Sony's biggest announcement at this years Game Developers Conference 2010, was their motion controller, now with an official name. It's called "Move" and I think that's a great name, but "Arc" would have been more unique. I'm going to write a summary of what happen during Sony's press event.Below are some of the highlights from GDC 2010.
Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide studios was excited to share the official unveiling of the PS motion controller and its games. They'll later show some of the games available during the device's Fall launch window. People will be able to try them out after the presentation. The type of games they can create with it are amazingly diverse, it's Precise, Responsive and Ultra sensory. PlayStation Move is announced as the official title of the device.
Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing and PSN discusses the PS3's momentum this year, with the price reduction and game like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves giving the system a big push. The system experienced a 50% growth in software sales in 2009 (versus 2008), but Sony isn't content with that. Dille describes MAG and Heavy Rain as innovative products that continue to push the PlayStation brand. He also thank the press for giving Heavy Rain a chance and some glowing reviews. Other examples trotted out to prove Sony's success: MLB 2K10 and a "little" product called God of War III. He says that Gran Turismo 5 will ship this year, and it will be worth the wait.
On to PlayStation Move: "It's fast, precise, and accurate." It also seems to be sporting two separate pieces, including a nunchuck-like component to be held in your alternate hand. The "starter" kit will start under $100, that's one PlayStation Eye, a game, and the PlayStation Move. Advantages of the technology? Accuracy and precision, which translate to a more exciting challenge for the gamer, Dille says. A fighting game is being shown, another game translates movements with both devices to a bow-and-arrow game, and another clip shows two players going at it in table tennis. Ah, here's the obligatory golf game. Sword and shield action game is shown. Another montage reveals a lightgun-esque shooter, a dancing game and what appears to be some first-person horror game, where the Move functions as a flashlight.
Next up is Scott Rohde, VP of Worldwide Studios. He was there to demonstrate the precision of the PlayStation Move, both "fast and subtle" motions. Sports Champions is shown, which has a sub-game called Gladiator Duel. Both are working titles. It's an arena fighting game. He moves his right hand to swing a mace, and can do attacks at various heights. The movements appear quite responsive in the game, even if the fighting appears a little rote and simplistic. He swings both his arms upwards, which initiates a jumping attack. Next up is Sports Champions: Table Tennis and it looks a lot like Sony's take on Wii Sports. A game called Move Party is shown. The game looks like a silly party game, right now, you could see someone wield a razor and cut a cartoon character's wool hair. They showed a LittleBigPlanet demo, there's new material in the game that will interact with the Move. You point at the screen and maneuver the material to create a bridge or a ramp. It seems that if an object is made of the material, you can pick it up and move it around on the screen. Motion Fighters (working titles) features "next-gen graphics and speed," apparently. The Eye detects where you are in 3D space, and each controller mimics your arms' motions. Dodging, punching and ... dirty moves. These motions are pretty violent, he's locking someone's neck under his arm and wailing on the poor man's head with the other arm.
There're an additional accessory for the Move called the "PlayStation Move Navigation Controller". You can play through SOCOM 4 if you have this thing. You can take cover and aim quite efficiently with the Move. Aim seems to benefit the most, obviously. The tech was integrated into the game with very little overhead, apparently.Peter Dille returned to the stage and said that virtually every third-party publisher will support the Move, including Activision, Capcom, WB Games, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Ubisoft, EA, Disney, Konami, Sega, Crave and Tecmo Koei. In addition, 36 publishers and third-party developers will support it, and according to a press release, in fiscal year 2010, SCE Worldwide Studios will also release more than 20 games that are either dedicated to or supported with the PlayStation Move platform.
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