During our liveblog of Sony E3 2009, I was really impressed with how Sony’s presentation had gone, despite with the shadow of interest in Project Natal that hung overhead in many gamers minds. One of the more surprising revelations was the PS3 Motion Controller (coming in Spring 2010), which was the most precise 1:1 controller we’ve ever seen. It’s like Wii for the PS3 but so much more accurate. Real movements with the controllers are real movements on the screen, and you could be shown with objects in your hand via the Eye camera. Kotaku is reporting on some new details on the functionality of the Motion Controller for the PS3 and we’re humbled by them. I think that this will be a great direction for Sony and I could easily see major IP’s making motion games in Sports, FPS, Action-Adventure categories and so forth. Could 2010 really be the year of the Playstation 3? Could a major player make a huge motion-based hit for Holiday season in 2010? The race is on.
From Kotaku: “SCE pitched the new controller as capable of functioning “with any games across all genres from casual to core.”
On the technical side, SCE says that the PlayStation Eye accessory will come equipped with force feedback rumble. Sony boasts that the “face-tracking and head-tracking capability already in the PS3 SDK” will offer developers “powerful tools for new types of user interaction.”
Sony says its new controller will also work in tandem with the Eye’s built-in microphone array for voice input and voice recognition. Up to four of the new motion controllers can be tracked at once by the PlayStation Eye. Adding the wand controller to games comes at a horsepower cost, Sony notes, writing that the “motion-tracking library has some SPU overhead and has an impact on memory as well, although these will be minimized.”
The developer targeted communication also indicates that Sony is “currently looking into the possibility” of combining motion control wand and stock PS3 controller functions, offering the example of “the motion controller as a sword and use DualShock 3 as a shield.”
