PlayStation Move Bundle Review

After the huge success of the Nintendo Wii motion controller, Sony and Microsoft had already been researching their own motion controllers, but never releasing one to market. Nintendo has their Wii motion controller that used an optical infrared sensor, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope to determine motion. Microsoft has their Kinect system, which uses an RGB camera, depth sensor, and multi-array microphone to capture facial expressions, voice recognition, and motion accurately without the presence of an actual controller. The Sony PlayStation Move uses a hybrid of the two technologies by providing accurate motion capture with a camera, but using a controller that aids in movement for the player and feels natural in the player’s hands.

The technology behind the PlayStation Move controller revolves around a wand shaped controller with LEDS at the top of a spherical attachment that allows for the PlayStation camera to distinguish different colors emitted by the wand and calculate distance from the camera by determining the image size of the light. This allows for not only movement in the x and y axis, but also in the z axis, which the Nintendo Wii Remote does not process. As a result users of the Wii Remote need to press buttons for movement on the z axis while PlayStation Move users can simply physically move their bodies on the z axis using the Move controller. The PlayStation Move controller has an accelerometer, an angular rate sensor for rotation, and an internal magnetometer for calibration.

The PlayStation Move controller has built in vibration just like the Dual-Shock controller and allows for tracking of up to four wands using different colors on the spherical attachment. The controller has the standard triangle, circle, square, an X buttons seen on the normal Dual-Shock controller, an underhand trigger, a PS button, and an oval Move button. There is also an optional navigation controller that has the standard D-Pad, an analog joystick, L1, L2, and L3 buttons. It also has X and circle buttons as well. The Dual-Shock controller can be used in place of the navigation controller although it feels awkward to do so and the navigation controller is only $30. Players can also dual wield the wands to allow for even more realistic movements, but it is not necessary for any of the launch games just as the navigation controller is also not necessary in order to allow for a more broad audience of price conscious consumers entry into the PlayStation Move arena.

The PlayStation Move controller comes sold individually or in a bundle with the PlayStation Eye camera and the Sports Champions game. Sports Champions includes table tennis, volleyball, gladiator duel, disc golf, bocce, and archery. All of the sports games can be played with just one Move controller or a combination of Move controller and navigation controller or two PlayStation Move controllers. Games like archery allow dual wielding of the Move controller with one controller acting as the bow and the other as the arrows. In the case of the gladiator duel game, one controller is the weapon and the other is the shield. The Sports Champions game showcases the accuracy of the PlayStation Move controller setup and utilizes the z axis with players moving towards or away from the camera which translates into the games as z axis movement. The game bundle is fun in single player, but gets old fairly quickly. The game however is very fun with multiple friends competing against each other. There is a free play mode that allows players to practice the games prior to entry into the Challenge and Champion Cup modes. Challenge mode consists of players competing for high scores while the Champion Cup mode is more of an Olympic series of events against ten other AI players.

Overall the PlayStation Move bundle is a great starter entry into the motion controller arena, and overall priced below what it would cost to buy each separately. Unfortunately, there are not many games out for the PlayStation Move controller and none of them, including the Sports Champions game are worth buying right now. Once games like SOCOM, KillZone 3 and other big name games begin to release in 2011, the PlayStation Move will become a household name. Right now, the PlayStation Move controller is just a novelty item for those who have money burning a hole in their pocket.