Introduction

Recently Sony released their Playstation Move, a motion controller built to compete with the Nintendo Wii. At first glance it looks like a total Wii rip off but when you get into it yoiu will see that it is so much more.

Pros

• Nice feel in the hand
• Accurate
• Fun to play with
• Reasonably priced

Cons

• Not a huge games library yet
• Australian version doesn't include the full game of Sports Champions unlike the US version

Review

Unfortunately, the starter pack only came with a demo disk but it did give me an excellent idea of what the Move could do. Playing a game such as Tumble where the player is required to use the controller to move blocks around and stack them on top of each other gives an excellent idea of the accuracy of the Move controller. The blocks can be moved around with pinpoint accuracy and due to depth perception the block can be moved forward and backward as well. The only thing limiting you is if you have shaky hands as every single vibration you make with your hand will translate into the game. While playing games like Sports Champions  the apotential the move had could really be seen. Imagine Wii sports but with decent graphics and a more accurate controller. Playing sports is a lot more fun on the PS3 as opposed to the Wii because the controller is alot more accurate. This can be seen in table tennis where small movements and twists of your hand allows you to spin the ball just as it would in real life. On the Wii I have noticed that many people play the games simply by shaking their hand randomly. This is a way of tricking the system which is impossible on the PS3.

So far the games library is incredibly small though and the fact that some games require two move controllers to be played can be a dealbreaker as it requires forking out $70 for an extra controller. On top of this the little navigation controller also costs an extra $50 each. It can become quite a significant investment especially if you have more than one player. I would hold out for some better deals in the Christmas season where you might get a free game thrown in but overall it is a pretty awesome addition to any PS3 and it is completely worth it. More games will come out over time since the technology is very new.

I had a go at the new Playstation Move today and I must say I wasn't really sure what to expect. I have a lot of friends who have a Nintendo Wii and when visiting them, I thought it was really cool but they said it gets incredibly boring after a little while. The main problem being that the games are for little kids. The Playstation move has a pretty good selection of games out right now and I played both Sports Champions and Start the Party. Sports Champions seems like such a rip off of Wii Sports but after playing it, I noticed it was so much better. Firstly, the graphics are very impressive and it really immerses you in the game as opposed too Wii's cartoonish, childish graphics. Secondly, as many of you know, the Move controller is supposed to be more accurate than the Wii's. This accuracy makes a huge difference to the game experience, for example when playing table tennis, your movements exactly match that of playing the real game. Tilting your hand slightly will allow you to put more spin on it etc. A large problem with the Wii controller was the fact that you could easily cheat with it. You can just randomly wiggle your wrist and you will get a good score. The accuracy of the Move means you cannot do this anymore. As well as this, the vibration of the Move controller adds another aspect of depth to the gameplay. When hitting a ball, you can actually feel the ball hitting your racket making the game seem very realistic.

Overall, the Move is an excellent system and offers considerable advantages over the Wii controller, which it is quite obviously trying to compete with. However, I don't think that people will be switching from Wii to Playstation but rather, Playstation owners will have motion controls added to games to add more gameplay features for existing owners. The starter pack is also a great deal, including everything you need. Unfortunately the game included in the starter pack is merely a collection of demos rather than full games so don't get confused by the term starter disc. You still need to buy a game!

New Xbox 360

Microsoft will release a smaller, redesigned Xbox 360 console in Australia on July 1 featuring built-in wireless networking support and an internal, removable 250GB hard drive.

Don Mattrick, Xbox Senior Vice President, says the new console is "sleeker, smaller and whisper-quiet". It will cost $449 in Australia.

Microsoft's unveiled the redesigned machine at its press conference today at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, the first official event of this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 is the biggest annual event on the world's gaming calendar.

The 90-minute presentation was evenly split between hardcore games designed to keep existing Xbox 360 fans glued to their consoles, and new motion-sensing games for the Kinect add-on, which Microsoft hopes can attract a wider audience to their system.

Kinect, which was previously known by the code-name Project Natal, will launch on November 4 in the US and before Christmas in Australia. Around 15 titles will be available at launch.

“For lots of people, that controller is a barrier,” says Microsoft creative director Kudo Tsunoda. “We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls.”

Read the Full Story

In my opinion, the Kinect seems like a way to cash in on Nintendo's success with the Wii. The Wii is extremely popular with whole families and younger kids and this is different target is what i think led to its success. For this reason both microsoft and Sony are trying to copycat Ninendo's moves to stay in the competition. But, Microsoft's new console looks absolutely awesome.

[ad#Adsense]

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Sony Corp will launch a slimmer, cheaper version of its PlayStation 3 game console next month, hoping to jumpstart sales and win back market share from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.

Starting in September, the latest, less bulky version of the PS3 will be rolled out at $299 in the United States, 299 euros ($422.7) in Europe and 29,980 yen ($315.6) in Japan, the company said on Tuesday.

That represents a major price cut from the existing PS3 models, which runs between $399 to $499 and have proven less popular than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

"The main thing is that there is a significant price cut," said Ed Barton, analyst at Screen Digest. "We have argued since the beginning that there must be a substantial cut and this is a positive development."

Sony's new PS3 comes with a 120 gigabyte hard disk, but consumes 34 percent less power than the original model and is 32 percent smaller, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said at the Gamescom video game trade show in Cologne, Germany.

Read Full Story