PS3 Move !

Here's our first ever official, up-close look at Sony's PlayStation Move motion-control peripheral, due later this year.

 

We've seen it before of course, back when it didn't have a name, but Sony has never actually released official press shots of the device until now, giving us such a close look at both the main wand and its "nunchuk" accessory.

 

The Move will be released this Fall, in three options: individually, bundled with a PlayStation Eye camera or bundled with the camera and a PlayStation 3 console.

KAS TAS PS3 MOVE ??!! ..

Yesterday, Sony took the wraps off the PlayStation Move, which some people will call Sony's next big thing in video gaming, and others will call a shameless Wii Remote rip-off. Here's everything you need to know about it.

 

WHAT IS IT?

 

The Move is a motion-sensing peripheral, which in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye Camera (which is already on the market) allows precise motion-controlled video gaming on the PlayStation 3.

 

The Move can, in some cases, be paired with the "Subcontroller", a nunchuk-like device that sports an analog stick and d-pad, which allows the Move to be used with more "traditional" titles like first-person shooters or role-playing games.

 

Unlike the Wii Remote, which is powered by regular batteries (or in cases of third-party solutions a rechargeable battery pack), the Move is fuelled by the same lithium ion battery that runs your PlayStation 3's DualShock 3 controller, meaning it'll have plenty of shelf life between recharges. As a bonus, the Subcontroller also has a lithium ion battery.

 

Both the Move and Subcontroller are wireless, feature rumble and will sync with your PlayStation 3 via Bluetooth. At launch, they will be available in black, and black only.

 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

 

It uses a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, coloured sphere and a terrestrial magnetic field sensor to pin-point the location of the Move, which allows it to easily track any kind of movement the player makes, whether it be slow or fast, small or sweeping.

 

The Subcontroller also features a full-fledged motion sensor, just like the Move wand itself, unlike the Wii Remote Nunchuk's gyroscope which is fairly primitive in comparison.

 

Interestingly, every game we played at GDC required the user to calibrate the Move before playing. It wasn't a big deal, but switching between games quickly it was a bit of a pain.

 

WHAT GAMES ARE THERE?

 

Along with an announcement that some "regular" PlayStation 3 titles will support the Move (such as SOCOM 4, EyePet and LittleBigPlanet), Sony unveiled a range of games built specifically for the new controller's motion-sensing capabilities.

 

These are:

 

- Motion Fighter

- Move Party

- Sports Champions

- TV Superstars

- The Shoot

- Slider

 

In total, Sony says that "more than 20" titles will be released featuring PlayStation Move support by the end of fiscal year 2010.

 

WHO IS SUPPORTING THE MOVE?

 

Aside from Sony's own internal studios, a total of 36 companies have signed up to develop and publish games for the PlayStation Move. These companies are:

 

* 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.

 

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE WII REMOTE?

 

While the Move looks similar to Nintendo's pioneering 2006 motion controller, there are key differences, like a reduced button count and better motion-sensing. For more on this, read up on Stephen's early impressions of the Move.

 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

 

The Move will be available in three packages: a standalone Move (for consumers that already own a PlayStation Eye camera), a bundle that includes the Move and PlayStation Eye, and a hardware pack that includes the Move, PlayStation Eye and PlayStation 3 console.

 

While pricing details for the standalone pack and PS3 bundle are unavailable at this time, the Move + PlayStation Eye option will cost $99.

 

WHEN IS IT OUT

 

The PlayStation Move will be released sometime this Fall.

Kodel Ps3 Move nera Wii kopija ..zmogus kuris ismegino Socom 4 ,issako savo nuomone apie tai kaip jauciasi valdymas ir kuom tai skiriasi nuo Wii Remote.

I just played SOCOM 4 with the newly-named PlayStation Move controller. And now I know how the PlayStation 3's motion-sensitive controller is not just a me-too Wii controller.

 

For those who need the basics, the PlayStation Move is a remote-like motion-sensitive controller with a sphere at the end. The sub-controller is an off-hand controller being offered for some Move games. The Move controller connects to the PS3 with the help of a PlayStation Eye camera, which detects the Move's colored sphere, while tilt sensors in the move transmit their position data to the PS3.

 

But at first glance, the whole thing seems like just another version of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

 

Not quite. There are key differences:

 

-Fewer buttons: The Move controller is actually even more streamlined than the Wii Remote. Nintendo's Remote still offers/confuses a new player with a d-pad, plus, A, minus, 1 and 2 buttons as well as a home button and B trigger. The Move has its own home button and underbelly trigger, but just five other points of button input. That makes the controller actually feel a little naked and therefore likely even less daunting to a new player — unless they need their controllers to look like TV remotes.

 

-No wasted batteries: The Wii remote sucks up AA battery juice. The Move and its companion sub-controller are rechargeable via the same mini-USB connection used to charge the PS3's main controller.

 

-A smarter controller: I played SOCOM 4, a third person-shooter, with the Move pointed at the TV like a gun and the sub-controller in my left hand to command character movement. Wii games that were controlled with Remote and Nunchuk could be befuddled if the player pointed the Remote away from the screen. If you were playing a shooter and aimed just off the screen, the game's camera might start spinning or the game would pause and ask for the player to point at the TV again. The combination of camera sensors — the Sony Eyetoy on top of the TV detects the presence of the Move — and a gyroscope prevented SOCOM 4 from getting confused. When I moved my controller to point off of the TV, the gyroscopic sensors kept track of my movement. The same thing happened when a SOCOM developer blocked the Eyetoy camera. The precision of the controller diminishes in these situation. but the PS3 doesn't lose track of the device.

 

-No wire!: The Wii Remote and Nunchuk are tethered by a short cable. The PS3 Move and its subcontroller are not.

 

-No off-hand gyro: The Wii Nunchuk has a sensor that detects motion, more crudely than does the Remote. The PS3's version of the Nunchuk, does not have a motion sensor, according to a developer I was speaking to. There's a chance that is not final, but that is the case with the controllers at Sony's showcase event today. But that's why two-handed boxing-style games were shown with two Moves. On the Wii, those kinds of games are handled, with supposedly less precision, with a Remote and Nunchuk.

 

-The colored ball: The colorful sphere at the pointing end of the Move is the thing that the PlayStation Eye uses to detect the presence of the Move. The color changes. In the demo I played with SOCOM 4, the sphere was orange. Why? Because the software detected that there was no orange in the background. If we had been in a different room, the color would be different. The Wii's signature hue may be white, but this varying color at the end of the Move will likely prove to be the Move's visual trademark.

 

-The Z: Without a Wii MotionPlus, the Wii Remote cannot accurately sense depth.The Wii's sensor bar doesn't know how close the player is standing to their TV, nor can it recognize movements toward or away from it. The PS3, however, can detect such movement in the Z-plane. It does this thanks to the sphere at the end of the controller. If the player moves the Move toward themselves, the PlayStation Eye camera sees the sphere shrink and therefore knows the controller has been moved in the Z-plane. Clever. [uPDATE: Readers point out that a standard Wii Remote can sense some depth. I have even played games — a long time ago — that ask for the Wii remote to be pulled in or out. I never found that detection to be all that precise and believe the PS3 Move, based on how the tech was described to me, should be able to detect Z-plane movement more effectively, without needing to be pointed directly at the TV, as the Wii Remote must be.]

 

Those are the differences, all less obvious than the similarities. The PS3 Move is being shown to support shooters and table tennis, fistfighting and co-op platforming. These may be familiar templates to Wii gamers who have sampled Metroid, Wii Sports, and Super Mario Galaxy. But at the nitty-gritty level, some of the PS3 Move's difference offer some nice feature improvements — maybe a drawback or two — and something that isn't quite the Wii-too it appears to be at first glance.

 

And, hey, the Sony person showing me SOCOM didn't even make me wear the controller's wrist strap. A Nintendo person would never let me get away with that.

PlayStation Move first hands-on

At last, we've felt Sony's long awaited motion controller, now at last officially known as "PlayStation Move," in our unworthy, sweaty hands. We have a bunch of videos on the way, but for now you can revel in our first close-ups of the controllers in the gallery below. Here are some of our initial thoughts:

 

* The controllers are light. Much more akin to the DualShock3 than the Wiimote in heft, and we're guessing that's due to Sony's continued love of rechargeable batteries.

* The main controller does have some subtle vibration (not DualShock or Wiimote level, but present), but we're not sure yet about the subcontroller.

* We hate to say this about "pre-alpha" software, but we're feeling lag. An on-rails shooter we tried out, dubbed The Shoot, was discernibly inferior to shooting experiences we've had on the Wii, both in precision and refresh rate of the aiming cursor.

* The gladiator game is about as fun as it looks, we'll have video after the break momentarily. Unfortunately, while it's less of a defined experience than something like the sword game on Wii Sports Resort, you're still working through a library of sensed, pre-defined actions instead of a true 1:1 fighting game with simulated physics. Not that it isn't possible with PlayStation Move, just that it's not this.

* The lightness of the controllers means we might be feeling less of that Wiimote fatigue, always a good thing! There's an aspect of the controller that feels a little cheap, but at the same time we wouldn't call it fragile.

* As far as we can tell, the control scheme for Socom 4 is quite similar to dual-controller shooter setups on the Wii, with the camera moving based on your aiming cursor hitting the edge. It's hard to see this as the preferred hardcore setup, but we're told it's configurable, so we'll try and see what else is on offer.

* The system seemed to have a bit of trouble understanding the configuration of our body in a swordfighting stance: even though we selected "left handed," it was putting our sword arm forward instead of our shield. Right-handers didn't seem to have similar problems, and we're sure this will be ironed out in time, but it certainly shows that the controllers aren't magical in their space-detection prowess.

* As would be expected, you're supposed to stand relatively center on the TV, and at a certain optimal distance. The system is forgiving, but there's a sweet spot that users will undoubtedly have to learn.

* Lag is less prominent on Socom 4, and we'd say we're pretty accurate with the controller already, though the framerate choppiness of this pre-alpha build obviously hampers that a bit. We did get a slight feel of being in "scene to scene" shootouts instead of a free-roaming FPS, perhaps a design choice to mitigate the limited camera movement offered by the controller, but we'll have to see more levels to know for sure.