Develop '09: Format-holder discusses new device at Develop Conference
Sony this morning offered developers attending its coding keynote at the Develop Conference in Brighton more details on its new motion controller.
The device, which was unveiled at E3, uses a wand-like peripheral with built-in accelerometers and a coloured ball at one end which is tracked by the PSEye camera.
"It can track true 3D, whereever I move it will fully track on every axis," explained SCEE developer services boss Kish Hirani.
In a demo of the archery game shown at E3, SCEE's Colin Hughes explained more:
"We're not getting any lag, which we had with the camera-based stuff on PS3 before. It is very quick and responsive."
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The mix of camera tracking and hardware means that the device is 'aware' even when it isn't being seen by the camera.
"It tracks the controller based on acceleromoter - so you can use it really freely, even behind your back," said Hirani. "You have great accuracy."
He added: "There's a whole spectrum of things you can do with this controller.
"It picks up all the pitch and movement. It's precise and responsive - the sphere on [the front] is what the controleller is tracking - it uses the full RGB spectrum for the colours."
He added that using the PSEye makes it "a truly interactive device" given its mix of controller hardware, camera and directional microphone.
Developers waning to make a game for the motion controller need a PSPEye - and prototypes of the actual hardware is available from SCEE account managers, but are in limited quantities at the moment. Studios will have to get whitelisted by Sony and discuss their ideas with them before the prototypes become more freely available
And in terms of external middleware the device uses AiLive - which as Hirani pointed out "other devices using motion controllers use" (i.e. Wii - and it's free to all PS3 developers.
Hi Sony
So, if I want a 4 player game, I need an expensive PS3, a PS Eye, and 8 d*ldos?
How much is that going to cost?
Please confirm.
Yes, it's pointless for current generation, but I suspect this is a good field test for the tech and then PS3 "slim" will end up shipping with one in the box when they drop the price (maybe at xmas) with a game thrown in along hte lines of WiiPlay I suspect.
so basically without an advanced gyroscope it's just a light tracked in a 2d space with some info for the z-axis from the size and the accelerometer...
that means pointing like the wii is not even possible
Pointing is possible the same way as wii. Place it on top of your tv in the centre and it will know as much about pointing as Wiimote's 'reverse camera' knows based on looking at the sensor bar centered on your tv. They showed pretty robust pointing in the e3 demos too - the bow and arrow, and the torchlight. It seemed to work very well.
This technology look more promising, from both a soft core and hard core gamer perspective. But the thing that will determine it's success, is how many quality titles will be released for it. EyeToy was great tech, but lacked quality titles and not enough marketing. If Sony can sort out those short comings, they will have both the soft core and hard core gamers eating out of their hands. IMHO :).
what do you mean by pointing? surely if pointing is what you wanted, then the big silly glowing ball is perfect(ish), esp on a 2D plain. check out the E3 tech-demo if you haven't already, it shows the dildos can be used for FPS, picking up and placing objects and also writing n other stuff.
i aint saying they're the best thing since sliced bread, but they should be at least as good as the Wii-motes if not better. in the same way Sony ripped off the analogue stick from the N64 and made the Dualshock, which is and award winning design, these as-of-yet-untitled controllers might just rock.
@Magic Beans: Can you really not resist this sort of petty comment?
How much would one have to pay for four players with Wii nunchucks? Perhaps this is not primarily intended for multi-player games. But even so, it's obvious that multi-player games imply multiple controllers. If you can't afford it, we all feel very badly for you.
Get over it - please confirm.
I think they do basically similar things. The problem with the wand is that the Wiiremote was in our hands 2 years ago, and the Wiimotion Plus is here now, while the Wand... who knows.
It's a good device, but they better hold it off for the next console.
Hold it off for the next console? Pointless for the current generation? What's wrong with you lot – this tech works NOW – it competes strongly with MS Natal and it actually provides better flexibility because it has a CONTROLLER – you don't just wave your arms around. Will it cost money to buy controllers and the camera? Duh – of course it will. How much did you spend on getting your XBox controllers wireless, or your stupid Guitar Hero controllers? Innovation costs money – either accept it or stop complaining about something that isn't even out yet.
The wands offer the same and better precision than the Wiimotes with M plus. And the EYE offers almost all the same functionality as Natal. The simple and best solution for Sony is to bundle two controllers with the EYE and a casual & sports software type game collection with both controller and hands free applications into one package for around ninety bucks or less with other software support either through exclusive disc retail releases, optional control schemes in other retail disc releases or PSN content right out the gates.
Sony always has to claim their technology as the "true" version of anything. They gave us "TrueHD" on a console that proved incapable of carrying the claim off. I mean, have we even hit double figures on game supporting native 1080p in game yet? Yet we're coming up to 3 years from launch now, so where is this 120fps, "TrueHD" gaming?
Telling us it is great is one thing, we'll accept that... but telling us it's better than anything else, well, I have the salt all ready for pinching.
personally i'm pretty optimistic about these controllers. so long as they conbine the functionality/versatility of the DS3 with the PSeye then it should be aces. software is a big consideration here tho, if they can get as many people interested like they have for the new PSP support then they can do well out of it. i agree with Johnno, best of both worlds. and i also think they have to get this out before Natal, i think i heard Spring '10? anybody got any news on that? another thing to consider is if we can still use these to play non-motion controlled games in a traditional way as well as any specificly developed ones, then it's a winner!
these controllers will come in a two and they SNAP together to form a regular ps3 controller (with two giant glowing balls on the end).
