PS3 Motion Controller Q&A

Sony's upcoming controller for the PlayStation 3, still known simply as the PS3 Motion Controller, has been the source of much speculation since its debut at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. The demos for the wandlike device have teased a number of different in-game experiences, but we have yet to see exactly what the new peripheral has to offer. With Sony holding a press event tomorrow, we expect to hear and see much more on the upcoming device shortly. But while we're waiting, we checked in with Sony's Rick Marks to poke around a bit more for information on the peripheral.

[myothercar]

i like the idea of reaching in and manipulating objects, whether in a gaming or artistic/creative form. not just moving around blocks on a conveyor belt obviously, but the possibilities are endless. it's like a 3D mouse pointer, a new kind of interface.

[OnlyOnN4G]

A gif from neogaf demonstrating how fast it tracks...

http://i42.tinypic.com/doqh...

INSANE!!!

Edit

Higher Quality Gif

http://i43.tinypic.com/2r5c...

THE INSANITY!!!

[Blackcanary]

i didn't notice how great the tracking was not until i saw that gif u posted up. that's amazing.

What time is Sony's Press conference at GDC?

[fantasygamer]

it tracks really well now i just wanna see ALOT of games demonstrated for it ^.^

[presto717]

I am so glad they did NOT name it Gem though. Arc is so much better.

EDIT: I definitely think Arc is 'Wii HD". I mean you get whatever is to be gotten from a wii, but in addition, you get it in full HD, on blu ray, on arguably better / more hardcore games. Good stuff if you ask me.

[morganfell]

Tommorrow, the 10th at around 7PM Eastern.

[Rhythmattic]

presto717

Personally , I reckon they should have called it ORB.

Still, whichever name, the 1 : 1 tech makes it a very interesting Add-On.

[saint_john_paul_ii]

the other addition is you get is augmented reality as well.

[jack_burt0n]

gif is f**king impressive

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

Now that's TRUE 1:1 motion. This is the motion tech we needed from the very beginning. Really glad Sony is doing it.

Natal on the other hand has a ghost effect with it's motion. Lags on every move.

[presto717]

Natal's movement reminds me of the protoss high templar with the blue shimmers.

@ Rythimmatic,

You're right. ORB does sound better. Hmmm....

[HSx9]

looks legit.

[kneon]

That's what you get when you have high quality accelerometers in addition to camera tracking. The camera can't detect motion more frequently than it's frame rate. But the accelerometers give you data during each frame capture so that the camera frame rate does not limit the responsiveness.

The camera basically will just correct for any accumulated error from the accelerometers every frame so that it can never stray too far off.

[YoungKiller25]

i LOVE your selective hearing. he said we dont know what people will use the controller for without the regular 1:1 stuff, not we dont know what people can use this for here you go lol

[Shang-Long]

lol @ 1:15

[Bubble Buddy]

After seeing the swords part, can we PLEASE have LucasArts make the lightsaber game I wanted since forever. I haven't touched the WIi in months. I actually unplugged it in case it becomes a fire hazard, save a tiny bit of electricity.

[DarkTower805]

When I saw the clip of them using the motion controller as a flashlight I immediately thought of Alan Wake. A game like that would go hand in hand with this technology.

[Raoh]

wow

for a second lets forget sony vs ms..

that gif is a wii killer

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Thanks to that user to share the information.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2r5c...

That's a win.

[D4RkNIKON]

That gif is awesome. Absolutely no LAG!

[edhe]

Hate to be a killjoy but without the frame of reference [ie seeing the people playing with the controller at the same time] on that .gif there's no measurement of lag.

What you're seeing is the console's interpretation of their movement, it could still be any amount of time after the actual action took place.

No reference = no measurement = no genuine knowledge of the performance [From the .gif, can't watch vid]

I'm hoping that sony will come out with a nice sku for all of this, so when i finally do get the third console it'll have everything in the box.

[Syronicus]

That GIF is amazing! Just seeing how fast it tracks the spin of that blade is enough to say this controller tracks 1:1. Good find bud. Have a bubble!

[Oner]

@ Edhe ~ Sorry to burst your little biased misinformation bubble but if you watch the actual video that is in the article you will see multiple times where they show BOTH the player (Anton Mikhailov) and the Motion Controller while being used...actually starting right 20 seconds in (plus 30-45, 55-60, 1:15-1:23, 1:45-2:00, 2:05-2:14, 2:29-2:33 & 2:40-2:45) you are proven absolutely WRONG.

[whoelse]

And we see what the button configuration looks like at the beginning!

[DJmizuhara]

Well I saw it during E3 2009 and from I can tell is that this Arc is very accurate. Check out my video I took during E3, you'll be able to see whats going on TV screen as well as the guys demoing the controller. I've very impressive.

[edhe]

like i was saying - from the .gif, can't watch the vid where i am right now.

pbbbt.

[Oner]

^^^ @ above ^^^ ~ Trolling attempt failed. Since you just cannot acknowledge that there are other parts of the video where that .gif actually CAME FROM (which I gave times for) that proves you wrong.

[LordMarius]

Cant wait for tomorrow, Hopefully Sony delivers

/excited

[MajestieBeast]

Wow i saw that gif and it just shows how good the tracking is of this device i mean he can let go of it and it still tracks all the movements.

[mastiffchild]

As long as they DO have a second, nunchuck style controller to go with the wands they could well be closer to what we all hoped for when we saw the revolution tech for the first time. I'm also saying it won't be able to replace pads for EVERY damn thing and, frankly should only be tried where it might-FPS,RTS and some action RPGs spring to mind but certainly, i fail to see how this could improve a pad's performance in games like DMC or GOW, no?

So, get the analog stick controller in and wow us with the software to show off the speed of tracking and amazing accuracy and we might see Sony manage something Wii has only showed us glimpses of-though why no one seems to be making anything of Motion Plus puzzles me a great deal.

As for Natal:losing the on board processing was a bad start but, seriously, though it prolly means no games of the Gears standards we hoped for we're still in the dark as to how it's going to bring us it's games and how you'll ever navigate around a gameworld sans analog and/or keys. If they sort out lag their dodge
ball game looks Ok but we want more complex gaming than that, don't we-hoping they both have amazing things to show this year. Starting off by Sony ditching the one handed DS3 nonsense-seriously Sony drop it and announce the 'chuck style thingy already so I can stop imagining you're making the worst game decision since Alomar was unleashed to kill RE5.

[DaTruth]

Nope! I hoped for dual wielding and the dual analog ability to move and turn, like the dual shock has!

Demon's Souls with dual wielding is all I have been thinking about since E3 medieval combat demonstration!

If we've learned one thing from the PSP, it's that two analogue sticks are needed to move in 3D space!(Except with Tenchu 1, because they just did everything right with that game except putting it on PSN as PSOne classic)

[Nicholas Cage]

paint! you know for the computer how they have paint! that would be incredible, and all of the other amazing projects ofcourse.

[Blackcanary]

Damn the art side of it makes me want it even more.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

Digital graffiti is what I'm waiting for the most. Sony's Arc is the perfect tech for it.

[morganfell]

I want it for the 3D depth. I want to see the new Thief title. It will be amazing using Arc. And the fact there is something enticing about reaching over one person's shoulder to stab another person in the head.

Imagine Assassin's Creed III and the fighting that will be employed with Arc.

[OnlyOnN4G]

http://i42.tinypic.com/doqh...

FAST AS F*CK!!!

[Jamaicangmr]

Thats some accuracy for ur azz.

[Mista T]

wow, finally, something on consoles that can match the accuracy and precision of a mouse

[Xi]

and what about keyboard and mouse attachments?

[RageAgainstTheMShine]

Way to go Sony!
Now I can keep my WACOM to my self while the kids are playing and keep up with the deadlines with zero disturbance. ^_^

It's Dr. Richard Marks and Anton, the Batman and Robin of Sony.
They are my new heroes! Aren't they the coolest and good looking developers out there?

[Blackcanary]

in Animation and Illustration with the art stuff i will never feel like my PS3 is distracting me from doing my work lol.

If they can bring out a good art program for the PS3 montion controller that would be amazing.

[MajestieBeast]

I was really skeptical about everything motion control related and thought it was just gonna be wiigames but him spinning the sword just makes me think sony patch demons souls for this and you got a customer for the arc. Lvl building in lbp would be alot more fun and maybe easier with this. This with 3d gaming will open a whole new world i have seen 3d in action at the sony hq in the netherlands and it looks amazing only con is the glasses.

[Ps_alm3k]

im really going to actually show my skill in precise 1:1 motion instead of auto aim. all skill this time baby!!

[2FootYard]

Please stop development on this trash. Flailing around is only fun when your pretty damn drunk.

Here comes the disagrees. Can't you silly people be honest with yourselves and admit that motion control is f***ing stupid even when it comes from Sony? Anybody have something to add to your disagree? Please explain what's so great about this. If you do come up with valid arguments in its favor then my opinion may sway.

[Blackcanary]

is as closed minded as you.

I use to have a wii but sold it cause i noticed i played on my PS3 more but now this is coming out i can have the best of both worlds.

[2FootYard]

I bought the Wii before any other console this gen and like you, have sold it. I wonder why that is? It couldn't have to do with the fact that many developers can't make fun games based around motion controls, could it?

I don't think my enjoyment of Killzone 3 will be heightened by moving my arm in front of a t.v. screen. I know it didn't make Red Steel or Metroid Prime 3 (was a good game though) any better.

[kaz-hirai]

I am going to use one of the links supplied by OnlyOnN4G

http://i42.tinypic.com/doqh...

And I am now going to get a link for Natal

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

As usual MS using out of date technology and not advancing and with the precision of the Arc there are 10x more possibilities compared to Natal which is just an eye toy from the PS2 ;-D!!!!

But you little chatboxes are blind and dont seem to realise what MS is doing now was done by Sony over 5 years ago ;-D!!!!!!

[2FootYard]

I'm not sure why you're replying to me, Kaz. I think I have more hatred for Natal than anyone else on this site. Motion controls in general are just a bad idea.

[Smkt]

i agree... nothing good will come from motion controllers (arc & natal).. only wii-fit knockoff games by MS and sony...

[sashimi]

damn kaz that video of natal just made me spit out my milk tea lol.I never noticed the pose for that avatar....o god too funny, i feel sorry for xbox owners cause that is just too funny.

[PLASTICA-MAN]

I totally agree with you, and about how much 'precise' is teh Fatal, it was so polemical and hugely criticized that even the famous Gmod video maker "Das Bo Schitt" gave a hilarous hint about it in his GMod Idiot Idiot Box Episode 7 at 4:45, take a look at it:
http://www.wegame.com/watch...

And when sth is mentionned in GMod IDIOT Box, so it is obviously...
You know ;)

[sashimi]

wow that video is really something plastica. Natal is Fatal =O

[Mista T]

looks like there's not gonna be any auto aim needed anymore in shooters with this anymore

can you imagine sniping with this, getting the precise and accurate headshot faster than you would with analog sticks, amazing.

[Lirky]

That e3 demo was impressive last year with the wand, at gdc tomorrow i wonder if they will have another amazing demonstration.

[JonnyBigBoss]

I'm getting this day ONE.

[sashimi]

They still have to show me the games before i am sold on the Arc but damn the gif really is amazing. I doubt Sony will disappoint me with all their first party studios :)

[Hidden Star]

PlayStation 3 - Only does Everything.

[Nitrowolf2]

dam, that looks great for just a test, i am talking about the animation of the enemies. Plus when i saw that sword and sheile i immediadiatly saw demon souls, i personally would not mid having this implemented in demon souls 2 (as a option) or at least make an awesome adventure game

[Killzonegamer84]

says that EA has confirmed that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will have 'full arc support' so far Natal doesnt have one well known franchise behind it. I think Natal will be a huge failure for MS, i mean how in the hell do you have practical well known franchises work with natal like a Madden, Tiger woods PGA etc.

I mean Natal seems like it would be hell to develop for. Why should EA risk the time and money on building a brand new game for the ground up with Natal when they can just make the same game for the PS3 but with motion controllers. I think Natal will be a epic fail

[Parapraxis]

I think Natal will be cancelled before it's released.
Seriously.

[ExLivingGhost]

Maybe Arc stands for Artificial Reality Controller...

[OnlyOnN4G]

Or Augmented Reality Controller

[ExLivingGhost]

Arc better than reality?

[OnlyOnN4G]

lol yeah, it's the only place you'll get to watch yourself wield a light saber.

[sashimi]

Lightsaber battles online...DO WANT!

[Ps_alm3k]

I want to do sword fighting online!
Or vent my anger on Lu Bu, in Dynasty Warrior!!
I'm excited!!!!!!!!!!!

[jack_burt0n]

Right I want:

A new siren where you get sight jacked and there are freaky people walking around your living room like the ring augmented reality.

Folklore 2 where you need to do okami style gestures to summon and also be a bit more like lost kingdoms than the first. With great puzzles like the promo vid.

[The Great Melon]

There really needs to be a Folklore 2. First one was really good but suffered partially due to being early in the PS3 life cycle.

[BannedForNineYears]

I thought it was gonna be called Gem? 0_o
I like Arc more though.
Those gifs look tight, BTW.

[W-k]

i keep saying this but i want a rpg sword fighting game with this some thing like dragon age or elder scrolls,doesn't have to be those games but some thing like them would be REALLY cool!!,i cant wait to see what games they make for this thing!!,i hope these motion controllers are as good as promised,really glad they have a nunchuck now,the wii has the right idea and Sony is going to make it better hopefully Showww mee some game play already!!!

[tripewire]

Im just wondering, because this is a new idea to me...

You know those bits of tech demo where they were shooting little goblin warrior things?

Legend of Dragoon 2.....?

I dont know if I like the idea or not. Either having a whole game in FP, OR, Classic RPG camera style with FPS combat mode.

I think, but im not quite sure, that could make my d*** hard...

[DJexs]

I heard about it and was like yah cool whatever after seeing this IT IS BA.

[jalen247]

The PlayStation Arc is very precise and accurate...very impressive indeed...

[TheObserver]

At was I was like...

Then I was like...

[TrailerParkSupervisr]

I really don't want to STAND when I play a video game. I mean, can you imagine having to stand whilst playing Demon's Souls? I have over 100 hours in that game. I'm already tired when I get off work!

Hopefuly, I can use it and sit in my recliner.

[dustgavin]

I don't see why you couldn't sit while using this.

As for games..another Bushido Blade would be nice!

[TheGuardianFID]

A-rron greenturds
R-eality
C-heck!!! 8P 8)

[ForeAllEternity]

Possibilities are endless. I may finally be able get off my lazy a$$ and play hardcore games at the same time.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Why ARC is not gonna flop:

http://i43.tinypic.com/2r5c...

Just with that, it's a win for sure.

[mac4u10]

That was impressive also it will be in HD arhhh Sony are geniuses.

[tripewire]

Imagine - Motion Tracking gloves. Would be absolutely insane. Hopefully on the ps4...

[Meryl]

I am so hyped up for Arc now, it just keeps on getting better and better, yay

[yogaflame]

the arc is okay but natal is winning in hype and advertising and even showing it to actors and actress, i hope sony will also advertise and hype the arc

[mac4u10]

Agree.. MS will market Natal like as if its the second coming of Jesus.

[jazzking2001]

no more reason to get a wii

[NeloAnjelo]

Auto Aim is for noobs anyway.

I see this working well for a game like little big planet. However I wouldn't like this to be the sole controller for that game. We should be given the option to use the traditional.

[theEXPATRIATED]

Demon's Souls during parts of the video? :D

[Doc Sony]

Can we FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY get our FPS lightsaber game ?

What is LucasArts doing ?

A lightsaber game and a graffiti game with online capabilities done right would be enough for me to warrant a purchase of the Arc.