Playstation Move Verdict
So I finally got some decent playtime with Playstation Move. If you don't already know, it's Sony's answer to the Wii's wand-based motion control.
The short version is, get it. Even with just the pack-in game in the camera/wand/game bundle, it shows that Sony's idea of motion control has a lot more depth than Nintendo's.
We all know that very few Wii games that focused on the motion control had much depth. Many of my friends who were Nintendo fans couldn't wait to get the Wii. I had high hopes for Wii Sports Tennis, as I love Virtua Tennis. But it turned out to be so incredibly shallow, that only simple flick was necessary. Soon gather dust alongside their PS3s and 360s.
Now those same people are apprehensive about Move, because they don't want to get burned twice. I've spent about 2 hours with Move now (1 hr on Start the Party, and 1 hr with Sports Champions). I'm quite impressed with its responsiveness, ease of use, and quality of motion tracking. But I'm more impressed with the motions required to play the Move games well.
In Ping Pong, you have complete 3d control over the location of your paddle. This means you can angle to lob or hit low, spin the paddle as you hit to spin the ball, and it's up to you to get closer to the net when necessary. On Gold difficulty, there doesn't seem to be any magnet snapping the paddle to the ball, either.
When I lived near a course, I used to play real disc golf. I even shot under par at Sugar Bottom outside Iowa City. I was quite surprised at how lifelike the response of the frisbees was.
If you use two controllers with the sword fighting, one angles the shield, and the other angles the sword. I haven't tried that yet, but I expect it will be quite cool. Already just playing with one controller, I feel like I can learn to be skillful parrying and blocking attacks.
The minigames in Start the Party were quite enjoyable. These show the view through the camera as a background, and attach a computer-generated object to your hand. The effect is excellent, and you really get the feeling you're holding it. One game gives you a hand fan and has you generate wind currents to blow around parachuting dudes. You have the angle the fan perpendicular to the direction you wave it (as you would with a real fan) to get decent results.
Most importantly, when I play these games, I don't feel silly waving the controller around, even when playing Start the Party. The control is tight enough that I get involved in the game, and just play.
As a game programmer, I spent 3 months programming the Wii controller. It was so limiting (granted without Motion+), that I didn't feel like we could come up with much. It's not an accident that few Wii motion games have depth; the hardware just wasn't up to it. From my experience playing with Move, I don't think it is plagued by these problems. Sony has shown its commitment to genuine gaming using its device with the depth of controls available in some of the Sports Champions games. Now it is in the hands of the developers to come up with great titles that push this device even further.
I am looking forward to it.
The short version is, get it. Even with just the pack-in game in the camera/wand/game bundle, it shows that Sony's idea of motion control has a lot more depth than Nintendo's.
We all know that very few Wii games that focused on the motion control had much depth. Many of my friends who were Nintendo fans couldn't wait to get the Wii. I had high hopes for Wii Sports Tennis, as I love Virtua Tennis. But it turned out to be so incredibly shallow, that only simple flick was necessary. Soon gather dust alongside their PS3s and 360s.
Now those same people are apprehensive about Move, because they don't want to get burned twice. I've spent about 2 hours with Move now (1 hr on Start the Party, and 1 hr with Sports Champions). I'm quite impressed with its responsiveness, ease of use, and quality of motion tracking. But I'm more impressed with the motions required to play the Move games well.
In Ping Pong, you have complete 3d control over the location of your paddle. This means you can angle to lob or hit low, spin the paddle as you hit to spin the ball, and it's up to you to get closer to the net when necessary. On Gold difficulty, there doesn't seem to be any magnet snapping the paddle to the ball, either.
When I lived near a course, I used to play real disc golf. I even shot under par at Sugar Bottom outside Iowa City. I was quite surprised at how lifelike the response of the frisbees was.
If you use two controllers with the sword fighting, one angles the shield, and the other angles the sword. I haven't tried that yet, but I expect it will be quite cool. Already just playing with one controller, I feel like I can learn to be skillful parrying and blocking attacks.
The minigames in Start the Party were quite enjoyable. These show the view through the camera as a background, and attach a computer-generated object to your hand. The effect is excellent, and you really get the feeling you're holding it. One game gives you a hand fan and has you generate wind currents to blow around parachuting dudes. You have the angle the fan perpendicular to the direction you wave it (as you would with a real fan) to get decent results.
Most importantly, when I play these games, I don't feel silly waving the controller around, even when playing Start the Party. The control is tight enough that I get involved in the game, and just play.
As a game programmer, I spent 3 months programming the Wii controller. It was so limiting (granted without Motion+), that I didn't feel like we could come up with much. It's not an accident that few Wii motion games have depth; the hardware just wasn't up to it. From my experience playing with Move, I don't think it is plagued by these problems. Sony has shown its commitment to genuine gaming using its device with the depth of controls available in some of the Sports Champions games. Now it is in the hands of the developers to come up with great titles that push this device even further.
I am looking forward to it.
posted by Almo at 4:51 PM
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