PlayStation Move Shovelware: Slider
No, it's not the awesome adaptation of Sliders, but the first PlaySation Move enabled game to come out from Sony's Japan Studios. Slider is also a good example of upcoming shovelware for the PS3 Move. Face it, the Wii is plagued by games with uninspired motion controls and now the Playstation 3 will get it's share of those games.
Joystiq has a hands on review of PS3 Slider and the game does seem to have charm; the game revolves around the concept of escaping from the Japanese mafia by using office furniture. While the concept is certainly zany enough to work, the downfall of PS3 Slider is the poor implementation of motion controls.
Waggling the controller moves the character forward, but to jump or duck you thrust the controller upward/downward. So moving forward, up and down use nearly identical motions; making for imprecise controls and frustrating game play. Just like Red Steel for the Wii (you had so much promise!). Joystiq failed to find the game enjoyable and correctly deduced that a casual gamer wouldn't be able to pick it up and play easily. This game probably could have used the SIXAXIS controller instead and been a much better game.
It's sad to see another avenue for poor (and gimmicky) motion controls used in another console. Good motion control makes a game more immersive in a way that normal controls cannot. Hopefully more First Party games for the PS3 get decent motion controls. Not to mention the amount of shovelware games that will be ported from the Wii to the PlayStation 3. Shovelware is never fun and makes for a poor purchase; worse, it's hard to tell how poorly a game has implemented motion controls until you purchase/rent the game. Thankfully there is always GameFly.
Why the PS3 Move is exactly like the Wii Remote
Sony just unveiled their new motion based control scheme dubbed "PS3 Move". While Nintendo's Wiimote and the PS3 Move motion controller have different hardware, they are the exactly the same to the average person. Deep down inside the PS3 Move is just another Wiimote in theory. Both controllers share the same idea, but are executed in different ways. PS3 Move: mimic, gimmick or something new?
- Initial games will be tech demos showcasing control schemes
- They both use light to track where the controller is at.
- Both the PS3 Move and the Wiimote have a secondary controller with a control stick (and both come separate
- Extra Controllers for the PS3 Move and Wiimote are expensive.
- PS3 fanboys call the new control scheme "gimmicky". Wait, that was just the Wiimote.
OK, while the fine details may not be the same for the PS3 Move and Nintendo's Wiimote; the basic premise is exactly the same. Both controllers give players a new way to control future games and-in the case of the PS3-some older games like Little Big Planet. The PS3 Move handles the motion control differently than the Wiimote though. The PS3 Motion uses a LED lit ball coupled by the PS3 Eye toy to track it. The Wiimote uses a passive IR light in the sensor bar and the receiver is in the Wiimote and if you paid for it, the Motion Plus adapter for true 1:1 control.
The problem with the PS3 Move is that it is a add on and add ons have a terrible adoption rate for consoles. Couple that with how expensive the PS3 Move is going to be: for the "full" experience, each person will need two PlayStation Move controllers AND a sub controller (which doesn't support motion gaming at all). Oh but wait, how many Moves does the PlayStation support? Sony told Gizmodo that the PS3 only supports-at most-FOUR Move controllers at once: or two PS3 Move controllers and two sub-controllers. So, for that full multiplayer epxeriance you are looking at just one PlayStation Eye, but two Moves and a sub-controller per player. Using Giz's napkin math, that comes out to about $290 bucks to get the full experience. So we have expensive hardware, limited multiplayer experience and the potential for low adoption rates; sounds like a recipe for disaster.
The PS3 Move motion controller does have better tracking and better motion sensing (think of it having the Wii Motion Plus adapter built in). Both the PS3 Move and the Wiimote are exactly the same idea and close in hardware. It comes down to the execution of that idea, and the PS3 Move is going to have issues moving forward. I look forward to see how the diehard PS3 and Nintendo fans clamor about how one control scheme is better than the other.
Until I can get my hands on it, I'd have to label the PS3 Move as a mimic of the Wiimote. Mainly because for regular buyers there is no way you can explain that this is different than Wii Remote controllers.