Last year's E3 press conference from Sony gave me a feeling of, "What did I just watch?" On one hand they showed us all the big games from Uncharted 2 to The Last Guardian, and then on the other they had me bursting out in laughter at the horribly rushed tech demo of Move. There was just something about seeing a bunch of guys waving WiiMotes with ping pong balls attached to the end that had me cracking up inside.
Now, a year after that embarrassing debacle, Sony comes out and gives an amazing press briefing and gives us a proper unveiling of their new motion controller, Move. To my dismay, the ping pong balls are still there, but I can give them a little leeway, because what they showed during this E3 has me truly excited to see what Move has in store for us.
Motion control is something that I have always been skeptical of, mainly because I have yet to see it really reach out and hook the hardcore gamers. Of course there are the occasional exceptions with your Zelda and Mario Galaxy, but for the most part the technology has yet to set itself apart from all of the Wii Sports, mini games, and shovel-ware games out there. So, when I saw Move a year ago I was obviously skeptical of its success. The demo was extremely rough and while I could tell the one-to-one technology was there, it failed to grab me in and convince me that this was truly a step forward. The newest demo of Move, showcased at this year's E3, changed many of the pre-conceived notions I had about the device.
The only way to describe Move, without getting into a lot of technical details, is that it is basically the Wii on steroids. The one-to-one tracking is extremely precise giving the player a feeling of control that hasn't really been seen before. A sword is controlled much like it would in real life with the Move catching all of the little details in the movement of the players wrist and arm.
Now, this technology is great and all, but what it really comes down to is how will this be implemented into games. In the words of Kevin Butler's E3 Sony speech, "Deep down inside we all serve one master, one king, and his name is Gaming! Forever may he reign!" Bold words from Sony, but I can tell you that they are at least making an effort to appeal to hardcore gamers with Move, unlike other motion controllers that may or may not rhyme with connect…
So, here are a few reasons why I think Move has the potential to become a legitimate peripheral and accessory for hardcore gamers:
1) Socom 4 - From what I've heard the accuracy and precision of the Move controller is extremely responsive and really does add a whole other aspect to shooting, in games. As a side note, if you don't want to play with Move you still have the option to play with your standard PS3 controller as well, nice move Sony.
2) Sorcery - Sony unveiled this new Move game during their E3 press conference and while my first impression was of Harry Potter, I soon realized there was much more to this game than you might initially expect. From the demo that was shown, the casting of spells using the Move controller appears to be well executed and extremely accurate. Also, the little nuances of holding the Move controller up and tilting it to simulate drinking a potion to restore health is a very cool idea. While the demo was pretty short, I feel that if they can come up with ways to cleverly use and implement Move into the gameplay Sorcery could become a very fun game that could appeal to even the hardcore gamers.
3) The Tech - Sony has told us how amazing the Move technology is, and I believe them. That's what has me excited for Move. Even though most of the games they've shown have been Wii Sports type games, I really believe that if developers can take what is in these smaller mini game titles and implement and build upon these ideas that we could have something really special on our hands.
To put it lightly, I am very optimistic about the chances of Move in appealing to hardcore gamers, more so than any other motion control device. I think that with the right implementation of the technology and the right developer, we could see some truly unique and amazing games come from Move.
Besides Move, Sony also unveiled quite a few games as well. I won't talk too much about them, I'll just say that Infamous 2 and Little Big Planet 2 are two of my most anticipated games from the press conference and I can't wait to try them out.
Also, in a surprise announcement, Valve revealed that Portal 2 will be coming to the PS3 on launch and that they will be implementing many factors of their PC/Mac program, Steam, into the PS3 as well. I don't know if I'm more excited about Portal 2 or the fact that I may possibly be able to enjoy some of the amazing Steam content that was only available via PC/Mac.
Personally, I think Sony's press conference was maybe the best out of the big 3. They did a great job of introducing Move without alienating their hardcore gamers. They announced some great titles and while I would've loved to see some Last Guardian gameplay, I realize you can't get everything that you want, here's to hoping that it will resurface at TGS.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Interesting, and informative! Can't wait what Sony has to offer this coming year. Although, the move looks primitive it might be more precise and accurate than the Wii-mote.
Very nice webpage, and will be looking forward to reading more.
Xbox 360 still owns. It's a tight match though so 360 gotta step up their game.
PS3 is going to be AWESOME!
Dude, LBP2 is going to be bad-ass. I heard you can make pretty much any game on it. And Steam on PS3? It seems like 2011 is PS3's time to shine.