In the run up to this autumn’s motion control face-off, we got our hands on PlayStation Move and some of its launch titles.
It’s a risky move, introducing something and calling it “new” when an industry competitor has been doing it for four years already. But for Microsoft and Sony, this is the year of motion control, the hopeful plan to run on the back of the Wii’s success and introduce a new way to play.
Microsoft’s Kinect eliminates the use of any controller whatsoever, which already has many people sceptical. Sony’s PlayStation Move, on the other hand, looks to offer a much more precise controlling experience, and bring motion control to a more gaming-centric audience.
The cylindrical Move controller ends with a large orb, housing a LED that can be programmed to emit different colours. Beneath the omnipresent symbol buttons lies an accelerometer that is used to track movement and rotation. It’s this, in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye camera, that gives PlayStation Move its pencil-point accuracy and allows it to track you’re actions in full 3D. Two Move controllers can be used at once for some games, like Sports Champions. The secondary Navigation controller, with its analog stick and D-pad, can also be used for games where direction and movement are necessary.
Move goes on sale in the UK on September 17 and will be available in several units: A starter pack with one Move controller, PlayStation Eye and demo disc (£49.99), or separate Move controller (£34.99) and Navigation controller (£24.99). Move games on the horizon include Kung Fu Rider, Tumble, The Shoot, LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, Sorcery and SOCOM: Special Forces.
At the PlayStation Beta Rooms event in Birmingham we went hands-on with PlayStation Move for the first time…
The new world is all cameras and sensors
Any worries stirred up by outlets about lag can be stopped right now. We couldn’t detect any noticeable delay between our movements and the on-screen action. The Move controller itself feels sturdy and surprisingly lightweight for what it is. Move and the Navigation controller are comfortable to hold, and are very much like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Nintendo users will feel right at home with these two. The first games we used to test Move were Sports Champions and The Fight: Lights Out.
Sports Champions has table tennis, boxing and Frisbee bowling – eat your heart out Wii Sports. It’s fair enough to say it is exactly what you thought it’d be, the same casual kind of atmosphere. After a mandatory calibration section where you have to point the remote to your shoulder and belt buckle (before every game), play begins. You’ll feel much more precise controlling a game of table tennis. It feels more natural to perform your backhand shots and chips. However, something else was needed for a better judgement.
This is where boxing game, The Fight, came in. Real depth perception and body position tracking makes it a much more involving fighting game. Head and shoulders above waving your hands like crazy on Wii Boxing while sitting on the sofa. No set waggling controls here, just punch at the screen, dodge and block. There wasn’t a two-player option available at the stand, but it could create a party experience where you actually have to get up and move about.
However, regardless of the casual games on offer, there was one title at Beta Rooms that made PlayStation Move’s mission make sense. And it’s a repeat of a title that’s already been released to heavy acclaim earlier this year.
Heavy Rain further extended the merging of films and video games to create a level of interactive entertainment that hasn’t been seen. It was a bold concept that, despite serious doubts, received huge commercial success. This second attempt changes the experience with Move. The QTE gameplay fundamentally remains the same, but Heavy Rain: Move Edition makes performing those preset actions much more natural. This re-release won’t reinvent motion gaming, rather it introduces a different perspective on things. A different perspective that shows maybe, just maybe, Sony can actually pull off motion gaming for real gamers.
We’re not all like the attractive models in catalogues (nobody has a smile as white as the actors in the Wii adverts). So here’s to Sony not mucking up what progress they’ve made and giving us a motion control experience that can actually be enjoyed solo and with friends.
PlayStation Move is out on Sep 17, 2010.
Jason England & Aaron Lee
Tags: fight, heavy rain, motion control, playstation eye, playstation move, ps3, sony, sports champions
