Hot on the heels of Xbox 360’s amazing motion-sensitive system, Natal, Sony has announced its own motion-sensitive controller to work in conjunction with the PS3 Eye.
The guys at Sony demonstrated the new PS3 motion controller on the stage at E3, and while it wasn’t quite as impressive as the Xbox 360’s Project Natal, it did provide a glimpse of where Sony’s going with motion-controlling.
Whereas Microsoft opted to go without controllers altogether, Sony has introduced us to its motion controller that’s more Wiimote-like in its shape. Sporting fewer buttons than the Wiimote, it also has a glowing sphere on the end of it that the PS3 Eye can track.
Check out Project Natal in action
From the demo shown on stage, using the PS3 motion controller you’ll be able to control onscreen objects as if you were holding them. The obvious analogy was for sports, with various clubs, bats and even Stop signs used to hit virtual tennis balls. With “true 3D pointing” you can also fire guns, or foam darts, or whatever weapons you have to hand in the virtual armoury. All impressive, but we can’t help feeling that we’d have been more impressed had we seen it before last night’s announcement.
One of the most interesting points to come out of the presentation was how you could use two ‘wands’ in conjunction to build virtual worlds, fire virtual bows and arrows, and even write with extreme precision. Will it be as good as Natal? We have our doubts. Better than the Wiimote? Possibly. We’ll find out Spring next year…
Out Spring 2010 | £TBC | Sony
I disagree, there are certain practical requirements that make having a controller more useful. And while throwing invisible cans of paint and posing like an elephant may be fun for the casual crowd at a (drunken) party, for me the PS3 was the only one that showed practical hardcore gaming applications – that thing is incredibly accurate.
Plus the augmented reality aspect of seeing what you’re holding on screen will be a big draw for the casual/kids crowd – that is the type of thing that would make the young ones in my family look beyond the Wii – saying “imagine playing MarioKart but by pretending to hold the wheel instead” I don’t think would appeal to them – especially the youngest who is only 3 – wiggling a controller is a concept any age can understand.
And let’s not forget the crucial factor – Project Natal used some basic ‘proof of concept’ demos and a very flash and very fake “vision” trailer. They said themselves the things in that trailer were made up ides of “where it could go in future”. Much like the original PS Eye E3 show reel (that also included things like hand controlled menus, face recognition, and AI interaction with gesture recognition).
By contrast the PS3 motion controller was real, working really really well (again the accuracy is unbelievable), and given a release date – Spring 2010.
Focusing on the genuine live stage demos of Natal and the PS Motion Controller the PS3 version won hands down…
“Will it be as good as Natal? We have our doubts.”
It’s absolutely better than natal..
Try holding your hands out infront of your body for any length of time..
it’s also clear that Sonys demo was a proper live demo, and Microsofts was scripted and faked.. *with a bloke out back doing the Milo reactions”. according to Kotaku.
Being both a 360 and wii owner I can’t help but to notice that MS and Sony are taking cues from Wii’s innovative initiation lead in motion control. The Big N is truly a creative bunch of folks. Without them we are probably still stuck with controllers for a while.
i have had a look at both quite a bit i believe that the ps3 having an earlier release means any issues may be fixed by natals release so by that time it wont have too many isues
the wii is fighting a losing battle the motion plus has efffect but not overly effectine people that prefer using their body will get natal and harcore gamers will go ps3 leaving wii with those who wont buy anymore accessories and people who like a mix
SONY SONY. SONY. SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY SONY RULE’S
GO MOTION CONTROLLER 
So you’re a Sony fan then?