say true innovation is very rare and that most things you make use of everyday are a result of many tweaks over many years
Including people - the apparent peak of evolution so far ;-)
Good use of the word "apparent"!
I like the car analogy though, we congratulate a car company when they come up with a new idea, say electric windows or air con, but we don't vilify other companies when they see how good the idea is and use it themselves. If anything, we'd ridicule them if they didn't move with the times and follow suit! In fact, some even improve the idea, and if it wasn't for these iterative steps, there would be none of the important evolution of good ideas. Think about the internal combustion engine and how it's efficiency has improved since it's first conception, if no one copied that and ran with it then we probably wouldn't have anywhere near as (relatively) efficient engines nowadays. Why do we give games companies such a hard time when they follow and modify good idea?
In fact, there's almost no true innovation these days, only clever evolution. You could even argue that motion control is simply a logical extension of analogue input, itself a logical evolution from digital input. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo were very clever by being the first to implement this, but it doesn't mean it was some out of the blue revolution. An Isaac Newton quote is quite fitting, all technology, particularly in games, is "Standing on the shoulders of giants".
Well, it's that or balance boards, and I prefer the view from Doshin's collar ;-)
Wii HD confirmed then. lol
Maybe more Wii Plus HD. :)
I have to say I find the rallying cry of "it's more precise than anything else out there" a bit bizarre. Isn't the key to Wii's success the fact that it isn't very precise?
Most gamers aren't professional baseball/tennis/golf players, super soldiers or Jedi Knights; so you actually need a control method which will interpret our crude gestures into something that yields amazing results in the game. Developers would actually have to overcome/ignore the precision of the device to make an enjoyable and "casual" game.
I suspect Gamasutra is going to have to update this article next year to include this motion controller in their list: http://gizmodo.com/5477633/how-sony-lost-its-way
I love the combination of austere, Sony high-design with the aesthetic of 'UP!' - they look like the most expensive balloon pumps in the world. And to be clear, that makes me very happy indeed :-)
Yah. I think they look great, although the mini-one makes the wii plagiarism utterly utterly blatent.
As somebody who hasn't read a great deal about them, are those coloured balls one colour (out of the box), or do they light up different colours (i.e. super-cool)?
According to:
http://kotaku.com/5490574/how-the-playstation-move-is-not-a-wii-remote
The ball lights up different colours because the camera will sense what colours are not present in the background and light the ball up that colour, so that it can detect it more easily. Pretty cool.
I guess that if you're playing with multiple Moves (that seems like an inconvenient name) they'll light up different colours.
That's a nice solution. They probably won't need to light up different colours to other 'Moves' though, as each sphere will be distinct against the same background, even if similarly hued.