A quick Move impression

After having played around with Sony’s new motion controller, Move, I felt that I had to write something down about it.

As I said, Move is Sony’s new and first motion controller for game consoles, but it’s also a controller that is most likely going to remind people of another one – the Nintendo Wii. After having messed around with some of the launch games for the Move, I can say for certain that Move definitely is not the Wii. And I mean this in as well a good as a bad way. First of all the software line up for Move is unquestionably too small. With only six games available on launch, and many of these not being all that great or even fun to play, Move is going to be a hard sell even for die hard Sony fanboys (and –girls).

But before we get into the games and the software, let’s start by taking a look at the Move controller itself.

The wand, the dildo, the icecream cone…

whatever you want to call it – Move is a strange looking controller. The controller is made up of two parts. At the top is the very iconic ball, which tracks most of your movements in games. Next is the handle with your standard dualshock buttons and two new ones: a Move specific button that sits perfectly in the middle and a trigger button on the back. The overall design of Sony’s Move controller, is   good, it has an industrial design that goes well with other Playstation 3 peripherals. The cone feels very good in your hand and not at all like the “brick” design of the Wii motion controller. There is also a navigation controller, which is basicly just a nunchuck like on the Wii. Right now, this piece is not needed to play most of the launch games, but expect it to become a standard peripheral in upcoming games like, Resident Evil 5 gold edition, R.U.S.E and Heavy Rain Move edition.

But what is tracking the Move controller? That’s where the Ps eye comes in. You need the Ps eye to use with the Move, and there is not really that much more to say about it. It does a great job of keeping up with your movement and there is a fancy little microphone for use in games like “start the party”.   Overall the hardware is really impressive, it works great, looks good and does a fantastic job of tracking your movements.

 Now onto the software…

When Move was introduced at this year’s E3, Sony wasn’t shy to show off great looking games like Killzone 3, Tiger woods 11, Sorcery and others. It looked like Sony was on track with its launch games. But in the end we are left with just two good games, a bunch of mediocre and one that could take home the title of worst game of the year.  Sports Champion(SC), which is Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s extremely popular game Wii Sports, is one of the launch games that I think shows what crazy things is actually possible with the Move.

Sports Champion

The game is a mix of six different sports, although some of them may not be what you would expect in a game like this. First, there’s Disc Colf where you throw frisbees in the hope that they will end up in a net. It’s more fun than it sounds. Gladiator Duel is a very basic fighting game in which two players or one vs the cpu take it out on each other with swords and shields. Again it’s fairly basic and with only a couple of moves it leaves something to be desired.

Archery is probably the best game in SC. Mainly because it utilizes not just one Icecream controller but two so as to accurately depict the act of shooting with a bow. It’s tons of fun, and a really great showcase for what Move is capable of. Table tennis and volleyball are more demanding to play, in that they allow for more movement in not just the hand but also of the body. I actually ended up sweating a bit after having played around an hour of table tennis.

Sports Champion, is an extremely good tech demo. It does feel a bit cold and calculated – but in the end I had a lot of fun playing around with this solid mini game collection. 

Eyepet, Kung Fu Rider and Tumble…

Another game I took a look at was Eyepet. Originally released back in late 2009 in Europe, the game was received to mixed reviews, but that did not stop Sony re-releasing the game with a big fat Move-sticker on it. What we have here is a pet simulation game that like Nintendo’s Nintendogs acts as a sort of tamaguchi. Its great fun for kids, and I really mean I was bored with the game after five minutes, but my seven year old nephew was completely obsessed with it for around 2 hours or so. Like SC Eyepet as tech does show of some the future capabilities of Move, but feels shallow and repetitive.

Kung Fu Rider….Yeah that’s the name of the game. KFR let you play as two characters - a male detective and a female detective. The game is very simple. You need to get from A to B. How you do that is not on foot or by car but by furniture and on other weird contraptions with wheels on them. All that sounds like crazy and fun – right? No, Kung Fu Rider is the game I mentioned earlier as possibly being one of the worst games I have ever played in a long time. To put it simple: don’t buy this game. The controls don’t work, the sound cuts out, graphical glitches constantly show up as do two of the most irritating characters ever created.

The last game I played is not a full retail game, but a PSN game that you buy online at the playstation network store. Tumble is a game that mixes Jenga and boom blocks and is actually the game I had the most fun with. As tech it’s very impressive, but as a game it’s also fairly impressive. I won’t say too much about the game right now, since I have only been playing it for about 30 minutes or so. But I am very pleased with it and highly recommend it.

So in the end…

I am left kinda confused and somewhat frustrated with Sony’s Move. The hardware is great and works really well, but currently software seems almost nonexisting and what is more baffling is Sony’s lack of support for Move. Why aren’t we seeing tons of commercials for the Move, why aren’t we getting more and better software for it? Should you go out and buy Move right now? It really depends, its highly overpriced, there is not a must-have title and Sony’s support is nowhere to be found. But, I will say that as a tech piece, and as proof of concept Move is very impressive.

Personally I think it’s a very strange launch for Sony. Is this something that the playstation audience has been wanting and waiting for? If you’re a Playstation user, what are your opinions about Move as hardware and as software? Do you feel that Sony’s has listened to you while making Move. Is this an interaction product design to give the users a new and better experience? Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section.

 A quick Move impression

After having played around with Sony’s new motion controller, Move, I felt that I had to write something down about it.

As I said, Move is Sony’s new and first motion controller for game consoles, but it’s also a controller that is most likely going to remind people of another one – the Nintendo Wii. After having messed around with some of the launch games for the Move, I can say for certain that Move definitely is not the Wii. And I mean this in as well a good as a bad way. First of all the software line up for Move is unquestionably too small. With only six games available on launch, and many of these not being all that great or even fun to play, Move is going to be a hard sell even for die hard Sony fanboys (and –girls).

But before we get into the games and the software, let’s start by taking a look at the Move controller itself.

The wand, the dildo, the icecream cone…

whatever you want to call it – Move is a strange looking controller. The controller is made up of two parts. At the top is the very iconic ball, which tracks most of your movements in games. Next is the handle with your standard dualshock buttons and two new ones: a Move specific button that sits perfectly in the middle and a trigger button on the back. The overall design of Sony’s Move controller, is   good, it has an industrial design that goes well with other Playstation 3 peripherals. The cone feels very good in your hand and not at all like the “brick” design of the Wii motion controller. There is also a navigation controller, which is basicly just a nunchuck like on the Wii. Right now, this piece is not needed to play most of the launch games, but expect it to become a standard peripheral in upcoming games like, Resident Evil 5 gold edition, R.U.S.E and Heavy Rain Move edition.

But what is tracking the Move controller? That’s where the Ps eye comes in. You need the Ps eye to use with the Move, and there is not really that much more to say about it. It does a great job of keeping up with your movement and there is a fancy little microphone for use in games like “start the party”.   Overall the hardware is really impressive, it works great, looks good and does a fantastic job of tracking your movements.

 Now onto the software…

When Move was introduced at this year’s E3, Sony wasn’t shy to show off great looking games like Killzone 3, Tiger woods 11, Sorcery and others. It looked like Sony was on track with its launch games. But in the end we are left with just two good games, a bunch of mediocre and one that could take home the title of worst game of the year.  Sports Champion(SC), which is Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s extremely popular game Wii Sports, is one of the launch games that I think shows what crazy things is actually possible with the Move.

Sports Champion

The game is a mix of six different sports, although some of them may not be what you would expect in a game like this. First, there’s Disc Colf where you throw frisbees in the hope that they will end up in a net. It’s more fun than it sounds. Gladiator Duel is a very basic fighting game in which two players or one vs the cpu take it out on each other with swords and shields. Again it’s fairly basic and with only a couple of moves it leaves something to be desired.

Archery is probably the best game in SC. Mainly because it utilizes not just one Icecream controller but two so as to accurately depict the act of shooting with a bow. It’s tons of fun, and a really great showcase for what Move is capable of. Table tennis and volleyball are more demanding to play, in that they allow for more movement in not just the hand but also of the body. I actually ended up sweating a bit after having played around an hour of table tennis.

Sports Champion, is an extremely good tech demo. It does feel a bit cold and calculated – but in the end I had a lot of fun playing around with this solid mini game collection. 

Eyepet, Kung Fu Rider and Tumble…

Another game I took a look at was Eyepet. Originally released back in late 2009 in Europe, the game was received to mixed reviews, but that did not stop Sony re-releasing the game with a big fat Move-sticker on it. What we have here is a pet simulation game that like Nintendo’s Nintendogs acts as a sort of tamaguchi. Its great fun for kids, and I really mean I was bored with the game after five minutes, but my seven year old nephew was completely obsessed with it for around 2 hours or so. Like SC Eyepet as tech does show of some the future capabilities of Move, but feels shallow and repetitive.

Kung Fu Rider….Yeah that’s the name of the game. KFR let you play as two characters - a male detective and a female detective. The game is very simple. You need to get from A to B. How you do that is not on foot or by car but by furniture and on other weird contraptions with wheels on them. All that sounds like crazy and fun – right? No, Kung Fu Rider is the game I mentioned earlier as possibly being one of the worst games I have ever played in a long time. To put it simple: don’t buy this game. The controls don’t work, the sound cuts out, graphical glitches constantly show up as do two of the most irritating characters ever created.

The last game I played is not a full retail game, but a PSN game that you buy online at the playstation network store. Tumble is a game that mixes Jenga and boom blocks and is actually the game I had the most fun with. As tech it’s very impressive, but as a game it’s also fairly impressive. I won’t say too much about the game right now, since I have only been playing it for about 30 minutes or so. But I am very pleased with it and highly recommend it.

So in the end…

I am left kinda confused and somewhat frustrated with Sony’s Move. The hardware is great and works really well, but currently software seems almost nonexisting and what is more baffling is Sony’s lack of support for Move. Why aren’t we seeing tons of commercials for the Move, why aren’t we getting more and better software for it? Should you go out and buy Move right now? It really depends, its highly overpriced, there is not a must-have title and Sony’s support is nowhere to be found. But, I will say that as a tech piece, and as proof of concept Move is very impressive.

Personally I think it’s a very strange launch for Sony. Is this something that the playstation audience has been wanting and waiting for? If you’re a Playstation user, what are your opinions about Move as hardware and as software? Do you feel that Sony’s has listened to you while making Move. Is this an interaction product design to give the users a new and better experience? Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section.