Hands on with the Sony Move

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Will the Sony Move catch on?

Yes, it's the future

No, controllers are better

Maybe, but it'll never top the Wii

Motion controllers will only ever be a niche thing

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A press photo showing the Sony Move motion controller.

The Sony Move motion controller.

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Sony finally unveiled its PlayStation 3 motion controller at the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco last night, dubbing it the PlayStation Move. 

Sony claims the Move will provide a "precise, responsive and ultra-sensory" experience far superior to any other motion control gaming system in existence. That includes the Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's up and coming Project Natal system for the Xbox 360.

After my hands-on testing of the Move last night, I wouldn't be surprised if those claims ring true. It's best to think of the Move as a major leap advance in the motion-control gaming system that Sony started with the PlayStation Eye.

But whereas the PlayStation Eye suffered from a huge lack of depth perception and less precision than a Vietnam War airstrike, the addition of the Move allows the system to track your movements accurately and smoothly.

In a preview of an upcoming street fighting game called Motion Fighters, I could sway my head left or right to avoid punches and use two Move controllers - one in each hand - to unleash jabs, uppercuts, body blows and hooks. The Eye uses the sensors in the Move to determine what stance your character is standing in, allowing you to change mid-fight if you want.

As well as the array of punches, Motion Fighters allowed me to grab my opponent, put them in a headlock and then punch them repeatedly. I could even perform a spinning elbow attack, although it got slightly dangerous with a throng of international press in close proximity.

The controller's button layout includes a shoulder button, start, select, and the usual four PlayStation action buttons (eg. X and O). It features vibrating Dual Shock, and its 3D position and orientation tracking sensors can even pick up rotation in your wrists, allowing you to do amazing things like imparting accurate topspin in table tennis games.

For those concerned about colour coordination, the glowing sensor globe at the top of the controller has an RGB LED inside, allowing you to change it to suit your taste. Some games will even change it to suit your weapon or magic spell (it may change to orange for a fireball), or in social drawing games, it might change to the colour of the paint you dip it into.

Two obvious omissions on the PlayStation Move controller are the lack of a mini joystick or arrow keys found on conventional PlayStation controllers. That prevents you from moving a character around in the conventional way during a first person shooter.

To get around this probem, Sony has designed an accessory called the PlayStation Move Sub Controller, featuring the arrow keys missing on the Move. It can be held in a gamer's free hand and was demonstrated on a pre-release version of Socom 4 working in combination with the primary Move held in the other hand.

The Nintendo Wii does a similar thing with its Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller combination, but the Wii's precision is lacking compared to Sony's new system. Project Natal, which operates using just a camera and no controllers at all, has been hyped as the future of motion control gaming, but Sony predictably says it will struggle to provide the same precision.

PlayStation Move researcher Anton Mikhailov said Project Natal was unlikely to be able to provide the same depth as the Move could detect with its advanced controller-based sensors.

"Maybe in 50 years when body tracking is superb it might work, but I'll still want a controller in my hand to feel like a gun when I play a shooter."

Sony said the PlayStation Move would begin retailing worldwide in the fourth quarter of this year. In the US it will initially retail for US$100 for a Move controller, PlayStation Eye and PS3 game, but no New Zealand pricing or package deals have yet been confirmed.