Sony announced they like to move it move it today at GDC when it unveiled the new motion controller, the PlayStation Move. While it at first looks like a black Wii controller with a lightbulb screwed into the top of it, the device is actually pretty cool.
Using the PlayStation Eye, the camera that you probably don’t already own, Move allows gamers more precise motion controls than we’ve experienced before. It can read your movements in three dimensions, and it looks like it works really well. It sounds like this is a really functional next step for motion controls, pretty much invalidating the Wii, but not taking as crazy a leap as the unproven Project Natal. Oh, and that “light sphere” on top of the controller? It changes colors.
It looks like players can expect to use any combination of one Move controller, one Move controller and a sub-controller, or two Move controllers. The sub-controller looks to be exactly like the Wii Nunchuck, except wireless, so it can never actually be a nunchuck. The sub-controller has two triggers, a d-pad, an analog stick, the X and O buttons, and the PlayStation button. The Move controller has a trigger, start and select buttons on the sides, X, O, square and triangle, along with a PlayStation button and what appears to be a Move button.
Sony showed off a couple of games, starting with Sports Champions, probably Move’s version of Wii Sports, which has a sword and shield gladiator mode. There’s another game called Move Party, where you are intended to use Move at a party. SOCOM 4 will use Move and the sub-controller. And there’s a fighting game called Motion Fighters. LittleBigPlanet will be update for Move support, as will EyePet.
There will be three ways to get move later this year. You can get the controller alone, with an Eye (for less than $100) or with an Eye and a PS3 (for probably a lot more than $100).