14 DAY TRIAL // It might not yet have an official name and the details might still be a little sketchy but Sony is eager to talk about the new motion controlling wand that is planned to be released towards the end of spring 2010.
The Japanese company is saying that its solution will be better suited to the needs of both hardcore gamers and more casual users of the PlayStation 3 than the motion control elements, which the Nintendo Wii has, and the Xbox 360 is going to get with the release of Project Natal, later in 2010.
John Koller, the executive in charge of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, told GamePro magazine that “We look at motion control as being that much more than what exists on the market. The Holy Grail of gaming is placing you as a consumer into the game physically. When we provide further details, people will see exactly where we're going, not only from a technological standpoint on the hardware, but also where the gameplay is transitioning. It's going to be a really exciting launch.”
The Sony system is based around a camera that has the ability to track a wand, which is topped by a sphere. The variations in dimension that it suffers as it moves in the environment can be translated into inputs for the PlayStation 3 and will allow gamers to control the actions in videogames.
The big weakness, which is shared by Project Natal and the Sony wand, is that no one has yet announced clear games set to work with the new solutions. Ubisoft has claimed that it is developing both casual and hardcore titles with motion tracking in mind, but it has not named any names. With both solutions set to arrive in 2010, the interest of players cannot be sustained if big franchises do not adopt the new motion tracking peripherals.