E3: On the PlayStation Move and Appearances.

[bkavitsky]

With the long-lines, B.O. and everybody’s lack of expo walking ethic behind me I reflect upon the new toys and technologies I sampled. Of wares both soft and hard, the PlayStation Move stands out as a grand exhibition of everything we’ve seen before. Its catalogue greatly resembles that of the Wii launch; numerous casual and party titles with a sprinkling of “hardcore” gaming titles to show off the hardware’s capabilities. TV Superstars was the first title I demoed while at the Great Gamer Gathering;It was a fairly straightforward party-game in that it is a collection of various mini-games in which you are pitted against the other players in a competition that takes its inspiration from Japanese game shows. Winners are awarded with their photo on a magazine cover and with enough covers the player becomes a Television Superstar. Use of the camera to quick-make an avatar is clever, pasting a photo of each players face onto an unrealistic “superstar” body is great for launching right into the game and for an easy self-esteem knock when one realizes that his dream of being a well-toned muscular stick figure is an impossible goal.



Each player is prompted for 3 photos, a default, a happy and an upset are taken and plastered onto the avatar sans facial hair, ala Face/Off; so whether you have a well trimmed goatee or an unkempt neck-beard your player character will never quite look like you (assuming you don’t already look like an anorexic fifteen-year old). After that, the customization options are familiar but limited; hair styles and colors are few and natural so I went with what was at the time the default, a drably colored version of my actual cut’s metrosexual cousin: the fauxhawk. I believe this is the point where I ultimately realized this title would never see my Superstar dreams realized and that only my Move-made parallel universe self would ever understand what fame and stardom is truly like. Art snipes aside, the Move’s controls are at least on-par with the Wii Motion plus.

Playing The Fight: Lights Out is where the Move stood out against my experience with the Wii. Grabbing two Move wands and throwing punches in a 1:1 style was much different than the boxing games featured on competitive motion controlled consoles. The more simple moves shown in the games trailer are definitely possible; I was uncomfortable attempting the spinning backhand for lack of room in the demo area (not to mention that it’s an overcomplicated move that would leave one open to their opponent’s counter). Other moves shown including finishing moves would require a manual or hours of play that couldn’t be afforded a single person at E3, so though the experience was fun it was little more than a demo for walloping a guy on the head for a few minutes. For some reason this didn't get me very excited for this title.



The Fight was presented to me in 3D, which I can only say felt gimmicky at best; I imagine if a headbutt is possible it would be ill-advised to try one while wearing the massive $100+ spectacles. To be perfectly honest however, I felt the 3D presentation took away from the gritty look and feel that appeared during the trailer, being so focused on the central action jutting out from the screen detracted from appreciating the background elements of the fight arena; the game became totally centrally focused. At the conclusion of my battery of a human-shaped combination of pixels and computer code, the game relished in telling me how many calories I had burned in that and previous contests. It felt like a silly inclusion at the time, anyone who has played Wii Sports: Boxing knows the kind of work out an arm-flailing knockdown drag-out fight can really give you: my demo of The Fight paled in comparison.

In conclusion the Move is little more than a Wii-clone late to the party(and not fashionably late, it's gone and missed all the real fun and now it's got no choice but to try to rouse the passed-out drunks in hopes of recapturing everything it missed out on while out doing its own thing) : it’s not revolutionary and does all the same things the Wii did before it but with a different catalogue of games(not really, if you think about it). Motion-controlled shooters have all suffered the same issues, and casual party games that require less precision of movement called for in the upper difficulty tiers of shooters and action games remain the real hits of the motion controlled market. I admit, a platformer like Little Big Planet might be interesting for the Move, but the Move needs to stand out as more than a Wii attachment for the PS3: many gamers already own two consoles, what is the point of owning two and a half?

[LordNikon]

Of wares both soft and hard...

That sounds dirty.

[bkavitsky]

Massive edits.