It's odd that in 2010, almost four years after the launch of the Wii, the motion control wars are finally heating up. The continued success of the Wii has pushed Microsoft and Sony to answer, and Sony is swinging first on September 17th with the release of the PlayStation Move.
Move featured prominently into Sony's lineup at this year's E3, but that was just a taste. Now with the release looming, we've been able to spend some quality time with the hardware and are ready to talk about what it's like to use in the wild.
This Changes Everything?
There's been a lot of skepticism about the very concept of the Move. To be frank, in concept, it's very similar to the Wii. Move consists of a motion controller with a glowing orb on the end and a wireless navigation controller with an analog stick and d-pad on it. The two controllers work in conjunction with the already available PlayStation Eye to deliver a one-to-one motion control experience.
The Wii is only able to track your movement based on the controller's previous position, but because of the way Move was designed, it's able to assign the controller a position in actual 3D space (same as Wii Motion Plus). Unfortunately, the way that technological advancement translates to the gaming experience is subtle and will probably only be obvious to the serious connoisseur. While it's awfully cool that the Move can make it look like you are actually holding an object, the other advantages are far more negligible.
The first thing you'll notice about the Move is that less is more. With the Wii, you find yourself making a lot of small, sudden motions. Using the Move, you quickly realize that you need to follow through on everything just like you would in real life. Sometimes, a slower, but more realistic reaction to something on the screen works best, even though we've been trained to react with short bursts. This is really where the Move excels. What you're doing feels more natural and not a marginalized version of the actual activity. That is when the Move works like it's supposed to.
At the heart of any motion control technology is the ability to sense the player's motion, which is inherently going to present a problem, especially if you don't have optimal playing conditions. One of the things we were eager to test out was the Move's responsiveness in our office, outside of the carefully orchestrated environment of an official demo. When we could get Move to calibrate correctly (something you will become intimately familiar with as a Move owner), it worked like a freakin' charm; however, there were many instances when we could not get the motion controllers to be recognized by the PlayStation Eye, even after repeated attempts, despite being right in front of it.
If you decide to invest in Move, you're going to have to spend some time fooling around with the positioning of the camera and yourself in order to find the optimal arrangement for your situation. More than a few times, we were able to calibrate correctly, but when we went to play the game and actually do the motions, even moving a tiny bit put the controller "out of range." Sometimes your controller will be out of range, but the game you're playing won't tell you. The result of this is, of course, is your avatar standing like a wet noodle on the screen. Boo.
It's too early to tell yet if this is a limitation of the Move itself or if this is a result of the software. I'm inclined to give Move the benefit of the doubt and say that since this is new tech, developers aren't too familiar with it and as they get used to it, this will become less of a problem. We'll keep an eye on this as other titles are released.
Finally, we have to think about what will be available if you're an early adopter of Move and it's not much. The games we got our hands on as a part of this review of Move were less than impressive. Sports Champions and Tumble were the two standouts; however, games like Start the Party! and Kung Fu Rider were almost so bad they hurt our feelings.
Right now, the only confirmed launch titles are Sports Champions, Start the Party! and Kung Fu Rider. Sports Champions, which is included with the Move bundle, is the most impressive of the three; however, there's not much that makes it a special experience. It's a hardcore, but sterile, sports experience. (Click here to read our full review.) It does showcase the potential of the Move and that is a step in the right direction.
On the other side of the coin, Kung Fu Rider sounds like it should be fun, but the Move controls become unnerving once you get past the basic levels. (Click here to read our full review). Start The Party! is in a class all of its own and will appeal to few, if anyone at all. (Click here to read our full review).
Unfortunately Tumble, a downloadable PSN game we really enjoyed (Click here to read our full review), has not been confirmed for launch. Keep your fingers crossed, but even if it is available day one, it will not be enough to boost the Move into must-buy status.
If Sony fanboys were clamoring for motion controls (and, were they?), then it wasn't for use with lackluster titles. It's going to be awhile before we see any meaty games that take advantage of the Move's potential and appeal to hardcore gamers.
Our final verdict is that Move is an interesting, compelling technology that has some launch day issues and most important, a weak catalog of games to support it on release. What Sony's got cooking at launch is enough to keep you entertained for minutes, not hours. Unless you are a big fan of motion controls and have been dying to have them on a console with more horsepower and in HD, you might want to sit tight and wait to see what happens with Move. Or at least, wait until there's a compelling game to make you try your hand at it.
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Comments
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optimum5
If a PS3 game gives you a choice between playing it with a standard controller or the Move, which one will you choose?
napkinshower
imma get the bundle just cuz my 80 g broke down. the "move" is just a plus for me.
Tman88
@Snakepond
The only items that are required are the Eye camera and one main conrtoller which is $50 and the Eye is $40 or $35 depending on the store. There is a bundle for $99 that has the Eye, main controller, and Sports Champions which is a $140 value but will be $99.
Pwnproof
I love how at the end of this, cough* professional cough* written review they chose to say "If Sony fanboys were clamoring for motion controls (and, were they?)"...why cant we just be ps3 owners or consumers? It sounds like to me that g4 fails at taking anything serious let alone treat everything / anyone with 100% fairness.....
Snakepond
Move looks cool. My problem is the pricing and what do I need to get started. Do I need to buy one wand or two? Do I need the camera or not? Do I need the direction controller or not? Can't they make it easy and have one mega package with everything included.
I can picture grandma buying a move for her grandson at BestBuy.
Grandma, "Sorry Mr. BestBuy Salesman my grandson Jimmy wants a move."
Salesmen, "No problem Granny."
Grandma, "Excellent! I'll have one please."
Salesmen, "Will that be one Wand or Two"
Grandma, "No clue."
Salesmen, "Does he need a camera or not?
Grandma, "It is the 21st century I hope he has a camera."
Salesmen, "No a PS3 camera."
Grandma, "No clue."
Salesmen, "Does he need a directional controller."
Grandma, "I'll just take a gift certificate please."
Lil Lotte
I had a Wii sold it in less than 2 weeks of buying it. I won't make the same mistake in buying motion controls again. My place is too small and it just didn't do it for me, my husband or my son.
A lot of people like it, it's just not for me. If you do like that kinda thing, more power to ya. I'll save my money for more games that don't require me chancing breaking something.
nc20fan
Sweet I'll playing disc golf at midnight in 2 weeks on Move!! Sorcery looks great too so does the fight. As far as problems go at launch.... haha no one on any platform should say anything. Patches and firmware will fix all over time or update.
nc20fan
Sweet I'll playing disc golf at midnight in 2 weeks on Move!! Sorcery looks great too so does the fight. As far as problems go at launch.... haha no one on any platform should say anything. Patches and firmware will fix all over time or update.
RastaCC
Ruse is pretty much a launch game, too. Isn't it?
Th3_R0ltz
I know G4 aren't the only ones that gave the PS Move a negative review, but why is G4 PS3 negative?
TD_ThA_MoNsTa
Not suprised to hear about issues with Playstation Move, nor will I be suprised to hear about any issues with Kinect when it launches in November. Truthfully, I wasn't going to buy this at launch, but I am buying Move. Not really cause I want it (even though Sports Champions looks pretty interesting, also interested in The Fight Lights Out which comes out next month) but because it comes bundled with a 320 GB PS3 slim, and I had been meaning to upgrade to a PS3 with more hard drive space. So to me, Move's just a nice little addition that I probably won't use that much at first. At least until The Fight Lights Out releases.
Tman88
I've always been interested in Move and people and gaming websites will have different opinions due to not everyone is into motion controls. Though Move may not have as many launch titles as Kinect, it will have support with other big games. Anyone can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L ist_of_games_compatible_with_P layStation_Move
So just because it won't have a huge library of games at launch doesn't mean it's a bad technology. Since when did anything new have a 100 titles at launch? Never. The good thing with Move is that you can play both casual games and hardcore games. Not saying Kinect isn't a good tech either due to mainly having casual games but I do like having a variety of different games to play. I have both casual and hardcore games on my Wii and I'll do the same with Move. Even if you don't get any launch games, I'm sure at least one game you do have will have support via patch and I think it'll also come with a demo disc as well. It's simple, just try before you buy. That way you'll know what you like or dislike about it.
permanent_nirvana
Motion control = fail.
If it is so great, then explain to me why there are not more third party titles for the Wii.
Lord_Ruinous
I still hate motion controllers.
ProudFilipino
So basically its a not a bad buy the only problems are syncing it sometimes and that there aren't many titles out for it yet so we should wait to buy it when better games come out for it. I wasn't going to buy the Playstation move right away because I wanted to see what titles itll get later. I plan on buying it when that Street Fighting game comes out but right now Ill save my money
DreamingDarklyRobin
Well this review isn't going to "Move" me into stores anytime soon. (oh god kill me)
mrkbizzle
In The Spirit Of Nelson "HAH HAH" (with finger pointing)
kinghunter64
TIMECRISIS!!!! and socom :)
shmaron
I thought Heavy Rain was going to get a patch at launch. Plus, the MAG Beta that was just released looks like it supports the move. There is an instruction screen at the start of it. I won't mind playing through Heavy Rain again until Socom 4 and Killzone. Maybe even MAG will get a patch soon, although I'm not too sure how that will turn out.
NeoHumpty
@Griever2112 (and anyone else including G4 who isn't in the know) Sony began working on motion tech back in 2001, long before Wii was around. The original EyeToy was meant to support it, but because they couldn't get 1:1 movement, they put it on hold until the tech got better. If anything, Wii stole it and released even though all it can recognize are wrist twitches. Plus if you think about it, the DualShock 3 can be used almost as well as the Wii's remotes already without a sensor bar. Hell, even Kinnect is just a rip off of the EyeToy with two lenses.
That being said, the line up they are posting here is pretty lame. I can't wait to try The Fight, Heavy Rain and some FPS's with this thing. Oh, and Sorcery.
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