Some hands on time with the PlayStation Move
By DrDarkStryfe 5 Comments
I had a chance to spend three hours today with the PlayStation Move as part of a in-store demonstration.
On hand was one Move controller and Navigation controller, and software that included Tiger Woods 11, Sports Champions, Time Crisis, TV Superstars, The Shoot, Kung Fu Rider, Start The Party, EyePet, Beat Sketcher, and echochrome ii.
The first thing that blew me away, was how light the Move controller is. The controller charges like a PS3 Dual Shock, so there is no batteries adding that little bit of weight. It is the same length of a Wii Remote with a Motion Plus attachment, but the round shape of the controller fits in a hand much better. Even though it is light, the controller does not feel cheap. The buttons are solid, the Move controller has all of the face buttons of the Dual Shock, with the addition of two more. On the underside of the controller is the T, of trigger button. On the top of the controller is the Move button, standing out because of the Move logo on it. These two buttons are what you use to interact with most titles. Even the ball on the top of the remote feels well built. The light in the ball changes color depending on the game you play, and the light is bright, causing a halo effect if you wear a certain type of glasses.
Calibrating the Move controller for each title was simple, point at camera, and press the Move button on the top of the remote. Most of the titles would even go as far as to tell you if the lighting in the room is strong enough to cause interference. Even though this warning popped up a few times, there was no issue.
Tiger Woods 11 was very impressive. Like advertised at E3, this will be the best golf experience one can find in a video game. You cannot simply flick your wrist, or swing with little effort, like you could on any of the Wii golf titles. If you want a good drive, you have to swing with full force. Just like my golf game in real life, all of my shots in Tiger had a natural slice to them, landing left of my intended target. There was a slight delay from when you swing, to when the action translates to the screen, but the camera never lost track of the Move controller when you prepare for your swing.
Sports Champion is the game that will come with the Move bundle, just like Wii Sports and Sports Resort, it is a collection of mini games. Two games were available for demo, Disc Golf, and Table Tennis. Table Tennis worked great. You are able to turn your wrist and hit your shots, creating very noticeable back and topspin. Depending on how hard you swing, the speed of the ball changes. You have to be careful, carelessly swinging hard at the ball will knock it out of bounds.
EyePet is creepy, but cute. With the Move controller, you interact with the little creature, and the demo had you draw a plane on the screen. The creature then drew it itself, cut it out, and built the plane. The pieces looked just like the pieces the player drew.
The Shoot and Time Crisis are light gun rail shooters. The aiming is as accurate as you are. The curser moves across the screen smoothly, able to shoot one person after another with the same speed you would find at the arcades.
Beat Sketcher combines elements of music and drawing in a variety of mini games. The games control well, but was not my cup of tea. The kids that tried this game out had a blast with it, and might be a surprise hit for the Move.
Kung Fu Rider, TV Superstars, Start the Party are your standard mini game fare. They control well, will have a lot of family friendly distractions, but not a lot of meat outside of that. TV Superstars also has an option to take the player's picture and voice to represent their in game avatar.
I walked away from my time with the Move rather impressed. Every aspect that I tried out has equaled and surpassed the Wii Remote w/ Motion Plus. The games that had similar releases on the Wii played better on the Move.