PS3 the new Wii? PlayStation Motion Controller aims to perfect the Wii-mote
Sony takes aim at Nintendo and Microsoft's motion controls.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)Amid an already-good Sony E3 press conference, a time-out was taken amid PSP Go details, PSP games, and PS3 holiday titles to peek into the future at some on-the-horizon motion-control technology. The routine was familiar already: in fact, Microsoft and Nintendo had similar "the future is motion" pit stops in their 2009 E3 press conferences.
Being last, it seemed, would be a disadvantage to Sony. Appearing onstage were two of Sony's team behind the PlayStation Eye and EyeToy, and the general nervousness seemed palpable. When the prototype device was revealed--a black wand with a glowing purple bulb on top--it almost seemed like a joke. But a funny thing happened: the longer the demo went on, the better it got.
Sony's black wand appears to be the PS3's Wii-mote. Configured with an analog trigger and some number of buttons, the wand has one-to-one mapping just like the . The glowing orb, which changed color during the demo, was integral to the positioning technology, although exactly how wasn't detailed in the press conference.
The demonstrations covered some familiar territory: painting, virtual sword and tennis racket wielding, and some virtual object interaction in a 3D room. "Buttons are needed for some experiences," Sony claimed during a demonstration where a user appeared onscreen in a form of augmented reality, with the wand transforming into a baseball bat, gun, and laser whip. "There's no way to do this without a trigger...it wouldn't feel right."
An analog trigger was used to control the thickness of the brush used in a paint program, and the intensity of a virtual can of spray paint. A sword-and-shield demo using two wands showed some delicate touch when slicing up a skeleton, and another archery demo--almost a direct response to the Wii Sports Resort archery game shown hours before--looked at least as precise, if not more so. "High-precision, sub-millimeter" accuracy was claimed.
One surprise was CEO Jack Tretton's announcement that this controller would be available in spring 2010, meaning it's a near-term release, unlike Project Natal. It looks to add convincing Wii-style controls to games. Again, however, the real question remains over how much software support the PlayStation Motion Controller will have. The wand looked like a potentially excellent wireless 3D mouse for strategy games, but how it might interact with (or replace) the regular PS3 controller was unclear. Despite Natal's wow factor, having some button control is a wise idea, and Sony was smart to include it. Unlike the failed Sixaxis experiment, a true motion system might have finally arrived--although, for now, the peripheral seems peripheral to the PS3's core gaming interests.
Which motion demo won the show: Project Natal, Wii Motion Plus (and the Vitality Sensor), or the PlayStation Motion Controller? Let us know in the comments.
Scott Stein, a New York Jets fan and CNET senior associate editor, has written about tech, entertainment, video games, and viral culture for outlets including Laptop, Wired, Maxim, Esquire Online, Asylum, and Men's Journal. He also appears on the Digital City podcast. In his spare time, you might see him performing improv in New York City (when he's not being a dad). 
What WOULD set this up brilliantly is to incorporate the head tracking software that I know they've had on the shelf for quite some time. This would allow a virtual experience and give the world something truly next gen.
they say "you are the controller" then you cant get the real controller and use it!!!! its one or the other
Looking forward to see who can deliver the best product though, it's pretty easy to show-and-tell.
Microsoft didn't have a mimic? umm that looked almost exactly like the eye toy from ps2 with the acception that they turned your character around
PS3 definitely wins this round. Wii gets a few points for a cheap and noticable improvement, though unfortunately not backwards compatible. MS- if it ever comes out and is adopted, it's be one heck of a catch-up to the other two. It better be revolutionary, though I'm willing to bet it won't be. Working in a lab and working in millions of different living rooms with millions of different people of all sizes, shapes, and disabilities.... that'll be a challenge to work out. What happens when the family dog or cat gets in the frame? Reliable and successful technology like they're promising is years down the road.
MS has outdone itself on this one. It can capture small hand gestures, who needs buttons?
Not to mention you can use a real bat or a real plastic sword (i hope it's plastic at least) to play these baseball or sword games. If there are shooters like Time Crisis, I think you can probably pick up a Nerf gun and use it. That's the possibilities we get with Natal.
Sony's Motion Controller is just the same-old thing with better precision backed up hardware capable of high definition content. Nothing truly revolutionary.
Before I end this, I must repeat: HOLODECK!
Now we need 3D projections and eventually tactile projections (definitely not going to happen within this century).
1. wii, maybe im an idiot, but cant see the difference or whats new? i just dont get it... as far as i understand, it does the same just a little better, its like saying "we lie to you, the old wii we say can do all this things, was not true, you need the new one"... like i say before, just smoke and mirrors, stop selling me empty dreams.
2. microsoft, finally they get their own eye toy, no matter how new or top technology, the basic is the same, body recognition. i doubt that the high resolution or detail expected by some users could become a reality, i mean virtual guitars or keyboards, no way that cam can grab and process such finger move detail, maybe it can, i would like to be wrong and surprised. i like to see that body recognition in action, it look really promising, but so every past failure microsoft product did in paper, then a total mess in real world, like voice recognition.
3. sony, looks really the same patent we see a while time ago, sony did understand that the eye toy, good for fun, but just limited to software created for it, understand the success and potential of the wii, led/sensor, it works great as a 3D mouse and for shooters (in fact, i think those are better than the motion detector) and afraid to another patent lawsuit, replace the wii led/sensor with the playstation eye, but keep everything the same, sure the playstation wand would have the core sensor of any sixaxis... the problem i see is that nintendo let the hardware do all the work, not putting workload in the console and unless the playstation wand do the same, the ps3 would have extra work to do, not i cant do it, as seen in games with the playstation eye, but would translate like the eye toy in just games designed for it able to use it, making it a pheripheral and not a universal controller for any game like the wii.
in short i dont expect market changes, just sweet addons like any wheel, guitar, etc at least until the next generation and only if sony and microsoft use motion detection as a core controller like nintendo.
But the question with all of them is whether they can drive sales. Nintendo has an advantage here because their console is already associated with motion control as its core gameplay. Microsoft and Sony may struggle to market their controllers as more than just copycat peripherals, so both would require pretty amazing software to prove their worth. We'll see...
2) PS3, like the wii controller but slightly better, would be nice if it will have force feedback included.
3) Nintendo, nothing exciting.
as a software designer trust me adding anything is a pain
- by apjonz June 3, 2009 9:16 AM PDT
- im gonna make me a sandwich. oh yeah that's right i aint got no bread. I got milk so maybe i can eat some cereal. but dangit we got some nasty @s$ smacks!!! I might eat my daughters animal crackers.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (35 Comments)