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.