Standing room only as Sony elbows in with Motion Controller for PS3
by Stevie Smith - Jun 3 2009, 15:00
All three console giants now have viable motion control systems. Image: jontintinjordan/Flickr.
With its SIXAXIS controller largely failing to impress both PlayStation 3 owners and software developers alike, Sony Corp. has this week used its E3 Expo keynote as a platform for once again taking aim at the implementation of motion-sensing gameplay technology.
Nintendo’s Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Balance Board controllers may have the motion-sensing market cornered at this point, but with Microsoft’s ambitious Project Natal pedalling complete controller-free interaction, it was perhaps hardly a surprise to see Sony keeping pace with the pack via its newly unveiled Motion Controller for PS3.
Designed to work alongside existing PlayStation Eye camera technology and expected to hit retail in the first quarter of 2010, the prototype Motion Controller for PS3 that Sony waggled beneath the E3 spotlight is reminiscent of Nintendo’s Wii Remote and translates user movement into gameplay via a sensor system that sits atop the user’s television.
During a lengthy tech demo, the system’s developers showcased a selection of the technology’s potential strengths, including 1:1 movement interaction enabling users to accurately wield and interact with a variety of virtual world items such as a pistol, a bow and arrow, a baseball bat, a tennis racquet and also ink pens and cans of spray paint.
Sony’s Motion Controller for PS3 was created by a team of engineers headed by Dr. Richard Marks, who is also responsible for the EyeToy camera peripheral first introduced on the hugely popular PlayStation 2 console.
“We want this to be a great casual gamers’ experience, but we also want to enable some more gamers’ games,” commented Dr. Marks in a BBC report. “We think this would be a great experience too.”
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