Sony shows off PS3 motion-control magic wand

re: bootnote

1)"no one will target an optional controller"

well we have the remapping of normal controller funtion games:

guitar hero et al... epecially rock band (£150 for a smegging game with "optional" gubbins?)

*shudders at no guitar guitar hero*

driving games with steering wheel/pedal controllers

then we have:

light gun shooting games (virtua cop, duck hunt, time crisis, silent scope...)

so popular that the light gun is a *generic* console peripheral

wii fit

http://www.balanceboardblog.com/2008/06/guide-every-wii-balance-board-game.html

counts 48 either out now or in the pipeline, that use or require the ballance board

2)"pick the console with the enormous user base"

see your own comment about "tack on motion-control as afterthought"

how many ports to the wii are already like this?

how many games are vastly innapropriate for the wii? (even ignoring the performance difference - how many cert 18 games are there (for the wii)? )

My comment:

What may happen, is that an element of motion control will be expected as standard, rather than the frustrating gimmik (sp) it currently is. (*cough* touch screens on phones *cough*)

As reg readers will probably know,

all the controller interface stuff is squirrled away where the game engine doesnt have to worry about it. As long as i can *accurately* and *consistenty* flail innefectually at bad guys, and this be presented to the engine, it doesnt matter how the hardware is implemented. Unless of course the hardware doesnt meet the accurate and consistent test, in which case its not fit for purpose. (like er... the wii controller. but that might be just me)

So yes, there maybe some initial barriers to entry (like if the controllers cost as much as a wii, or if all the first wave of games are just wii sports copies), but i look forward to our gesture control future (think tony stark's cad/cam setup in iron man)

@grant

The games you highlight point out exactly the problem el-reg are getting at. You list several games, all of which come with their own gadget, because they can't rely on you having one of them already. The point was not that no games will ever use gadgets - instead, no game will rely on you having already bought a gadget from Sony, rather than buying it with the game. Clever developers sneak round this by using the eye... but honestly, you expect them to do motion tracking with the camera, and no known items in the world to track? The fancy pants new controller already needs the camera to track it!

As for seperate CPU etc, woop-de-doo, it's well known how to write a game in a way that's portable between at least XBox and PS3 - as demonstrated by the fact that 99% of games come out on both of them. The only time we ever see an exclusive is when games company is paid to do it. In the mean time, changing the control system of the game and as a result, the game mechanics is a much much more major change than just doing a port. Note also here, that your statement about all consoles having different controllers is just pure bullshit... compare an XBox and PS3 controller. Both have a central PS3/XBox button, surrounded by a select/start pair. Both have an analog stick either side, both have a D-pad on the left and 4 random buttons on the right, both have 2 analog buttons on the top, and both allow you to push the analog sticks in. That's it... they both use *identical* controllers other than the shape.

@Bootnote

Disagree with your comments, the motion controller by Microsoft is going to be a revolution, it just looks so much fun...

Horses For Courses

'Gimmick' seems to be the word here. The Wii is nowhere near as powerful as the PS3 or Xbox 360, but it sells in droves because darn thing is so playable - particularly on a social level. It's also proved itself to be immense fun. Also on a social level. This is due, almost totally, to the accessibility of its control method. Sony & MS have spent huge sums of money developing controllers that their users find intuitive and usable and, personally, that's good enough for me.

My main console is a PS3 and I enjoy sitting on my fat arse wiggling my thumbs, but if I want to wave my arms around when playing games I'll just crank up my Wii.... Ho hum..

Back to front

"There are now three consoles with completely disparate motion control schemes. If you can't make a game easily ported to all three, you'll probably limit yourself to just one. And chances are you'll pick the console with the enormous user base guaranteed to have the right equipment: the Nintendo Wii"

Er no.

Some Wii users have the stupid balance board, others don't. Some have two controllers, others don't.

None of them have a decent graphics processor capable of displaying anything better than we saw on the PS1 all those years ago.Yes, they all have the controllers that they got with their machines but those aren't much cop really are they?

If *I* was a developer, I wouldn't be making games for what is essentially a piece of 90s wank with some gimmicky controllers. Mums and Dads might play games on the Wii but in my experience they still think in terms of "that tennis game" "the driving game" etc. You might sell a lot of units to the gullible but you won't make a name for yourself - and there are so many other wanky gimmicky games on the Wii that you could quite easily be crowded out.

I've used the controllers on the Wii and I just found them frustrating. They didn't help me to play racing games or tennis games, they just annoyed me because they were too sensitive (or not sensitive enough, depending on the game...)

Having said that, I obviously have not used the motion controllers on the PS3 or XBox. However, both platforms are capable of showing something better than cartoony graphics and I have no doubt that games could be written to use more than one type of controller VERY easily...

Bah

Come on el Reg you write about the PS3 magic wand but have seemed to completely bypassed Microsofts Project NATAL. Do you guys have no imagination?

And your book notes! The other comments show why those are so narrow minded.

To begin with there is not going to be a total switch from one controller method to another, a physical hand held controller will remain with us for some time, the motion capture will add another level of control. Sure there will be tons of shovelware developed for it just like the Wii but other developers will find ways of incorporating it seamlessly into our current play styles.

Imagine a FPS where you can give hand signals to your squad mates, stop, get down, flank, go or an RPG where you can manage your inventory and menu screens with a simple wave. Then think about something like Tom Clancy's EndWar and how you could control whole armies with voice commands and physically directing them around or driving games that you use your legs for accelerating and breaking.

Project NATAL could add another layer of immersion that goes far beyond what motion sensing physical controllers can.

Then consider plugging the same technology into your TV or your PC or your home, the possibilities are endless. If it actually works as well as Microsoft are saying what happens when they add it as a feature to a future Windows operating system bypassing the need for people to upgrade to touch screen monitors.

We will see.

So Rock Band etc

"by making it only playable by those who've purchased a bonus (and potentially expensive) gadget."

So Rock Band, Guitar Hero etc don't count? Hmmmmmmm. Not a very good point to make really, Mr/Ms Journo.

Much more impressive that Microsofts "demo".

At least Sony were able to give a live realtime 1:1 demo of their technology. Turns out Microsofts "demo" was faked..

http://kotaku.com/5275204/testing-molyneuxs-milo-a-virtual-boy-with-yes-a-dog

"The Milo demo was partially being manipulated by a developer who was sitting nearby,"

However you can bet the press won't make such a fuss about Microsoft faking this and deceiving everyone than they did with the E3 2005 PS3 Killzone2 presentation...

agree with AC

Add-ons for christmas 2010

1) the A777 simulator, half real size, in hygenic, non-toxic polyethylene. The 88 switches and 57 dials can be simulated with a USB keyboard, and 2nd screen (cheaper but less fun).

2) the nuclear power station (Sinclair vapourware, at long last realised for Wii)

Amazing how much one-game junk is competing for cupboard space, given the small size of the CGU.

looks good

I already have the PS Eye with my PS3, works really well although there are only 5 or 6 games for it.

The comments above do make sence but can you imagine if a game like mirrors edge used this tech, instead of jumping from one thing to another, use one controller as a grappling hook and the other as a firearm. That would be a really good game, it could be used in so many different ways.

FPS could use these if they updated the game - only if it worked well/ had enough buttons on the controller etc.

Back to front to back again

@ AC. If you were a developer you'd be losing money fast.

The Wii has proven that there's a huge market for people who rank playability and social gaming over hi-res graphics and surround sound. You can masturbate over frame rates all you like, but by investing in the human interface Nintendo has achieved the remarkable feat of taking consoles out of the darkened bedroom and into the family room.

These people aren't gullible: they want to enjoy a gaming experience with family and friends that doesn't require a steep learning curve to get to grips with the control system, that can be enjoyed across the generations, and is affordable to boot. Buzz, Eye Toy, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are all part of the same phenomenon - games real people can play.

I'm happy with FPS in a darkened room, but respect to the Wii.

Meh

I can't see this kind of technology taking off. Don't get me wrong it looks amazing, and I'm sure I'd get a lot of enjoyment out of it... for a day or two, but then like the wii it would sit under my TV collecting dust until the next time I have friends or family around and someone challenges me to a game of virtual tennis.

I play games to kill time, I enjoy sitting back in a comfortable chair in a dimly lit room while driving around New York killing pedestrians and stealing police cars without so much as lifting my thumbs. Gaming is a lazy mans hobby. I don't deny that this amount of interactivity would be fun and exciting, but as a new gaming format it wouldn't stand a chance, not in the long run.

Some valid points in the bootnote

But, dont forget that the Xbox 360 is the only console right now with no motion capture built in. The Wii obviously does the whole Wii thing - and the PS3 has SIXAXIS (whether you think its good or not is neither here nor there).

So, to say that developers wont waste the time with a new fancy control system is a bit off. PES on the Wii for instance, is an example of a studio adding a new control system to a cross format game. In fact, all the games on the Wii that are available on different platforms are an example of developers choosing to do this.

The second point is the most interesting - could there ever be an agreed standard for console controllers? I am not sure there could - and why should there be? Manufacturers like Sony, MS and Nintendo only really care about their own hardware, why should they agree to make their controllers interoperable if they can be sure of dominance? Lets face it, right now, the PS3 and 360 rule the roost in the 'hardcore' sector, with the Wii owning the casual market. Both MS and Sony appear to want in to the casual market, and so will want to make as much money as possible there. So they wont want there platform to be compatible with someone elses, will they?

Natal was less than impressive minus smoke and mirrors

http://news.cnet.com/crave/?tag=rb_content;overviewHead

A much-hyped software package that uses the Project Natal hardware, Milo was presented as a virtual on-screen boy who could recognize you and carry on an intelligent conversation. The demo video was impressive, but obviously shot in a tightly controlled environment with clearly scripted responses. Talking to several people who got a chance to try out talking to Milo in person behind closed doors, the responses were uniformly disappointed, describing the supposedly realistic Milo to a similar to a Tamagotchi virtual pet, with only very basic interactivity.

At least the Sony offering was real, and not faked.

Re: Back to front

The Wii has much better graphics than a PS1, personally I'd say when coupled with an LCD TV via component video the graphics surpass the original XBOX and PS2.

Anyway.... I think to be honest as it shows with the Wii and the DS, there are a whole lot of people out there who aren't hard core gamers who want the latest and greatest installment of Fifa or the latest FPS. Fair enough there is a whole load of crap games on the Wii (those bloody cheap and nasty £20 party games which look like there are the same game with different graphics), but then there are some great games out there which really do make good use of the Wii controls.

On the other hand, it can be frustrating that some of the games and VC titles require either a Gamecube controller or Classic Controller to get reasonable play control out of them.

I think that if Microsoft and Sony can make a killer app for them then they may do well (I'm thinking an air guitar version of Guitar Hero or something like that?) but I doubt unless they sell in the millions then they're not going to be supported mainstream.

Still the Microsoft demo was impressive, shame it does seem to be kind of faked.

Mines the one with the Wiimote and PS3 buyers guide in the pocket.

Rob