[As Sony's PlayStation Move launches this weekend, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris gathers his thoughts about the debut of the PS3's motion control device, and the intuitiveness and needle-threading it requires to satisfy all parties.]
A little over a week ago, my wife fell asleep early when we were watching TV. I knew if I played Halo: Reach, it would likely get too loud, wake her up and I’d be in the doghouse for the rest of the weekend, so I figured this would be a good time to do some testing with the new motion control device for the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Move.
I had just set things up and was turning the system on when she woke up. She looked over at me, got a confused look on her face and asked, "Are you holding a vibrator?"
When I stopped laughing, I started thinking. If someone who pays absolutely no attention to the inside jokes of the gaming community automatically leaps to that conclusion, the Move could be in for a rough time with the mainstream world.
Aesthetics matter – especially when you’re pursuing the general audience. This isn’t news to Sony, which wisely dumped the George Foreman grill design of the PlayStation 3 for the slimmer model last year. But it’s a lesson the company seems to have forgotten when they were in the design phase for Move.
I should clarify: I’m not trying to review Move here, though I've tried it and its launch titles. Better minds will tackle that task. Sony, though, has made it clear that it hopes to lure more casual gamers to the PS3 with the device. It’s an admirable goal that could be quite lucrative for the company - but some of the decisions it has made along the way are real head-scratchers.
Part of what has made the Wii so successful, beyond its introduction of a new way to play video games, is that the controller isn’t intimidating. It’s sleek, familiar and simple to understand – even for non-gamers.
Move, which takes pride in its inclusion of buttons, isn’t as intuitive – and that learning curve could frustrate some players and ultimately hurt future software sales. And having to calibrate the controller before every game is another step that’s bound to frustrate the mainstream player.
There is, of course, a school of thought that Move isn’t meant for casual audiences – but instead more for the “tween” gamer, someone who’s ready to graduate from the Wii’s antiquated graphics and often simplistic play to a high definition system. Take-Two CEO Ben Feder, in fact, discussed that Tuesday at a Kaufman Bros L.P. Investor Conference.
"What Sony and Microsoft have really done with Kinect and Move -- especially Move, is provide a bridge for guys that are used to playing the Wii system with the wand and bringing them over to a HD system," he said.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that is Sony’s objective. If so, it still hasn’t given those people a particularly big incentive. Move’s pricing is steep – indicating Sony once again seems to be forgetting its missteps from earlier this generation. (PS3 sales only began to ramp up when the system’s price left the stratosphere.)
For people to get the complete Move controller set, which consists of the primary Move device, the navigation controller and a camera, they’ll have to spend $130. If two people wish to play cooperatively on the same machine, the price increases by another $50-$80. That’s not much incentive for current PS3 owners to pick one up – never mind the $400 bundle (plus another $30 for that navigation controller) for folks who don’t own the system.
With Kinect, Microsoft has never hidden the fact that it’s trying to extend the lifecycle of the Xbox 360 by several years. Sony has shied away from being that direct, but given the costs that went into developing the PS3 (and its mantra that PlayStation consoles have a 10 year life cycle), its goals are likely similar.
To achieve that, both companies desperately need the mainstream world to buy into these new controllers. Yet, both face some notable hurdles out of the gate. Kinect’s controlling mechanism is unusual enough that it has a curiosity factor, if not buzz. Move, though, has been rightly called derivative – and that’s going to make things even harder for Sony.
Hard doesn’t mean impossible, of course. Sony, if nothing else, has always taken a long-term view, which has served it well. Hopefully, the games it still has up its sleeve for Move will make the device more compelling. And hopefully, the majority of the buying public will think of something other than a sex toy when they see it for the first time.
Just to be safe, though, the design team that did the system’s successful makeover might want to start working on some early sketches for Move 2.0.
I'm not sure if I agree with your point about the price being a huge disincentive for existing PS3 owners to buy into Move: for the many PS3 owners that already have an Eye, the buy-in price is just £30 for a single Move controller, which will suitably serve for the majority of games available for the platform at the moment. That seems a good price point to tempt many in to experiment with the system.
I dont believe in your story (the one that your wife confuse the control with a vibrator)....i think you just make it up from the nowhere to introduce a "natural" variable of the old Move joke....but yes it resembles a vibrator, maybe that can influence female to purchase one (or gays) who knows.
@Bay. I can understand your skepticism, but I swear on my reputation (built over 16 years of covering this industry) and marriage that it's a true story. And, odds are, when she reads this post, I'll get an earful.
Look, you really don't have to justify yourself. Why would you lie on an article. I believe that unfortunately, with Gamasutra becoming more popular, there are those that will try to use it like some other sites that I could mention where through their writing, you could tell it was an 8th grader.
I only hope that Gamasutra will make it possible for people to be flagged. I love this site and I loved your article. The joke was sincere and I and my wife were dying. Keep up the good work.
Why not to justify? A reader have some doubt and he reply to it. If you want to believe anything without questioning some stuff....congratulations!!!! Actually because he replied he convince me.
Ahh... to be an 8th grader again. No pressures to make house/car payments, don't have to drive in traffic, all the video games I can play after homework, run a mile without stretching, free allowance money from parents...
I didnt think if it was real or not, but honestly? the picture made me laugh.
and for the rest? I think both kinect and move are gonna have a hard time, and really dont understand all the despise the WII gets as a second rate console...if it not were by the lack of good games it has.
but the graphics? really? reeeeeeeeeeeeally? when the pac-man google banner that appear some months ago was blamed of having people enganged on it instead working and making firms lose money
that clearly points to something, what it's needed is enganging gameplay, not hiperrealistic graphics (even if they could be great to watch!!! i dont deny it)
I think move has a bit better chance of success due to the fact more people will pretty much know what to expect.(wii players)
Where as the kinect will be overall foriegn to all gamers & general public alike.
Plus how many retail demo 360s are realy going have kinect set up so it can work correctly?
The stores are not likely to move it out into an open area (where it could work) unless MS shells out payment for prime display space.
Otherwise the players will be 2-3 feet from the screen & sensory bar.
Will it work while your that close? along with people walking by in the background. I doubt it.
I don't see move being as demanding for demo space needed to function corectly.
So that'll likely be a 1up for sony as well.
"What Sony and Microsoft have really done with Kinect and Move -- especially Move, is provide a bridge for guys that are used to playing the Wii system with the wand and bringing them over to a HD system,"
I tend to agree, but move will also bring motion controls to people like me who have very little to no intrest in the wii.
I forget the (wii) system exsists, im so not intrested.
"I think move has a bit better chance of success due to the fact more people will pretty much know what to expect.(wii players)"
I feel the opposite, for the exact same reason. Most Wii owners are going to balk at having to buy-in to a more expensive setup that offers what is essentially the same experience (albeit, with better graphics). I think that if the Kinect manages to ride the buzz wave, it could stand to do much better if only because of the fact that it is such a different experience.
After all, the Wii broke the mold, and look how successful it's been. I think that what Microsoft is doing with Kinect is a much larger gamble than Move, but stands to have a much larger return as well.
I think the ultimate hilarity and likely the best move for Nintendo would be to drop the price to $150 when Move/Kinect hit the shelves. Their console sales are starting to slow down now and it would certainly aid in burying their competition.
Will Nintendo do it? Well, I've seen them make bigger mistakes this generation (friend codes) and much larger errors in the past (dumping Sony for Phillips). So we'll see.
MLB 10: The Show, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Echochrome 2, and NBA 2K11....
See, Sony's whole strategy is a Trojan Horse maneuver or moving to games PS3 users all ready own. It is smart and it is FAST. All they have to do is ask or pay the pubs/devs to patch their games to have Move support. Red Dead Redemption? POP. Move support with a patch. No problem. Any PS3 game that is applicable can be done in a pinch. That is the entire point of the Ars article I posted and it makes a great point.
At first I do not know if Sony really cares about going after Wii owners so much as selling Move units to existing PS3 owners. They want to create sales hype now? Sell sell sell to those PS3 owners now and create that hype by making the numbers. It can work if they do it right.
Sure, it can work. But the focus should be on creating new experiences specifically for Move, not backward compatibility. Most people aren't going to find games that they have already played and finished compelling enough to go through again just because the control scheme changed. At best, I can see most people updating their game, playing around with the motion controls a bit, and then quickly remembering why they stopped playing that particular game in the first place and moving on to something else.
"Most people aren't going to find games that they have already played and finished compelling enough to go through again"
I'm not so sure about that. I will be going through Heavy Rain again, as well as making a new purchase out of RE5. Move support was the key to pushing me over the edge on RE5 even though I had rented and completed the game.
After doing some research and watching some videos I really learned why Move is something more than Wii Motion Plus 2.0 Move can track what you are doing within a 3D space and translate that movement on screen in a 1:1 ratio. If you can do it, Move can do it.
Wii Motion Plus is much better than Wii Motion was but still it's technology is different. It does not track your movement within a 3D space. It tracks the change in motion using it accelerometers. It comes close to being a 1:1 representation of a persons movements but not quite.
This difference combined with the Playstation Eye being able to use a persons own environment in games makes for a great feel of immersion.
This is why I am very excited for playing the Move with an FPS on my PS3. Hook my with Bioshock 2 updated with Move support please! :D Of KillZone 3. Or SOCOM 4. Or Crysis 2 with Move support. That would bad ass. O.O
And also why I really want the next Elder Scrolls game to have Move support. Are you reading this Bethesda? Please? PS3 Elder Scrolls 5 with Move support? :D
I think everyone who has ever played Elder Scrolls knows that move is a perfect fit for it. Sword and shield? Check. Bow and Arrow? Check. Melee combat? Check.
Everything you can possibly do in that game would work unbelievably well if implemented with 1:1 move support (IE, not canned animations used when it detects you are "swinging").
The problem with this is that most consumers are not going to be doing research into the difference between the two. They are going to see it on TV or in the store, in a 30 second bite, and they will probably just write it off as too similar to Wii to warrant a purchase.
Yah, except for the graphics and the games will be WAY different. Does the Wii have anything that looks like SOCOM 4? And I do mean anything? Nope, nothing at all. Or KillZone 3? Not that either. I think Sony can set Move apart pretty easily if it wants to.
The Wii promised so much in its beginning, then turned out to be disappointing in some genres. I wouldn't get too excited with Move, not until a more clear picture of how many people care is drawn.
I agree that those games should be more fun with Move support, but again, the Wii could have had similar games but didn't. Publishers may not care in the end of the day.
@Fábio - Please go read my posted link of Ars Techica's review of SOCOM 4 with Move support. I guess they got to play it pretty extensively. They say it is fun and the Move support is very well implemented.
I am not saying that implementations will not be good. I am saying that the support may not be there after the initial batch of games if it doesn't take off.
After using it I would say it is really just Wii Motion Plus 2.0. It does some things the Wii mote does not but nothing really wowed me. Mind you that the Wii can also track in 3d space but move does it smoother.
What will set them apart could be the software but tacked on controls are not the way to go. That never worked out well on the Wii because games not made for motion controls can become somewhat broken when you add them. You notice that in RE4 Wii your amo. is limited because it is so easy to shoot. This is not always the case though.
If Sony can get devs to focus more on new experiences and the controls are great then Move will look strong. If most Move games continue to look like HD Wii games or have tacked on controls I don't think it will do to well. Well let me clarify...I think either way it could sell well to Sony's install base but it wont bring in a new audience without new experiences.
Simply put better tech does not matter as much as software. That is proven time and time again in this industry. You can list as many great PS3 games you want, like KillZone 3, but those great PS3 games that are already out that look better than every Wii do not matter to the Wii install base. Simple put out a great and fun game that makes everyone want the Move and it could explode. Focus on it being a Wii HD with better looking games and it might do well with the current PS3 install base.
"tech does not matter as much as software. That is proven time and time again in this industry."
This gets to the core of the most important point of this discussion. Nintendo have fooled the casual observer (and the industry) into thinking that motion controls were the key to the Wii's popularity. Motion controls were just a hook. The software itself made the sales, and it was carefully designed.
The "casuals" that Sony claim that they wish to entice won't be fooled if they use their B-teams to make substandard casual games while continuing to put the bulk of their resources and talent into hardcore games.
I really don't think the Move is all that , Looks cheap and I would bet the first time it hits a hard floor it breaks into little pieces . Also the Move would not even be here if not for the Wii , Yes the Move might work a little better and the graphics will ne nice ,but in the end if you can't balance fun with the game like the wii does then Sony needs to stick with what they know best and not worry about a Motion controller.
Honestly the one thing you can always count on Sony for is to make good quality hardware.
These things are no different, very solid Like the Dual Shock 3.
Also, saying the Move (or Kinect for that matter) wouldn't be here without the Wii, I think is a bit of a given. Without competition complacency sets in. This is true for any market, and not applicable to just this debate.
Used both at E3 (Kinect and Move). Only Move impressed me. I have to disagree about the design choice of the Move. I think there is a certain bias that was created to make fun of the controller, and that in and of itself is clouding some opinions regarding the look of the Move.
Lets look at the technology. It is using a motion tracking system that is much more accurate. We see similar in the film industry, where a camera can accurately track a glowing ball. So knowing this is technology, which is much better than infrared camera tracking used by the wii (in which the camera is in the controller not on the tv), we must assume the design is built around the effectiveness of the technology.
The sphere at the top has to be present and as visible as possible. So what about the body? Well a smooth surface not only plays into the look of the PS3 but forms to the shape of the hand best. It is the most effective design, I really cannot imagine how one would come up with something different. Would you make it a block like the Wii?
I think the Move is designed as best as it can be, unless others can toss out some feasible descriptions on how it could look different and still work well, then we should all go with that train of thought.
You didn't explain why the Move is more intimidating than Wii. You said as a counterpoint to the Kinnect that it has buttons, but the Wii mote has buttons as well. So, what exactly is your point? Do you think the lay out is bad? Is it the number of buttons? Are shapes more complicated that + and - symbols?
Also, you don't have to buy the navigation controller to use the Move. You can play with the dual shock's thumb stick. Shooters that require a thumb stick for movement don't require that you stand up to perform the motion controls (since the motion is simply pointing). Although that's not the ideal solution, contrary to your statement, gamers don't have to spend $30. on the navigation controller.
Lastly, in this article you've both criticized Sony for failing to copy Wii's commercial slickness, and for being a derivative of it. This makes your argument incoherent. You can't have it both ways. Either the Wii is the model for success in motion control, or Sony will fail by following an existing model.
Well at least geeks won't have to move around like the Kinect with the Move. How many rotator cuff, knee, and back injuries await geeks dancing with the Kinect.
I checkout the Move at this year's GDC in San Francisco. It was ok. The dev tools are cool. One think I did like was that glow stick controller. I noticed from creating face skins and watching myself on the PS eye and eyetoy (singstar, karaoke revolution, MLB, ) was that everything is very dark on the screen even though my room is lit well enough for the human eye. My Cameo is always like a dark person's.
That glow stick top will make it easier to track the user's movements.
I would hope that gamasutra comments would not deteriorate to the point where stereotypes are perpetuated for the sake of cheap jokes.
Also, the veracity of the anecdote doesn't really have any bearing on the reasoning in the article.
Spoiler alert. Gay people have the same sex organs as straight people.
I only hope that Gamasutra will make it possible for people to be flagged. I love this site and I loved your article. The joke was sincere and I and my wife were dying. Keep up the good work.
and for the rest? I think both kinect and move are gonna have a hard time, and really dont understand all the despise the WII gets as a second rate console...if it not were by the lack of good games it has.
but the graphics? really? reeeeeeeeeeeeally? when the pac-man google banner that appear some months ago was blamed of having people enganged on it instead working and making firms lose money
http://www.i4u.com/35907/googles-pac-man-banner-costs-us-workforce-120-million
that clearly points to something, what it's needed is enganging gameplay, not hiperrealistic graphics (even if they could be great to watch!!! i dont deny it)
Where as the kinect will be overall foriegn to all gamers & general public alike.
Plus how many retail demo 360s are realy going have kinect set up so it can work correctly?
The stores are not likely to move it out into an open area (where it could work) unless MS shells out payment for prime display space.
Otherwise the players will be 2-3 feet from the screen & sensory bar.
Will it work while your that close? along with people walking by in the background. I doubt it.
I don't see move being as demanding for demo space needed to function corectly.
So that'll likely be a 1up for sony as well.
"What Sony and Microsoft have really done with Kinect and Move -- especially Move, is provide a bridge for guys that are used to playing the Wii system with the wand and bringing them over to a HD system,"
I tend to agree, but move will also bring motion controls to people like me who have very little to no intrest in the wii.
I forget the (wii) system exsists, im so not intrested.
When its $99. then maybe i'll take notice.
I feel the opposite, for the exact same reason. Most Wii owners are going to balk at having to buy-in to a more expensive setup that offers what is essentially the same experience (albeit, with better graphics). I think that if the Kinect manages to ride the buzz wave, it could stand to do much better if only because of the fact that it is such a different experience.
After all, the Wii broke the mold, and look how successful it's been. I think that what Microsoft is doing with Kinect is a much larger gamble than Move, but stands to have a much larger return as well.
Will Nintendo do it? Well, I've seen them make bigger mistakes this generation (friend codes) and much larger errors in the past (dumping Sony for Phillips). So we'll see.
Games for the Move so far: SOCOM 4 and a review by Ars Techica.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/03/socom-4-played-with-playstation-move-
our-thoughts.ars
Killzone 3, The Sly Collection, The Gold version of Resident Evil 5, Heavy Rain, and Little Big Planet 1 and 2.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/07/sonys-trojan-horse-for-3d-and-move-ga
mes-you-already-own.ars
Also,
MLB 10: The Show, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Echochrome 2, and NBA 2K11....
See, Sony's whole strategy is a Trojan Horse maneuver or moving to games PS3 users all ready own. It is smart and it is FAST. All they have to do is ask or pay the pubs/devs to patch their games to have Move support. Red Dead Redemption? POP. Move support with a patch. No problem. Any PS3 game that is applicable can be done in a pinch. That is the entire point of the Ars article I posted and it makes a great point.
At first I do not know if Sony really cares about going after Wii owners so much as selling Move units to existing PS3 owners. They want to create sales hype now? Sell sell sell to those PS3 owners now and create that hype by making the numbers. It can work if they do it right.
I'm not so sure about that. I will be going through Heavy Rain again, as well as making a new purchase out of RE5. Move support was the key to pushing me over the edge on RE5 even though I had rented and completed the game.
Wii Motion Plus is much better than Wii Motion was but still it's technology is different. It does not track your movement within a 3D space. It tracks the change in motion using it accelerometers. It comes close to being a 1:1 representation of a persons movements but not quite.
This difference combined with the Playstation Eye being able to use a persons own environment in games makes for a great feel of immersion.
And also why I really want the next Elder Scrolls game to have Move support. Are you reading this Bethesda? Please? PS3 Elder Scrolls 5 with Move support? :D
Everything you can possibly do in that game would work unbelievably well if implemented with 1:1 move support (IE, not canned animations used when it detects you are "swinging").
I agree that those games should be more fun with Move support, but again, the Wii could have had similar games but didn't. Publishers may not care in the end of the day.
What will set them apart could be the software but tacked on controls are not the way to go. That never worked out well on the Wii because games not made for motion controls can become somewhat broken when you add them. You notice that in RE4 Wii your amo. is limited because it is so easy to shoot. This is not always the case though.
If Sony can get devs to focus more on new experiences and the controls are great then Move will look strong. If most Move games continue to look like HD Wii games or have tacked on controls I don't think it will do to well. Well let me clarify...I think either way it could sell well to Sony's install base but it wont bring in a new audience without new experiences.
Simply put better tech does not matter as much as software. That is proven time and time again in this industry. You can list as many great PS3 games you want, like KillZone 3, but those great PS3 games that are already out that look better than every Wii do not matter to the Wii install base. Simple put out a great and fun game that makes everyone want the Move and it could explode. Focus on it being a Wii HD with better looking games and it might do well with the current PS3 install base.
This gets to the core of the most important point of this discussion. Nintendo have fooled the casual observer (and the industry) into thinking that motion controls were the key to the Wii's popularity. Motion controls were just a hook. The software itself made the sales, and it was carefully designed.
The "casuals" that Sony claim that they wish to entice won't be fooled if they use their B-teams to make substandard casual games while continuing to put the bulk of their resources and talent into hardcore games.
These things are no different, very solid Like the Dual Shock 3.
Also, saying the Move (or Kinect for that matter) wouldn't be here without the Wii, I think is a bit of a given. Without competition complacency sets in. This is true for any market, and not applicable to just this debate.
Lets look at the technology. It is using a motion tracking system that is much more accurate. We see similar in the film industry, where a camera can accurately track a glowing ball. So knowing this is technology, which is much better than infrared camera tracking used by the wii (in which the camera is in the controller not on the tv), we must assume the design is built around the effectiveness of the technology.
The sphere at the top has to be present and as visible as possible. So what about the body? Well a smooth surface not only plays into the look of the PS3 but forms to the shape of the hand best. It is the most effective design, I really cannot imagine how one would come up with something different. Would you make it a block like the Wii?
I think the Move is designed as best as it can be, unless others can toss out some feasible descriptions on how it could look different and still work well, then we should all go with that train of thought.
Just my 2 cents.
Also, you don't have to buy the navigation controller to use the Move. You can play with the dual shock's thumb stick. Shooters that require a thumb stick for movement don't require that you stand up to perform the motion controls (since the motion is simply pointing). Although that's not the ideal solution, contrary to your statement, gamers don't have to spend $30. on the navigation controller.
Lastly, in this article you've both criticized Sony for failing to copy Wii's commercial slickness, and for being a derivative of it. This makes your argument incoherent. You can't have it both ways. Either the Wii is the model for success in motion control, or Sony will fail by following an existing model.
That glow stick top will make it easier to track the user's movements.