PlayStation Move: Wireless Motion Based Gameplay Arrives for PS3

If you own an XBox 360, then you have no doubt heard of Kinect - the wireless motion sensing game controller system from Microsoft. With a much anticipated release date of this November, chances are that you already have one on order. With this technology, the XBox will join the ranks with the Wii, which has had a wireless motion sensing controller system in place straight out of the box. Now, as far as the three popular gaming systems go, only one still stands at odds, until now.

Sony's PlayStation 3 made its in home debut back in 2006, and this year, gamers can take advantage of the same type of motion sense based gameplay that Wii and Xbox 360 users will be enjoying.

The PlayStation Move is a wireless game controller that takes advantage of both location, and motion technology. The controller, which resembles a small chunky wand features an illuminated orb at its top. The internals of the orb contain LED (Light Emitting Diodes) that can a variety of colors. A second controller called the PlayStation Move navigation controller is a one-handed supplementary controller that simulates the left hand side of a traditional PlayStation controller, and is designed for use in combination with the PlayStation Move controller for various types of gameplay.

The technology works on the basis of two concepts. The position of the controller is determined by the light produced by the colored orb on the top of the motion controller. The PlayStation Eye amera detects the position, and in a multi-player environment, different colors can be used to identify separate players. Secondly, within the controller are technologies including inertial sensors, a three-axis linear accelerometer, and a three-axis angular rate sensor. These sensors are used by the system to detect and track movements, such as, overall motion and unique movements like rotation. The implementation of the technology reportedly does cause processing overhead, and uses memory, however, Sony Computer Entertainment has stated that although system resources are used, the impact on any gaming experience will be minimal. Sony designer have noted that the library used for the control system will use 1-2 megabytes of system memory.

The Sony PlayStation Move is scheduled to be available at US retailers on September 19, 2010. The controllers are available for preorder now at most game shops and through a variety of online retail websites. The starter bundle has an average retail price of $99.

Sources/Resources:

Wikipedia
Sony Computer Entertainment