Remember when the Wii came out. Sony tore it apart by saying it was silly to move a remote to a TV. But the white remote sold millions and now Sony has come up with an answer and it’s called the PlayStation Move. A torch shaped black controller with a disco ball on top. It came out on September 15, 2010 and I checked it out.

starter pack

Most customers will likely head to stores just to find a full rack of Move controllers and accessories. And frankly, I think most don’t even know what they need to buy to get the full experience. Well, for those people, including me, Sony released a starter pack with PS eye (required for controller tracking), a motion controller, and a demo disc containing only content that is also available on the PS store. .

I unpacked the box and installed the camera. Conveniently, it also doubles as a headset – great! And the camera allows for fun things like video chatting or taking photos for your game avatar.

The Move driver was equally easy to install. At the bottom is a USB port for connecting and charging the controller, and the buttons have been placed neatly near the glowing ball. New to PlayStation are two buttons, the move button and the activation button. The movement button is often used to select things or calibrate the controller, while the T button is perfect for shooting or dropping objects in a game.

The starter pack is a great move by Sony to get people started. And it is also very competitively priced at just €59.99. To put this in perspective, a Wii remote costs £40 (no camera or drive) and the Microsoft Kinect will ship for a whopping £149.99. But I would have liked to see an alternative starter pack with the navigation controller and charging dock included. They could have called it the “complete package” or something.

Games

The demo disc includes Sony’s sports game with a ton of mini-games, and a couple of independently developed swing titles and some triple A demos like Heavy Rain and Tiger Woods 11. OMG my swing is bad!

Each game starts with a quick calibration session. It’s simple progress, often as easy as aiming the move at the PS eye and pressing a button. However, I wonder why the calibration is necessary every time.

Of the few games I was able to play, I was very impressed with the controller’s precision and reaction. The sports title was a lot of fun. There is a frisbee game and it responds perfectly whether I was throwing backhand or forehand, it also recorded my throw speed and the timing of my throw.

The same goes for the game of table tennis. You can even spin the racket 360° by rotating the controller in your hand. A nice party trick!

The PlayStation Eye camera introduces another element of interaction. This little device comes into its own with Singstar and TV superstars. The latter of which I played a demo. In the game you can make a profile using your own face. By making a “neutral face”, “smiley face” and “angry face”, the game creates your own virtual mini-me that reacts to what happens in the game. It really is a lot of fun and currently ranks #1 on my Christmas dinner entertainment list.

Disadvantages

So the controller is great, as is the camera and all for a competitive price. One might wonder if this product is perfect. Well, the answer to that has to be no, it’s not. First of all, the starter pack alone is not enough to get you going. Most games require two motion controllers or a navigation controller to be worth your while. Add in the costs of this and a docking station, and you’ll easily end up spending over $150 on a set of controllers and accessories.

And the PlayStation Eye is desperately bad at shooting in low light. Use anything but natural light and the camera will go crazy with the ISO count, leading to noise throughout the image. It’s not cool when you’re video chatting with grandma or playing games that project virtual toys in your living room.

conclusion

The PlayStation Move is an amazing controller. It’s very accurate and really breaks down that wall between you and the games you’re playing. Fun for the whole family you could say. Combined with PlayStation eye functionality, one can’t go wrong with Sony’s latest creation. Just be prepared to spend a lot of money on accessories to get the full experience.

playstation motion review