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Sony's Motion Sensing Still Lagging Behind?
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Aug 18, 2006 03:36 PM
from the tacked-on dept.
from the tacked-on dept.
Chris Kohler, over at Wired's Game|Life, had the chance to see an in-production PS3 game in action. He said that, for the most part everything looked great. The one thing that concerned him was the motion-sensing controller that Sony is pushing on developers. From the article: "The developers told us that although we'd be using real PS3 controllers, they didn't yet have the motion-sensing functionality built in. And not only that, although they referred to the build as 'feature-complete,' they did admit that the one feature that was not yet included was (wait for it) motion-sensing, although they did 'have some cool ideas.' There was plenty of speculation after Sony's E3 conference that the motion-sensing functionality was jammed into the controller at the last minute as a reaction to Nintendo's strategy. This was backed up by the Warhawk developers' offhand remarks that they'd implemented motion sensing 'in just a couple weeks'."
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Warhawk and The Dualshake Controller 72 comments
You may recall Warhawk from the Sony conference demo, their flagship 'dualshake' controller product. A few of the news sites have gotten their hands on the game, and have impressions of what it's like to use the PS3 controller with the game. From the Gamespy article: "I was initially very skeptical of how this feature (which looked hastily tacked on to a regular joypad without a rumble) would work, but after a lengthy playtest of WarHawk's 30 percent complete single demo stage, I can safely attest to the excellent maneuverable quality possible from the very first moment you pick up and play. The slight delay at the Sony press conference between Phil Harrison's pivoting, and the on-screen tilting of his rendered joypad meant I was expecting the same problems during my WarHawk piloting. Not so. This works flawlessly, and immediately, and allayed any fears I had that this was a last-minute gimmick designed to tear interest away from the Wii."
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Kirby! (Score:5, Interesting)
Honestly, I *do* believe Sony that they had been considering the technology before this. What I don't believe is that they committed to it prior to Nintendo's announcement. I think that they originally considered whatever Nintendo was working on to be "gimmicks" (the exact word used by Ken Kutaragi at Sony E3), and that raw graphical technology would win the day. They only got worried once they saw the incredibly positive response to Nintendo's new controller.
In the end, I think this may end up harming Sony. Their Dual Shock controller was well liked in part because of its rumble technology. (Also "inspired by" Nintendo.) Now they've replaced this long-established feature with a simple sensor that they've had very little time to test. Which means that it may end up being useless to developers as not enough fore-thought went into it. The result will be a double-blow when the Wii introduces both usable motion sensing technology (powered by a network of sensors rather than just one!) AND rumble in their controllers.
Ouch, Sony. Ouch.
Re:Kirby! (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I can do without vibration, except where games make it a part of play. The nicest thing I can say about it is that I usually don't turn it off. Vibration is probably spectacularly bad for your hands.
But what really destroys the whole concept for me is that having motion sensing built into a gamepad, depending on how it is used, is not necessarily going to be a benefit. It makes a lot more sense built into the Wii's controller, because of the form factor. I have one of the Microsoft gamepads with the tilt and the throttle, and using it sucks. It's way too hard to tilt accurately. Granted, the only thing I've ever tried to use it for was actual control axes, and maybe it would be more useful for something else - but I have a hard time figuring out what.
Parent
Warhawk (Score:2)
Kojima will be using this feature in the new Metal Gear, so I can't wait to see what he does more
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Controller (Score:3, Insightful)
Due to the legal issues with rumble functionallity, I think Sony wanted to add something back in it's place. Tilt motion is as good of a choice as any for 'replacement functionality'. The Wii controller on the other hand will have a lot more issues to deal with. Aspect mapping, distance from screen, and lighting issues affect if the control even works properly. I was told most of the issues for the Wii at E3 were due to not having each control setup f
Re:Kirby! (Score:5, Funny)
I personally think it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for throwing your controller at the TV.
Parent
Re:Kirby! (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
So? (Score:2, Insightful)
If it doesnt work, isnt fun, or is vapourware
Re: (Score:2)
Personally, if it's a uesless feature then I would rather not shell out the money for it.
Re:So? (Score:5, Funny)
But is it skin off your brow?
Parent
It's already a lost cause (Score:5, Interesting)
The only comfortable motion is to tilt the controller, which will basically limit its function to driving games.
Re: (Score:2)
So what? (Score:5, Funny)
bout time (Score:2, Insightful)
$599 for that? (Score:2, Funny)
Hopefully real time weapon change will make up for it.
$500 (Score:2)
Base PS3 is $500. Whats the matter, you so rich you can't complain about THAT price? It's still pretty high, why distort the truth?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
*please mod informative, please mod informative*
The Hardware Is Irrelevant (Score:3, Insightful)
Console controllers should be like mice; there are so many out there and so many different little features, doodads, left-handedness, glowy bits, MightyMice, etc. This is great because you feel like you've got real choice. Everyone can pick something that works best for them because we know all these mice plug into the same USB jack and will work with the computer properly (more or less).
But so far, most of the 3rd party controllers for consoles are cheaper imitations of the originals with BAD gimmicks (autofire). The one's I've really liked have been extremely rare... WaveBird, the NegCon....
Sort of makes you wonder if there will be decent knockoffs of the Wii Remote, actually.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Console controllers are just a little bit more complex than mice. Anyway, third-party controllers don't usually suck because of the gimmicks, but because the primary functionality is sub-par. The joysticks are too sloppy, or the buttons are too hard to press, or the ergonomics are bad, etc. Some
Try Apple... (Score:2)
Yes, but what percentage of games will use that... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Wii's going to have great usage of the motion sensing because EVERYTHING the Wii has done is focused on it, wireless controllers, the nunchuck. The PS3 is a PS2, that doesn't have dual shock, so they had to do something to make it uniuqe.
The problem is if a company X makes a game Y and their plans is for "next gen gameplay" they arn't thinking "dual shake", they are thinking "better graphics, amazing gameplay, for both the 360 and the PS3" Let's not forget that with out the Motion sensing the PS3 is already a harder system to developer for, and expects more out of the developer.
Instead if I have a game that would be very clever on motion sensing system, why would I choose the Ps3 unless I need great graphics (clever games don't need great graphics if they are truely clever). Instead I'd probably choose the Wii, it's around 1/5th of the price for a single dev kit, the controller is built for motion sensing, as well as the nunchuck, if I want two sensors, and the system has more motion sensing than the other.
As for those saying that it's a good idea I leave you with this idea. Nintendo has developed the idea for years, Sony had the idea, developed it, stopped developing it, saw nintendo's version, and then has pushed it in the system spec and controller the last weeks before E3. That doesn't mean they weren't thinking about it but if they were actively pursuing it the developer would have some version of motion sensing even if it wasn't a very accurate one long before E3. Sony is last minuting this idea in because they are constantly second guessing themselves now. And that's what's going to destroy Sony, not their decisions but second guessing their decisions.
Re:PS3 vs Wii (Score:5, Insightful)
I like this video very much, but to paint the PS3 as "not sexy" seems kinda flawed. It is very sexy. Just very expensive and demanding. A more apt analogy would be a "rich bitch" type, representing the PS3, with a "girl next door" representing the Wii. Both are hot, but one is super annoying, is always spouting shit, and requires you to spend vast amounts of money to even consider any sort of interaction. The other however, is cool, down to earth and ready to have fun. Right now. And she's fine with just hangin' out.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, and she's also 12 years old.
(Kidding, kidding...)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Ah, but for that to work with my analogy, Anna Nicole Smith would have to be considered in some way sexy. Which is, of course, just rediculous.