Will it Move you?

PS3 opinion by Sean Kelley on 5th July 2010

With the PlayStation Move officially dated and priced a couple weeks ago at E3, I find myself still wondering exactly who the product was designed for. The obvious answer would be everyone: core gamers, casual players, Wii owners and even non-gamers. Without an obvious, specific target audience, the Move runs the risk of not selling to anyone.

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Ever since the Move was announced last year it has appeared Sony was happy enough to bill the new control system as simply a ‘Wii HD’. Earlier in the year, Senior VP of Marketing and PlayStation Network, Peter Dille, said, “We like to think the migration path from the Wii household to the PlayStation 3 household is a pretty natural path.” At this point Sony seemed content to play it safe with their motion controller; after all, if it worked for Nintendo it could work for them too, right?

Over the course of E3, and the Game Developer’s Conference earlier in the year, Sony has shown off a number of titles that could theoretically appeal to these existing Wii households, highlighted by the motion sports knockoff Sports Champions. Along with that there were the obvious mini game collections, party titles and light gun games that have been synonymous with the Wii, but none of them have the charm of a Wii Sports – save for possibly EyePet. As much as people bought the Wii for the novelty of motion controls, or even the fad, Nintendo’s simple, elegant design philosophy cannot be overlooked as the driving force behind the console’s success. To put it bluntly, Sports Champions is to Wii Sports, as PlayStation Home is to Nintendo’s Miis. Both Home and Champions are adequate applications, but each feel lifeless when lined up next to Nintendo’s whimsical alternatives.

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I also think Sony greatly overestimates the Wii household’s desire to ‘upgrade’ and join the HD revolution. The mere fact these gamers bought a Wii over a PlayStation 3 - or an Xbox 360 for that matter - to begin with illustrates their apathy towards high end graphics and sound. Along the same thought, many of these same players are likely oblivious to the imprecision found with the stock WiiMote, which means the supposedly 1:1 nature of the PlayStation Move isn’t going to sway them.

On the other end of the spectrum we find the core gamers, many of whom hate the Wii blindly, doubting the entire concept of motion controls. Sony’s answer to these resistant players seems to consist almost exclusively of franchises we’ve all played - and enjoyed - with a controller: Killzone 3, SOCOM 4, Gran Turismo 5 and LittleBigPlanet 2; each of which will ship with Move support, but not require it. Or simply patch pre-existing titles such as Heavy Rain and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. Implementing motion controls into existing properties is a dicey proposition; players who have followed the various series through multiple PlayStation formats are likely to resist a new control scheme. You can look at Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds as a viable example, it introduced Advanced Shot as an alternative control scheme to the classic HSG mechanics and appears to have been widely ignored. Players claim to like innovation, but they’re mostly happy to absorb the same core experiences time and time again from the franchises they love - Move support is a far more radical shake up than Advanced Shot.

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Sony isn’t completely oblivious to their current audience’s resistance to motion gaming and that is why the PlayStation Move won’t be required for all their new franchises. Obviously if it were a necessity they’d run the risk of alienating millions of Sony gamers the world over, but not going Move only has its own potential shortcomings. When SOCOM 4 was unveiled around GDC as the first ‘hardcore’ game to support the Move, developer Zipper commented that it had only taken them “a couple of days” to implement their motion controls; this raises a red flag. SOCOM 4 looks like the prototype for Sony’s first-party core game strategy in tandem with the Move: design the game you were intending on, but make sure it supports motion controls. This point was punctuated at the tail end of the E3 2010 Killzone 3 demonstration, when the presentation briefly teased full Move compatibility. I get the point of this strategy, by shipping their traditional ‘AAA’ core titles with full Move integration they are putting motion controlled games in core gamers’ hands, hoping they’ll be curious and buy a Move to see how it holds-up. The problem is these games are not being designed specifically with the PlayStation Move in mind. I’m not getting excited to play SOCOM 4 or Killzone 3 with a wand in hand; I’m simply excited to play SOCOM 4 and Killzone 3. Period.

The greatest hurdle the peripheral will have to overcome is its recently unveiled pricing structure, which is inhibitive to both PlayStation owners and potential adopters. The Move wand will come in three announced varieties: by itself for $49, with a PlayStation Eye and Sports Champions for $99, or bundled with a PlayStation 3, the Eye and Sports Champions for $399. Outside of those options you can also buy the optional – but preferable – Navigation sub-controller for an additional $29. This bundle and pricing structure isn’t conducive to either side of the market.

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For the existing PlayStation owners we’re catered to with the à la carte Move or the Sports Champions bundle, but neither holds much appeal. If you buy the Move on its own you still have to buy the PlayStation Eye separately, and if you buy the bundle you’re stuck with Sports Champions. Not having an alternative bundle for ‘core’ gamers, with either SOCOM 4 or Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, makes the purchase an incredibly hard sell. You’re getting into the $130 range just to get the required Move setup, along with a new game you might actually want to play.

As for those cherished Wii households, they’re looking at spending over $400 to upgrade to a ‘Wii HD’, or more clearly, the price of two Wiis. Sony has been touting its increased momentum ever since the release of the slim last fall, along with the price drop to $300, but once again they’ve pushed the price of admission far out of reach for many potential gamers. $400 is a lot of money, and if you’re really considering a PlayStation 3 to replace your Wii you’ll need the extra Moves, as well as sub-controllers, or DualShock 3s, which remember, don’t come cheap.

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Although it’s still more than two and a half months until launch, the PlayStation Move already feels like an afterthought, rather than an initiative. The premier batch of titles don’t have the snappy mass market design that Nintendo has perfected, while the games for us, the gamers, are all places we’ve been several times before. To successfully launch a new accessory, or hardware, there needs to be a killer app, not only something that utilizes it, but defines it. If Sony really wanted to position the Move to succeed, Sorcery would ship day and date alongside it, and it would have been priced a whole lot more aggressively.

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About the author

Sean Kelley is an Associate Editor at Thunderbolt, having joined in April 2008. See more of his work at Negative Press and check out his web comic, Roy’s Boys. Get in touch on Twitter @_seankelley.

Comments

DustinM
5th July 2010

I fall into the demographic of gamers who are thoroughly unimpressed by motion controls. I guess I’d consider myself old school since I prefer holding a controller with analog sticks and buttons that I don’t have flail around like a dummy just to swing a sword or spin in a circle.

I own all of the current gen consoles as well as a good majority of past gen consoles, and I play my Wii the least of everything due to the motion controls. I do, however, enjoy the games that utilize the Classic Controller. Maybe I’m at the age where when I get home from work I just prefer to relax and play a game rather than get up and dance around and flail my arms.

I currently have no plans to purchase the Move seeing as there haven’t been any games shown for it that I really want to play, other than like you said-Killzone 3 (not so much for Socom) which I will inevitably play with the Dualshock 3. I will not purchase the Move out of curiosity either as I will not support something that I don’t want to be a growing fad for hardcore games/consoles. I don’t want to be partly responsible for the Playstation 4 coming out with only a Move controller and no other alternative, since that is likely happen if too many people buy into this Move crap.

The only way I would buy a Move is if it’s discontinued and there are no plans to release it again in the future. Then I would buy it to collect as a part of gaming history that has failed. So I reeeally hope that I get to buy one in the future…

I will say, however, that the Move does look a whole lot better than Kinect. There is literally no good way to play any game that doesn’t involve dancing or talking to fake animals. Everything else will pretty much have to be an “on rails” experience. But, like the Wii, I’m sure it will sell to families and small children and make it somewhat successful since success in this motion control genre is based on profits and not on the ability to please the gamers who have poured out thousands and thousands of dollars over the past decade or two to put Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft on the map. We’re not the ones these companies should be catering to. We’ve only been their dedicated, long-time, repeat customers that don’t buy into a gimmick as a one-time deal and then move on to something else and forget about them.
Sean
5th July 2010

That’s a pretty interesting and especially pessimisitc view on motion controls :P In general I’m not a huge fan of them as well, but I’m open to them existing in addition to our existing, classic control scheme.

If the price is right though, I could see myself buying one out of curiosity. I own Heavy Rain and can imagine it working well that.
Josh Kramer
5th July 2010

I agree with every single thing DustinM said. I love the precision that can be reached with traditional game controls and analog sticks - I remember back in the day when everyone thought a mouse and keyboard FPS player would always beat a game controller user, and then Quake III released for the DC and people using the controller would stick it to people playing on the PC.

Almost everyone I know who are what you might label “hardcore gamers,” barely shake or move the Wii controller when playing a game. They try to do the least amount of work possible (instead of flailing their arms to swing a sword or whatnot) to propel the on-screen action, but a wrist flick will never be easier than moving your thumb 1mm downward to push a button.

Game controllers have undergone a 2-decade long evolutionary process to get to the current state of near perfection in terms of comfort, ergonomics, and button placement - why throw all that to the side? And, no, motion controls are not another link in the current controllers’ evolutionary chain - at this point they are at the start of a whole new evolutionary process.

The only way I see myself playing and enjoying a motion control based game is if it’s something like Star Successor - in other words an on rails shooter in the vain Panzer Dragoon where you point at the TV and shoot (and don’t have to worry too much about complete character freedom within the environment).

To sum up with an example: I borrowed Okami for the Wii from a friend and really liked the way you use the Astral Brush to whip out shapes and characters with the wiimote. But everything else is horrific in terms of controls: ponderous camera controls (no 2nd analog stick to adjust) and imprecise controller shaking method of attacking (destroys the original version’s tight, snappy combat).

For me, the whole motion control fade is like a slowly creeping virus that is spreading across the game industry, unleashed by companies that want to earn a few extra dollars when Grandma Betsy picks up a wiimote to swing a mallet at cartoon rabbits. It’s a creeping death that is slowing poisoning an industry that I thought I’d love and back till I was, ironically, an old man.
DustinM
5th July 2010

Haha, yes.. I’m particularly pessimistic when it comes to motion controls. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I’ve yet to play anything using motion controls that has truly been an amazing gaming experience or the fact that for the past 20 years of me playing games, I have been using traditional controllers.

If I see something that utilizes the Move in a way that I can see myself really having a unique experience, I might just consider it. Kinect, though.. that’s going to be a tough sell for me.

With that said, great article. I really enjoy your stuff.
Sean
5th July 2010

Your Astral Brush and controller evolution comment goes with what I am saying though, I don’t see a console future controlled exclusively with motion controls, but rather a market that can cater to two drastically different markets. Pretty much like it is now, actually.

I never thought I’d be the one defending motion controls ;)
exxbot
5th July 2010

will it Move us?

hell yeah!

PS 3D mouse Move FTW!
Anthony
5th July 2010

I was just curious: do any PS3 games use the sixaxis motion controls anymore?
Sean
5th July 2010

Occasionally, but it’s generally rare and the uses are usually kept to a minimum. A recent example would be Planet Minigolf, which came out a month ago, uses Sixaxis controls to steer your ball in certain situations.

No games use it exclusively anymore though.
Josh Kramer
5th July 2010

We can thank Lair for that. And I mean that with absolutely zero sarcasm. Thank you Lair!!
Jesse
5th July 2010

I for one am excited for move. the only reason ppl have doubts is because of all the shovelware on the wii. i think playing a game like killzone with move is actually more hardcore for the same reason many ppl consider a mouse and keyboard more hardcore: precision. i can move my arm from one side of the screen to the other faster than using a joystick. if games can replicate life doesnt that make them more hardcore? this i the vr we have all been waiting for slowly starting to come to fruition, but at the end of the day its every persons own decison, but i just say dont knock it before you try it.
Sean
5th July 2010

I’m interested in trying Killzone with a Move certainly, my main concern is that it isn’t designed specifically for it. I feel like the optimal control solution will remain a DualShock 3 - I assume there will still be some issue with camera control using a Move.

“if games can replicate life doesnt that make them more hardcore?”

This is an interesting thought, but I’m not sure that I agree. I think hardcore is more readily defined as a game that has enough meat/depth that you can really get into. Replicating reality doesn’t inherently add depth, it certainly can be used to do so but it has to be designed and implemented properly.
Dazzel
5th July 2010

I consider myself to be a core gamer, we have all three current gen consoles and to be honest I’ve played the Wii and have always been pretty unimpressed, mainly due to the inaccuracy of the controls and the fact that the only games it seems to do well are party games for the casual gamer. I hear a lot of comments saying core gamers would not be interested in Move, but I disagree, I think this could be very popular among the core demographic, as has been said in previous comments people want accurate responsive controls and from what I saw at E3 and my experience with the Wii the Move is only motion control system that comes close to that, with true 1:1 tracking and minimal response time this could make for a system the core gamer could use for more than the occasional party game, let’s face it how many shooters on the Wii are actually worth talking about?, so for existing PS3 users (quite a lot of which already have the PS Eye camera) who don’t particularly want to play party games all the time, but like the idea of an accurate motion control system which they can use for the the more mainstream games that they regularly play I’d say it looks mighty tempting
Sean
5th July 2010

I don’t mean to undermine your comment completely, but I think far less people have a PlayStation Eye than you surmise. I have 40 people on my PSN friend list and I can think of maybe 2 that own one.

On the shooters for Wii thing though, do you really think it’s so much that the the Wii has had bad - inacurate shooters - or that the people that make shooting games understand that market owns PCs, 360s and PS3s. I heard wonderful things about Prime 3, Red Steel 2 and one of the Medal of Honor Wii games. As much as innaccuracy comes into play, I think it has as much to do with the talent of the developers using the hardware, finding the optimal way to use the motion controls.
chad
6th July 2010

With move i will have more precice and realistic control in games. So, yes, the move very much moves me.
moveit
6th July 2010

Heavy Rain alone is worth the price of the move eye and nav controllers to me.
con
6th July 2010

Move offers 1:1, realtime, realistic precision control. Lets face it this the future of game control and this is how game in a 1st person pov should been played from. And it will open up hardcore 1st person games up to more then just shooting.
percent
6th July 2010

The Playstation Move is going to change gaming for the better and the only people that seem to not realize that are people that are too lazy and/or out of shape to move more then their thumbs and fingers around.
DustinM
6th July 2010

@percent: That’s a pretty harsh and unfounded generalization. I’m in shape, I exercise, I eat right, but when I play video games I try to relax and have fun just sitting and pressing buttons. And I’m more than positive I’m not the only one like that.
move=truehardcore
6th July 2010

@ DustinM: Percent said lazy an/OR out of shape. I guess if your in shape that puts you in the former. Because, after all, one mans “relaxation” is another mans laziness. And also if you find time to work out then i don’t see why using a next gen controller would be too much for you.
Philip Morton
6th July 2010

Motion control is too much effort for my liking. When I play games, I just want to relax and move as little as possible. The thought of coming home from work to a game where you have to wave around a controller for hours on end isn’t appealing.

I can see how it could be attractive for some people in a few games, but as the dominant control mechanism? I can’t see it.
Josh Kramer
7th July 2010

I’m pretty sure you can’t label all people who like to watch movies as either lazy or fat. If Sony came out with a spaz-o-vision feature for their blu-ray releases, where you have to mimic the actor’s motions as the movie plays out, I’d say, wow, what a horrendous waste of money.

I’m not gonna go all the way and say Move is a horrendous waste of money, but I’m definitely leaning more in that direction than the other.
dave
7th July 2010

You shouldn’t label people that watch movies as fat or lazy because videogames are about INTERACTION and movies aren’t. Simple as that. And if you take a positive step forward like move and try and turn it into a negative simply based on you being too lazy to use it then you are…well…LAZY!!!.
evom
7th July 2010

lol. If sony put out a feature that let you mash around on buttons for points while watching a movie do you think that be worth $50?.
fuel
7th July 2010

@ DustinM, Philip Morton, Josh Kramer

You really AREN’T doing a good job proving that people who are anti next-gen controllers aren’t lazy!!!. If you look at what your saying its just basically how you think next gen controllers are a “waste of time” because you are too lazy to use them no matter how much they add to the experience.
Ted
7th July 2010

“lol. If sony put out a feature that let you mash around on buttons for points while watching a movie do you think that be worth $50?.”

Nope. All i want to do while watching a movie is watch the movie and not push buttons or anything thing else. but, on the other hand, if i am playing a videogame it should be the most precise, immerse and 1:1 experience it can be and i see move as the only way for that. Last gen controllers are just that: last gen and move is the next gen of game control.
Sean
7th July 2010

@ fuel:

I don’t think their intention is to prove anyone wrong about laziness, their general intent is just to say that they would prefer to play a via pads and buttons. That’s stemmed from the fact we’ve played games for a long time in that manner, because it works.

I’m inclined to play games in those manners as well until I’ve experienced something that needs to be played with motion controls. Not something that merely functions, but a title that is truly enhanced by it.
Philip Morton
7th July 2010

There’s nothing wrong with being lazy. :P

If you want videogames to be an aerobic exercise, then fine, but I’d rather just sit down and use a controller.
DustinM
7th July 2010

@Sean:
Exactly. Our preference is to use traditional controllers since that’s what we’ve grown up with and are comfortable with. And when you(fuel, move=truehardcore, whoever else) generalize “laziness” as one who prefers to sit and push buttons to play a game you are implying that everyone who has been playing console/pc games since the beginning would be lazy regardless of how they spend the rest of their day.

If someone lives a sedentary life and wants to really kick it up a notch to get up and move their arms to play a game, then go right ahead. I’m just saying I’d prefer to relax in my downtime, and if my 1-2 hours a day on average of gaming makes me a lazy person, then I must be lazy. :P