Feature | Hands-on with PlayStation Move

Jun 17, 2010 Comments Off by Stan McGuigan

We sent roving reporter Stan McGuigan along to Sony HQ last week to have a look at Sony’s brand new PlayStation Move technology.

The guys at Sony offered us the opportunity to play with the soon to be released PlayStation Move. Of course I jumped at the chance; I have always applauded Sony’s spirit of endeavour and innovation. It’s the PlayStation Eye that we need to examine here as it is a vital piece of the Move partnership. Using sensors within the controllers and the PS Eye to pinpoint accuracy of movement, Sony have managed to create an experience of fluidity in gameplay not yet seen in the Wii dominated ‘motion’ market.

The first thing you will notice when you look at the Move is its design. Similar in look and feel to a microphone with a brightly coloured sphere on top (the sphere is actually soft with a rubbery texture – not what I expected). It has some good solid weight to it and doesn’t feel cheap. It has a trigger button, similar to the Wii controller, a main action button and the standard four d-pad buttons found on any PlayStation controller.

Eager to get started, the first title we played was a compilation of family orientated games (Move Party). It involves fairly simple activities like swatting insects, or using an electric fan to guide/blow baby birds into their nests. What I very quickly noticed was how accurate the controller was and the absence of lag – there was certainly none that I could easily distinguish. Next we then moved onto a sports compilation (Sports Champions). Now it became evident that skill, dexterity and, to an extent, fitness was required.

After a fun round of Frisbee golf we moved into the arena for some combat – gladiator style, using dual controllers (one as a shield). I was soon fighting for my life, parrying here and swinging rapidly. This is when things got interesting – the power and speed of your attacks is taken into account, measured and inflicted damage dependant on your efforts. A quick swing would cause minor damage (or be dodged) whereas a more powerful attack can inflict major damage, even breaking pieces off the shield if parried.

Next was a test of skill and accuracy with the Archery. One controller was used as the bow and the second the arrow. As you pulled back on the string you switch into an aim mode, staring down the line of arrow at the target. Even the very subtle movements of breathing and making minor positional adjustments were translated flawlessly into the game. My first shot drifted off centre, but using that as reference my second scored a perfect bull’s-eye – unfortunately for me it was a timed event and I used mine up to achieve greater accuracy, but I was pleased that all the subtle nuances of archery were so seamlessly translated.

Although the demos I played were early code, it gave me enough of a taste to know that I wanted more. It’s easy to see how these types of games could be adapted as either family fun, or for the serious gamers and even better yet – a few rounds with some mates, with beer in hand. There is also enough effort required to work those muscles – try a few rounds of boxing and you will see what I mean.

There will be some effort towards backwards compatibility with selected games, but the developers creating Move specific titles will gain more here than any add-ons. Looking forward I believe this one could be a real winner for Sony — it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against Microsoft’s new Kinect.

Is this simply an attempt to break into the motion market that has been exclusively owned by Nintendo with the Wii? The short answer is yes, but for the customer this can only be a good thing. The bigger question will be cost. Sony is yet to release details but have indicated that there will be bundles available with controllers and the PS Eye. It will be interesting to see how much the hardware will go for, and that may well dictate the success or failure of this product.

Some of the games lining up for release are