Gut Reactions: PlayStation Move

By: Staff, GameSpot - Posted on March 11, 2010

Gut Reactions: PlayStation Move

At this year's Game Developers Conference, Sony held an event to unveil its motion controller for the PlayStation 3. Named PlayStation Move, the motion controller system uses a wand and camera combination setup to interact with games--some of which will potentially require the use of two wands as well as a device known as the sub-controller, which functions similarly to the Wii's nunchuk. With that in mind, we asked the GameSpot editorial staff what they thought about Sony's entry into the world of dedicated motion controls. Here are their thoughts.

Justin Calvert | Section Editor, Reviews

I've never been a huge fan of controls that require me to do something other than sit down and play with directional controls and buttons. There are games out there already that use motion controls well, but very few of them appeal to me, and most use gestures to perform actions that could just as easily be handled by a button press or an analog stick. It's too early to tell whether or not the PlayStation Move will win me over where the Wii has not, but after enjoying a little hands-on time with Sports Champions' Gladiator Duel mode, I'm certainly open to the possibility.

I hesitate to fully embrace PlayStation Move for the moment, not because I'm unimpressed with the technology, but because so far the software lineup seems very much in keeping with the kinds of games already being offered on the Wii. They're obviously a lot more impressive visually, but it's going to take more than party games, minigame collections, and a shooter with motion controls shoehorned in to win me over. Also, how many Move controllers and sub-controllers are going to be needed for an average party setting? The last thing I need is a dozen more controllers.

Chris Watters | Associate Editor

Though two large orbs glowing with pastel-colored light aren't exactly the first thing you'd bring to a street fight, Motion Fighters still managed to pack a punch. Landing a big hook on your opponent's jaw takes a bit of effort, but having to swing with some energy makes landing a big hit more satisfying (and the spurt of blood is a nice touch too). The producer who guided me through the demo pointed out that the game was still in alpha stage, but he also exhorted everyone who played to swing big and break a sweat (he didn't say that last bit, but many players did it anyway). This made it difficult to gauge how hard you actually have to swing to consistently land punches. Like I said, a little effort can make landing a virtual punch sweeter, but if Motion Fighters requires too much effort, that may diminish the fun factor for a lot of players. Only more street fighting (on later, more refined versions of the game) will truly tell.

Tom Mc Shea | Associate Editor

First of all, I have to get this out of the way: PlayStation Move sub-controller? There are so many jokes I don't even know where to start, so I'll just shift away from that utilitarian name and focus on what the future holds when the Move overlords are in control of our fun. I'm a little worried. When Sony's marketing vice president, Peter Dille, was onstage explaining what this futuristic device was capable of, I was sold. I'm a sucker for new technology, and the promise of true one-to-one movement recognition and all those other neat-sounding terms made it seem like this was something worth getting excited about. But then they showed the games. Keep in mind, this is a gut reaction, so I have no idea what they are going to reveal down the road, but the initial offering was oh so boring. A few Wii Sport clones and a military shooter with pointing controls aren't exactly the most thrilling applications of this wonder device. I don't fancy myself much of a street fighter, so being able to punch virtual hoboes isn't tapping into my pleasure zone either. I'm still not sold that non-sports games can be made better with motion controls, so Sony still has a lot to deliver.

Brian Ekberg | Senior Editor

Winners: Motion Fighters (a game I inexplicably called "Dukes" during our live video coverage of the PlayStation Move) was the big winner for me. It was one of the few games on hand whose look and controls combined to draw me in and make me eager to give it a try. During my brief hands-on time with the game, I used a wicked left jab/right hook combo to beat that fat biker within an inch of his fat life--which, I suppose, makes me a winner, despite getting the name of the game wrong. Thanks PlayStation Move!

Losers: Nearly all the rest of the software on display left me feeling a bit cold, if only because it all seemed incomplete. Whereas Motion Fighters looked like it had potential for depth (and perhaps even a narrative explanation as to why these two dudes were blasting each other in the grill while shadowy onlookers stood around doing nothing), most of the other games on display seemed like tech demonstrations, not something I'd actually want to own. Social games like Move Party! might be cool in small doses, but they don't hold much appeal for me personally. As a result, I'll be curious to see how Sony and third-party developers take to making creative applications of the Move. And unless Motion Fighters is rebranded to "Dukes" in short order, it will also be a loser.

Randolph Ramsay | Editor, GameSpot AU

Bowling game? Check. Table tennis game? Check. Minigame compilation? Check. To be fair, the technology behind the Move is quite impressive, but if the games Sony showed yesterday at its press event are all we can expect, then the technology is hardly ushering in a new era of gaming. We've seen all of this before, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Bowling games, table tennis, and minigames can be fun and bring in an audience who wouldn't normally see themselves as gamers. What will be more interesting to see is how Sony incorporates Move into its "core" games. We got a hint of it yesterday with SOCOM 4, but will Sony try to shoehorn Move into other games? Will we see a future God of War with motion controls? Do we want to?

Tor Thorsen | Senior News Editor

The PlayStation Move looks really intriguing, but I am worried about whether it will get enduring support. Sony has launched two major products in the last two years--PlayStation Home and the PSP Go--both of which have effectively withered on the vine. Both were deeply flawed, and the resulting lack of enthusiasm has translated into dwindling developer support (for the PSP Go, anyway). Whether people will be willing to plunk down an extra $80-$90 for the Move remains to be seen.

That said, Sony was careful to underline the fact that the PlayStation Move will be easy to develop for, obviously playing to the GDC crowd. They stressed that the Zipper Interactive team added motion-controller functionality to SOCOM 4 after they had already started it and showed that LittleBigPlanet could be updated to work with the Move as well--and that game came out in 2008. If it's as easy as they say, a lot of games in development could be updated to work with the system, widening its appeal.

Finally, Sony is taking a lot of flack for copying the Wii MotionPlus, but they're being very up front about it. At Wednesday's event, SCEA marketing head Peter Dille said openly that the Wii paved the way for motion control and that Sony wants to refine it. And Sony following Nintendo's lead isn't a bad thing--if the company hadn't done that, we never would have gotten a little thing called the PlayStation.

Giancarlo Varanini | Editor-at-Large

Sony showed just the right amount of stuff at the unveiling of its new motion-control hardware. There was a nice mixture of games that appeal to the family-friendly crowd as well as games that should appeal to the typical gaming audience. But in some ways, the announcement seemed solely focused on firing a direct shot across the Wii's bow with Sony triumphantly saying, "We're doing what Nintendo is doing, only better." Obviously, there's a tremendous amount of potential with PlayStation Move, particularly when the PS3 camera is involved (as shown with EyePet), and I think Sony has created a nice little burst of momentum going into E3--where it will hopefully pull out all the stops and show what Move can really do. At any rate, Sony has tried to show everyone that you'll get the best of both worlds (motion controls and camera interaction), and it has taken a small--albeit quite important--step in making that a reality.

Alex Sassoon Coby | Production Editor, GameSpot UK

The PlayStation Move is an interesting proposition. It looks, at first, to combine what is best about the Wii with what is best about the PlayStation 3, all for a very reasonable price. Alas, the price is only reasonable if you already own a PS3, and whether this will serve to increase the PS3's market share in Europe and the USA remains to be seen.

It could be argued that it is too little, too late from Sony, given the similarity of the Move to the Wii Remote and the amount of time the Wii has had on the market, but given that an HD Wii is likely to arrive on the scene well before the PS4, in hindsight this could be a very smart tactical move indeed. It was only toward the end of the PS2's life cycle that it really started to mine the casual audience through SCEE's SingStar and EyeToy franchises, and the PlayStation Move could well allow the PS3 to achieve the same kind of success.

Mark Walton | Production Assistant, GameSpot UK

When Sony announced its motion controller at last year's E3, I was less than impressed. After seeing Microsoft unveil Natal, Sony's half-finished and slightly laughable glowing controller design seemed like old hat before it had even been released. To see the same device pulled out at GDC, complete with its ridiculous-looking bauble, makes me wonder what Sony has been doing with its time since E3.

No matter how much Peter Dille, SVP of marketing for SCEA, likes to say the Wii uses "the controller simply as a pointer," nothing that has been shown so far leads me to believe Move will be any different. The games unveiled so far aren't innovative. Move Party! is a minigame compilation, The Shoot is yet another on-rails shooter, and Sports Champions is a Wii Sports knockoff. Is a high-definition version of table tennis going to add anything to the experience? Until Sony announces original games that really show what its motion controller can do, I'm not convinced.

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