Review
PlayStation Move Review (PS3)
When the Wii was first released back in 2006, both Sony and Microsoft turned their noses up at Nintendo, refusing to acknowledge this latest gambit as a 'proper' games console. I remember this kerfuffle distinctly, as I was one of the big Nintendo believers, waiting outside my local games shop in the freezing cold on the day of the Wii's release. Since that day, my faith in Nintendo has dwindled - although this fact didn't make my smile any less wide the first time I heard that both Sony and Microsoft had decided that perhaps motion-control is the way forward after all.
It's hard to deny that the Playstation Move bears a rather striking resemblance to the Wii Remote - even the 'navigation controller' looks and feels like the Wii's nunchuk. Yet spend a little time with the Move, and you'll find subtle differences that put Sony in the driving seat. A sturdier grip, a satisfying trigger, nigh-on perfect one-to-one movement capture - it isn't obvious at first, but with time the true perfection behind Move's capabilities shines through. If only the button positioning, menu navigating and launch titles were as well prepared, we'd be hailing the new king of motion control.
Connecting the Playstation Move to your console is as simple as the method required for any other standard controller. A USB slot in the base allows you to connect the two pieces of hardware, and the PS3 will immediately pick up the wand. The Move controller takes the seventh controller spot on your Playstation 3, and the ball on top will glow when it's ready for use.
It's worth noting before we continue that while the glowing orb on the top might look pretty yet pointless, it's actually doing an important job - your Playstation Eye will choose a colour for the orb that contrasts with the background in your room, allowing it to pick the position of the controller up easily. It does make you feel a little silly using it, but it also allows the Move to be miles better at one-to-one precision than the Wii Remote, so we'll let it off.
The one-to-one motion tracking is so blissfully perfect, you won't be able to look at the Wii the same again. Various games will put objects in your hand, like paintbrushes and tennis rackets, and it actually looks like you're holding them when it beams your image on screen. At one point, I passed the Move controller to a friend during a game, and caught a glimpse of myself on screen actually handing a hammer over. It looked shockingly life-like.
This makes for better gaming too. With the Wii, it was easily to blame the motion control whenever you missed a volley in a tennis game - now, you'll only have yourself to blame, as the hardware is close to flawless. The only time the camera will ever lose the Move controller is when it leaves the camera's viewpoint, or when the glowing orb is concealed behind an object.
The Move controller feels very solidly built. The curves fit comfortably in your hand, and the big Move button on the front is creaming for your thumb to fit into the groove. It's the trigger on the back, though, that feels the most satisfying - it pushes right back into the body of the controller, and there's no annoying clicking point or back force against your squeeze.
The unit feels a little weightier than the Wii Remote, and in turn feels a lot more sturdy and firm. You get the impression that if you through it against a wall, the wall would probably come off worse! Swinging the Move around feels good, and the feeling of precision at your fingertips is definitely there.
When all of this is put into play, a slow realization of the possibilities slowly seeps through. Initially, I couldn't really feel the difference between the Move and the Wii Remote. I played Sports Champion first, Sony's version of Wii Sports. Disc golf was the most easily comparable, since it already featured on Wii Sports Resort. For the first thirty minutes I saw no difference between the two, and found myself finding the purchase of a whole new motion control system unjustifiable.
In a single round, my mind was changed. Something twigged, and the precision the Move provides over the Wii hit me. Whereas on the Wii you'd throw the Frisbee in a general direction with force, the Move requires you actually get a feel for the disc, and throw it as if you were throwing the real thing. Suddenly I was able to make the most incredible shots, and everything fell into place.
Over the next hour, the Playstation Move grew on me in leaps and bounds. With each new sport I tried, there was a new wrist movement or a new sweeping motion that would surprise me. The Move controller recognises the most subtle of movements, and it's a far cry from the 'wiggle it around until it works' nature of the Wii Remote.
While the feel of the motion control is solid, the design of the Move controller isn't so. The four shape buttons that surely every person in the world must now recognise are arranged in the most awkward positions, similar to on the Playstation Blu-ray Remote. They are difficult to press with your thumb, and I found myself reaching over with my free hand to use them.
The start and select buttons are in idiotic places too - on the left and right-hand sides of the controller. Neither are protruding out of the body, which is good because you're not accidentally running your fingers over them all the time - but bad as it's really quite difficult to press them at all!
It just feels as though no-one was really sure of the best place to position any of the usual controller buttons, so they were all dumped in was appeared to be pleasing formations. The fact is that with most Move games, you won't be pressing these buttons anyway, so perhaps it doesn't matter all that much. Yet it still feels a little shoddy to have them simply hanging around.
Navigating menus with the Move controller definitely takes some getting used to, and even then it's a little frustrating. The idea is to hold down the trigger then drag the orb up, down, left and right to scroll menus and options in that specific direction. It's far too easy to overshoot the option you were going for, or accidentally flip to the next menu.
Of course, the final rather gaping issue is the launch titles line-up. You've got a Wii Sports rip-off (Sports Champion), an average party game (Start the Party), a gimmicky title about riding down hills on chairs (Kung Fu Rider), then a bunch of old games that have been updated with Move support. Not exactly the best way to begin with a bang. Fortunately, as more developers get their hands on the Move, we're bound to see plenty of interesting concepts arising, so this lack of decent gaming shouldn't be a problem for too long.
The Playstation Move has done exactly what Sony set out to do - better the Nintendo Wii. It's a rather expensive investment, with the Move motion and navigation controller combo plus the Playstation Eye weighing in at a hefty $110 - and then you need to buy games too - but if you've been considering buying a Wii for a while and already own a Playstation, this would now be a far better route to take.
The Move's biggest test will come with the release of Microsoft's Kinect, and it will be interesting to see whether it can stand up against the new Xbox hardware. If Sony can provide some real games for Move over the coming months, then the fight for the motion control crown is anyone's game.
Top Hardware Moment: That back trigger... ooh yes, we could press it for days, although that's a fetish we should possibly keep to ourselves.
 |
| A lot of people keep forgetting this is more of an extension of the EyeToy than a true innovation... |
Connecting the Playstation Move to your console is as simple as the method required for any other standard controller. A USB slot in the base allows you to connect the two pieces of hardware, and the PS3 will immediately pick up the wand. The Move controller takes the seventh controller spot on your Playstation 3, and the ball on top will glow when it's ready for use.
It's worth noting before we continue that while the glowing orb on the top might look pretty yet pointless, it's actually doing an important job - your Playstation Eye will choose a colour for the orb that contrasts with the background in your room, allowing it to pick the position of the controller up easily. It does make you feel a little silly using it, but it also allows the Move to be miles better at one-to-one precision than the Wii Remote, so we'll let it off.
The one-to-one motion tracking is so blissfully perfect, you won't be able to look at the Wii the same again. Various games will put objects in your hand, like paintbrushes and tennis rackets, and it actually looks like you're holding them when it beams your image on screen. At one point, I passed the Move controller to a friend during a game, and caught a glimpse of myself on screen actually handing a hammer over. It looked shockingly life-like.
This makes for better gaming too. With the Wii, it was easily to blame the motion control whenever you missed a volley in a tennis game - now, you'll only have yourself to blame, as the hardware is close to flawless. The only time the camera will ever lose the Move controller is when it leaves the camera's viewpoint, or when the glowing orb is concealed behind an object.
The Move controller feels very solidly built. The curves fit comfortably in your hand, and the big Move button on the front is creaming for your thumb to fit into the groove. It's the trigger on the back, though, that feels the most satisfying - it pushes right back into the body of the controller, and there's no annoying clicking point or back force against your squeeze.
The unit feels a little weightier than the Wii Remote, and in turn feels a lot more sturdy and firm. You get the impression that if you through it against a wall, the wall would probably come off worse! Swinging the Move around feels good, and the feeling of precision at your fingertips is definitely there.
When all of this is put into play, a slow realization of the possibilities slowly seeps through. Initially, I couldn't really feel the difference between the Move and the Wii Remote. I played Sports Champion first, Sony's version of Wii Sports. Disc golf was the most easily comparable, since it already featured on Wii Sports Resort. For the first thirty minutes I saw no difference between the two, and found myself finding the purchase of a whole new motion control system unjustifiable.
 |
| Haven't I seen this somewhere before... |
Over the next hour, the Playstation Move grew on me in leaps and bounds. With each new sport I tried, there was a new wrist movement or a new sweeping motion that would surprise me. The Move controller recognises the most subtle of movements, and it's a far cry from the 'wiggle it around until it works' nature of the Wii Remote.
While the feel of the motion control is solid, the design of the Move controller isn't so. The four shape buttons that surely every person in the world must now recognise are arranged in the most awkward positions, similar to on the Playstation Blu-ray Remote. They are difficult to press with your thumb, and I found myself reaching over with my free hand to use them.
The start and select buttons are in idiotic places too - on the left and right-hand sides of the controller. Neither are protruding out of the body, which is good because you're not accidentally running your fingers over them all the time - but bad as it's really quite difficult to press them at all!
It just feels as though no-one was really sure of the best place to position any of the usual controller buttons, so they were all dumped in was appeared to be pleasing formations. The fact is that with most Move games, you won't be pressing these buttons anyway, so perhaps it doesn't matter all that much. Yet it still feels a little shoddy to have them simply hanging around.
Navigating menus with the Move controller definitely takes some getting used to, and even then it's a little frustrating. The idea is to hold down the trigger then drag the orb up, down, left and right to scroll menus and options in that specific direction. It's far too easy to overshoot the option you were going for, or accidentally flip to the next menu.
Of course, the final rather gaping issue is the launch titles line-up. You've got a Wii Sports rip-off (Sports Champion), an average party game (Start the Party), a gimmicky title about riding down hills on chairs (Kung Fu Rider), then a bunch of old games that have been updated with Move support. Not exactly the best way to begin with a bang. Fortunately, as more developers get their hands on the Move, we're bound to see plenty of interesting concepts arising, so this lack of decent gaming shouldn't be a problem for too long.
The Playstation Move has done exactly what Sony set out to do - better the Nintendo Wii. It's a rather expensive investment, with the Move motion and navigation controller combo plus the Playstation Eye weighing in at a hefty $110 - and then you need to buy games too - but if you've been considering buying a Wii for a while and already own a Playstation, this would now be a far better route to take.
 |
| It's more hardcore offerings like SOCOM 4 that may steal some of the Wii's audience... |
Top Hardware Moment: That back trigger... ooh yes, we could press it for days, although that's a fetish we should possibly keep to ourselves.
Comments
By stuntkid (SI Core) on Oct 13, 2010
By SirRoderick (SI Elite) on Oct 14, 2010
