At their GDC press conference yesterday, Sony finally broke months of radio silence providing all the juicy deets on their Wii-killing motion controller, now renamed Playstation Move.
In addition to receiving its own PS3 bundle, the Move (is that what we're calling it?) will be sold independently with the Playstation Eye and a game for just under $100. Sony has promised an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the Move and confirmed that it's being supported by 36 companies and will have 20 games available this fiscal year.
The most striking aspect of the Move is its not-so-subtle similarities to Nintendo's Wii-mote. The Move and its "Sub-controller" (that Sony is insisting that no one call the nunchuck) connect to each other and to the console wirelessly via bluetooth. But though they share similar aesthetics, Sony is clear to point out that the underlying technology is vastly different and superior. Whereas the Wii-mote acts as the "camera," sensing its location relative to the sensor bar to determine its position in 3D space, the Move works in reverse, using the Playstation Eye to sense the location of the controller. By all accounts, the method is more accurate than Nintendo's Wii Motion Plus solution.
It should be noted that Sony has promised to put their full marketing efforts behind peripherals in the past and not exactly lived up to their word. Considering the undeniable success that Nintendo has enjoyed with the Wii, it'll be interesting to see how willing and able Sony is to move in on that market.
For images, videos, and hands on impressions of the Playstation Move, here are a few helpful links:
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