Playstation Move Review

Well Sony's motion controlled peripheral has finally hit the market, and I've had some time to sit down and get accustomed to it. Is it just a Wii clone? If Sony has anything to say about it, then were looking at the future of gaming. Read on for my review.

Developer: Sony

Released: September 17th, 2010

The Hardware

Let's start off with what's offered. The starter bundle ($100 US) contains a single motion controller, the Playstation eye, a Move demo disc, and a copy of Sports Champions. Additional motion controllers are $50US, and navigation controllers are $30US each. There is also a PS3 bundle with a 320gb PS3, motion controller, Playstation eye, Move demo disc, and Sport's Champions for $400US.

Once I got home I got everything charged (I would suggest charging the controller(s) for a bit before use), and calibrated. We were now up and running, and I have to say, Sony did not stretch the truth. This is true 1:1 motion control, not a Wii clone. I was simply amazed after years of playing the Wii just how accurate this was. The Playstation eye uses the glowing ball on the end of the Move controller to track it's movement precisely, and in real time. It also has body tracking (think "Kinect") to a degree. So in a way you're getting the best of both worlds.

The controller itself has a non-replaceable litium-ion battery, and needs to be charged via the Move charging station ($30US) or the standard Playstation controller charger. The battery in the Move controller seems to last anywhere from 8-10 hours for me, where the Nav controller still has yet to die (I would say it's been in use between 20-25 hours).

One thing that annoyed me a bit was the lack of anything to actually hold my Playstation eye in place (it has nothing on the bottom to "stick" it into place like the Wii sensor bar). For the first night I had to use packing tape to keep the bugger up there. Then when I went to the store to find some form of mounting device, I had to drop another $12.99US for Sony's branded "mounting clip". A small price to pay, but extra money out of this consumer's pocket.

The Software

The launch line-up leaves a lot to be desired. I would say Sony dropped the ball a little on this one. With Sports Champions, RE:5 Gold, and Tiger Woods 11 being the exceptions, I really feel everything I have played so far from the demo disc would not be worth $40US. Tumble is fun however, and so is Planet Mini-Golf (my girlfriend loves it). For $10US on the Playstation Network, these are definitely worth the buy in my opinion.

Included in Sports Champions are 6 mini games, Archery, Gladiator Duel, Bocce Ball, Volley Ball, Disc Golf, and Table Tennis. The precision of the motion control is beyond anything I have ever played before. I'll use Table Tennis as an example; when you step forward, so does your paddle, same with stepping back. Your on screen character even switches his or her stance when you do. The paddle also followed exactly what I was doing on screen 1:1, I was amazed. There's no "waggle to win" here.

RE:5 Gold is something else I wanted to mention, it is killer accurate. I won't go to far into the subject, but it's definitely worth the extra $30US for the Navigation controller to try out if you're into Resident Evil.

Another good thing Sony did here was include a demo for pretty much anything upcoming for move on either the demo disc, or the Playstation Network. This way you can give anything you want a quick go, and know if it's something you'd be interested in.

What I would call "The real test" for hardcore gamers wondering if Move could be a viable platform will be coming soon. With Killzone 3 (Feb 2011), Socom 4 (2011), M.A.G. (was patched last week), and Gran Turismo 5 (Nov 2011) all promising Move support, we will get to see if Sony's tech can live up to the hardcore demographic.

My Final Thoughts

Playstation Move is definitely not for gamers on a budget. The whole controller setup does come in $10US cheaper then the Wii, but is still very costly for the poor amount of software out at the moment.

The hardware is simply amazing though, and cannot be compared to the Wii (even with Motion Plus). You will not find anything else this accurate from the competition yet.

If you have the cash, by all means it's worth the purchase, but don't expect to much good software in the upcoming months.

8.5/10