Sony apparently plans to convert Wii developers with new motion controller accessory

...THAT'S their new controller? After all that stuff about the PS3's original controller looking like a sex toy, they come up with this? Wow :P

What does Sony actually hope to achieve with this move? Do they want the Wii's all-successful shovelware?

I actually take the chances of success for this so called 'Wii Killer' as a whole with a grain of salt. The Balance Board is one of the most successful periperhals of all time yet it only has 'optional' support from a very few select games and only the Wii Fit games actually requires it. Unless PS3 Arc is made to be fundamental/required for every major game release rather than optional and these games DO NOT appear on Wii , nothing is going to change here with PS3 Arc and even then in th most optimistic of scenarios that the peripheral is a massive success and considerably eats into Nintendos market share lead, Nintendo can simply counter with a 2nd price reduction that will take effect worldwide and/or release a High Definition Wii.

I'd want a PSWii, could've made Sin & Punishment: Star Successor look nicer, and have a proper two player option (since it probably was way too much for Wii).

But either way, I don't really like this new PS3 controller.

PS3 is going to fail since the next nintendo console is going to own it but then ps3 will wait until nintendo release somthing new and just copy them.

I think price point will be a bigger seller (or non-seller?) than familiarity. This also makes me a little sad. I hope PS3 games just don't slap waggle controls in everything from now on.

Nintendo better hold on to Popcorn Arcade for their dear lives!

Like Clash said, the only benefit I can see coming from this are talentless devs shifting their targets elsewhere.

You sure this isn't the new controller for that Operation game?

the ps3 doesnt offer everythng the wii does. I cant play mario, zelda or metroid on a ps3. I cant download NES, SNES and 64 games on a ps3. I cant play gamecube games on a ps3.

I can see this being awesome for about 6 games, and the rest are just 'meh'. Sales will be solid but won't kill off the wiimote.

It'll be very interesting to see how this pans out. Obviously the Wii has some things the PS3 can't take or copy, but for some titles that would've originally been Wii-exclusive, I can see some getting released alongside a PS3 version. I own both consoles and honestly if there was a game on both, that both controlled exactly the same, except the PS3 version looked far prettier, its a bit of a no-brainer which I'd buy.

The Wii's sucess mostly rides on 1st party titles, so I don't think this new controller will make much difference in that respect. However for us more dedicated gamers who actually liked some of the Wii's 3rd party offerings this should be fruitful for both Nintendo and Sony as it breaks the barrier between the two systems. Games that would originally only be released on one system may now find there way over to the other and to a new audience of gamers.

Unfortunately for Microsoft they've put their bets into an entirely different control system, and not only is it one I'm not overly fond of, but its one that now makes the 360 the odd one out instead of the Wii. Graphical differences are easy to put aside for cross-platform development, but control issues are not. Now developers will have to choose to go with the remote/wand route, with natal, or to eschew motion altogether.

-__-'

Sony wants the third tier developers that have been developing on Wii? really?

and i find it hard to believe that casual gamers are going to move onto PS3. i don't see them buying a PS3 + Motion Controller + PSEye + Nunchuk ripoff. i doubt they will spend something up to $650 when they can just spend $30 to $60 on a new game for the console they already have.

Been hearing heaps about this new motion controller of Sony's for some time... does it have a name yet?
I feel like by the time Sony's wand and Natal come into being... Motion control will be so overdone. It's like they're jumping on a bandwagon 3 years too late.

It's a little sad how both Sony and Microsoft are jumping on it... but I guess you've gotta go where the money is.

Having seen it, it's clear sony don't get one part of why non-gamers like the wii remote - it's got way too many buttons. A dpad, an analogue stick, and at least 4 buttons, plus the buttons on the "move" as well... it'll be great for core gamers, I guess, but they mostly hate the idea of motion control, but the casual gamers will probably be put off.

BAM!

sounds good to me.

nintendo's been too slow to move into the HD market, so copying or not, props to sony for taking motion control there. i'll be getthing wand thingy if the software interests me enough.

as for natal? i'm skeptical as hell of that. reminds me of the wii remote hype that was around...what a fantasy that was.

EDIT: before anyone jumps down my throat for fanboyism or whatever, the difference between the wand and natal for me is that i think with the idea of a 'motion remote' having been around for a few good years, sony has a good foundation to start from and improve on. whereas microsoft are basically creating an entirely new form of motion control with this camera idea, and first attempts never fulfil their potential (cough cough wii remote).

That sphere looks so fragile. Think we'll be seeing more broken wands than wii remotes.

But I don't see this working. The cost of entry (camera + wands + "not" nun-chucks) is going to put all but the hardcore off, and I don't see them giving a crap about minigame collections.
Plus, all the hands on info from GDC says it's not 1:1! Even if it's still in alhpa, they're been working on this for far too long to show it off and have it not even be as good as motion plus.

Yay, even more batteries to change now that they're both wireless.

At least Sony have the decency to make it standard USB charge instead of forcing us to continuously buy batteries haha

I'm really keen to see what Sony can do here. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a big-ass TV who has wished time upon time that the Wii was powerful enough to do HD graphics or 360/PS3-style next-gen games.

In my opinion, the Wii Remote and the Sony Wand thing have aspects of a gimmick, but are still solid control methods due to the buttons and whatnot, but Natal seems to be gimick beyond gimmick, unless I'm mistaken, there's no controller apart from your own extremities.

Here's the first hands-on video:

Except the Wii remote has (excluding Home) six buttons and a Dpad and the nunchuck another two with an analog. Sony's wand is less complex than the Wii remote and most casual Wii games are Wiimote only, so Sony actually has simplicity on their side.

The only big difference is Sony moved the Dpad onto the second part of the controller, the one typically used for more sophisticated games. Its a bit stupid though as you can't use an analog and a Dpad at the same time.

You are kidding about the cost of entry right? If there is one thing that a lot of gamers have, its buckets of disposable income and anyone whose seen adults spend money on themselves are well aware of those kind of spending habits. Plus its not like you need to buy four, for instance I made a poll here on AN and the majority of us have only one or two Wiimotes. At absolute worst a one person setup including the camera setup is going to cost $150, Sony would be mad not to soften the cost of entry considering how much the PS3 costs to start with. Then again looking how much a DS3 costs maybe they are mad.

As for the quality of the device, I didn't expect it to be perfect yet, but as long as its good enough when they ship it. To contrast, Motionplus still isn't 1:1 either, its 1:n and drifts further out of sync over time. While for some games it doesn't matter, its still going to be an annoyance for some titles.

Charging really isn't a big deal, its those goddamn AA batteries that I hadn't needed to use for a good half a decade that Nintendo brought kicking and screaming back into my life, for about a month until I got a battery pack and all was well.

I have to say the whole idea of having no controller or any kind of tactile feedback really puts me off of Natal. But as long as Natal can account for props (ie if you are holding a sword in the game, you should be able to hold a stick or something IRL) then it should work out okay.