PlayStation Move Message Board older than one year ago

When PlayStation Move launches in North America this September, there will be no doubt about which game is the weirdest – it’s Kung Fu Rider. At our past Move Meet-ups, I’ve been describing this game as the latest in the escaping-from-the-mafia-on-office-furniture genre.

It is not a crowded genre.

When we first saw this game (as “Slider”) at Game Developers Conference 2010, we weren’t sure if this was going to be a simple downloadable title or something more. As Producer George Weising tells us in this demo, Kung Fu Rider is going to have a lot more to it than we initially anticipated.

#konami Dance Central for Kinect might be getting all the attention, but Konami's DanceDanceRevolution for the PlayStation 3 has a few tricks up its sleeve that could bring the original dance game back into the spotlight, starting with PlayStation Move support. More »

My name is Naoki Maeda, and I’m the Music Composer and one of the creators of DanceDanceRevolution! If you’re not familiar with DanceDanceRevolution, it’s the cult favorite arcade game and pioneering dance game that started it all!

If you followed the franchise, you know that we’ve been a part of the PlayStation family for years now. In fact, we recently teamed with the SCEA and the state of West Virginia to bring DanceDanceRevolution with the PlayStation 2, to all of the public schools in the state of West Virginia. This program, designed to combat childhood obesity, was a big hit — with Governor Joe Manchin praising it and Michelle Obama even stating President Obama has DanceDanceRevolution.

With each year and each iteration of DanceDanceRevolution, we work to bring new and fun challenges to players — which leads us to today, where I’m happy to announce DanceDanceRevolution is coming to the PlayStation 3! The PlayStation 3 is a console that we’ve been developing on for over a year and now that we’re ready to show the game, we wanted to come on the PlayStation.Blog to tell you how excited we are!

In DanceDanceRevolution for PS3, players can expect the same high-energy fun that you’ve been accustomed to. Players can look forward to hearing licensed music from today’s top artists and also music from our team here at Bemani. And since players will be able to access DanceDanceRevolution on the PlayStation Network, you can be assured; there will be a lot of downloadable content coming down the line.

The best thing about bringing DanceDanceRevolution to the PS3 is that we can use the AWESOME PlayStation MOVE motion controller. This awesome new peripheral allows us to bring some really cool new aesthetics and challenges to the game. We took out the avatars to allow the camera and the MOVE controller to put the focus on the player.

As we speak, I’m on a plane coming to the US from Japan! That’s because today (Thursday, August 12), we’re hosting the very first ever DanceDanceRevolution community event. This event is the official launch party for our PS3 sku! I’ll be there, along with some of the other good folks from Bemani and KONAMI. And since the PlayStation.Blog is my family too, I’ve given them 25 invites! So if you’re in the LA area, let us know if you would like to come! For more information, head to our Facebook page! I hope to meet a few of you there!

We have a lot more news to tell you about DanceDanceRevolution PS3 in the future, but we wanted to come here first and give you a little taste! So look out for DanceDanceRevolution PS3 this holiday season!

#ps3 Sony's motion-sensing Playstation Move hits stores next month, but that doesn't mean you're going to have to wait a bit more than a month to check it out. More »

SCEE product Manager Ross Alexander took to the EU's PlayStation Blog earlier today and revealed that the PlayStation Move-enabled version of Heavy Rain will be available "pre-Xmas." He also noted that it will be digitally distributed for free via PSN to those who already picked up the disc, though he gave no word on a re-release of the retail edition with Move functionality already baked-in.

Apparently, the waggle-ified version of Heavy Rain will be playable both with the Move and a DualShock 3 or a Move and the Navigation Controller -- the latter of which Alexander claims is the only way to get the "full experience." Trailers with the new Move controls are forthcoming, but why wait? We've dropped a handful of screens into a gallery below right now.

Haven't had a chance to get your hands on the PlayStation Move during one of its appearances at industry trade shows? According to a report from Destructoid, you'll get your chance to try out the peripheral before its September 19 launch date, as anonymous sources claim Sony is hiring tons of representatives to work demo kiosks which will start appearing in Best Buys and Walmarts across the country starting September 11.

According to the report, the units should stay in stores until late January 2011, giving you plenty of time to determine whether or not the Move is worth your hard-earned cash -- or plenty of time to hard-earn said cash, if you decide to apply to become one of Sony's Move representatives. We've contacted Sony to get a comment on all of these reports.

Haven't had a chance to get your hands on the PlayStation Move during one of its appearances at industry trade shows? According to a report from Destructoid, you'll get your chance to try out the peripheral before its September 19 launch date, as anonymous sources claim Sony is hiring tons of representatives to work demo kiosks which will start appearing in Best Buys and Walmarts across the country starting September 11.

According to the report, the units should stay in stores until late January 2011, giving you plenty of time to determine whether or not the Move is worth your hard-earned cash -- or plenty of time to hard-earn said cash, if you decide to apply to become one of Sony's Move representatives. We've contacted Sony to get a comment on all of these reports.

#ps3 With the PlayStation Move being essentially a Wii Remote for the PS3, it was only a matter of time before the stupid accessories crowd jumped from Nintendo's console to Sony's. More »

#ps3 In Taiwan. With this lady. More »

Britain, here is your PlayStation Move pricing! £50 for the full bundle, £35 for just the Wand, while the Sub-Controller and PlayStation Eye are £25 each. More »

Analysts were generally unimpressed with the $150 price tag put on the Kinect hardware -- the consensus has been that Microsoft set the price too high and sales will suffer as a result. But Microsoft group marketing manager Brett Siddons disagrees. Speaking at an Amazon event in the UK, he said that once you "do the maths," Kinect is "very competitively priced."

His argument is that $150 gets you support for two players (six non-active players) and the full Kinect Adventures game, with no other accessories needed. This is compared to PlayStation Move, which comprises the main controller and a demo disc for $50. The "Navigation Controller" is $30 more, and if you want to expand the system to two players, you'll be paying even more. When you look at it that way, according to Siddons, Kinect is priced about the same given the functionality.

Still, even if that $150 buys an experience similar to what's on other consoles, there remains the question of whether or not gamers will want to write that larger check in the first place.

#delayofgame Originally due sometime this fall, Zipper Interactive's SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs is now penciled in for release some time next year. The developer confirmed today that it's delaying the PlayStation 3 game to give it a little extra polish. More »

At last week’s PlayStation event in NYC, I was pleased to see Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition make an appearance — complete with the new PlayStation Move control scheme.

I grabbed a PlayStation Move and a Navigation Controller and dove into a combat sequence several chapters into the game. Several details quickly became apparent:

Aiming is much, much easier. I was able to pop headshots, even at long ranges, with impressive accuracy using the PlayStation Move’s reticule aiming. You move your character with an analog stick (via the Navigation Controller or a DualShock 3), then squeeze the trigger on the PlayStation Move to draw your weapon. Once your shot is lined up, you press the Move button with your thumb to fire the shot. Easy!

From what I played, the new PlayStation Move aiming controls will be a big help to players who had difficulty adjusting to Resident Evil 5’s default analog stick control scheme.

Knifing is easier, too. In the original version of Resident Evil 5, swinging your knife was a two-step process: you pressed and held one button to ready the knife, and another to swing it. But using PlayStation Move, you can “waggle” the motion controller to immediately swing the knife at any time. It’s handier in a pinch, and makes close-quarters battles feel faster and deadlier. It’s also easier to smash open crates and barrels to find those all-important healing herbs.

Reloading works through a similar process: you pull the trigger to ready your weapon, then “waggle” the PlayStation Move control to reload. These tweaks make the game feel faster and nimbler, freeing up precious seconds during heated combat sequences.

Chris and Shiva are more maneuverable. By shifting the run button to the left-hand Navigation Controller (or a DualShock 3), Resident Evil 5 frees up your right hand for aiming and knifing. This has a liberating effect on the game’s pacing by encouraging more hit-and-run tactics — a must when battling tough bosses such as the chainsaw-wielding Majini. Much like the other enhancements to the PlayStation Move control scheme, this makes playing Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition a nimbler, easier process.

If you already own a copy of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition for your PS3, you’ll be able to download a free patch close to the launch of the PlayStation Move (September 19th in North America) to enable the new motion-control scheme. This will only work with RE5 copies labeled “Gold Edition” — the original version of RE5 won’t be receiving the patch, for technical reasons.

Moving forward, all new “Gold Edition” versions of Resident Evil 5 that hit store shelves after the launch of PlayStation Move will come with PlayStation Move support included on the disc. Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition also comes with all the DLC add-ons, including the new “Desperate Escape” and “Lost in Nightmares” scenarios, as standard features.

Have any other questions about Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition’s new PlayStation Move control scheme? Ask away in the comments and I’ll see what I can dig up.

#ps3 In theory, the PlayStation 3 controller is a complicated mechanism, a device with too many buttons for the average person to understand. In theory, the better control mechanism for interactive drama is a good old remote control you can wave. More »

In announcing a September 15 launch for PlayStation Move in its territory, Sony Computer Entertainment Korea (intentionally?) slipped out the identity of two new PS3 titles, both with Move support. The first will be familiar to anyone who's browsed the iTunes App Store in, well, ever. It's a downloadable version of the popular "line drawing" casual strategy game Flight Control from Firemint, which has lifted off from iDevices and DSi to land on the PSN store ... at some point. (No date was listed.)

Also new and included in the "supports Move" category, Ignition is a Blu-ray Disc based racer from Hungarian developer Nemesys. The game was actually unveiled this time last year, was supposed to arrive in fall 2009 and doesn't have a publisher to speak of -- but hey, who needs that when you have looks? Check out screens of the game below and see for yourself. (While we try and find out who's actually releasing it.)

#ps3 I don't know how amazing the games of PlayStation Move, September's Wii-like PlayStation 3 motion controller, are going to be. But the tech demos continue to be terrific. Here are four of the newest. More »

#ps3 I don't know how amazing the games of PlayStation Move, September's Wii-like PlayStation 3 motion controller, are going to be. But the tech demos continue to be terrific. Here are four of the newest. More »

New York, New York, it’s a hell of a town! I’m currently in the Big Apple preparing to attend a special PlayStation media event tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 20th) that will be overflowing with some of the biggest PS3, PSP, and PlayStation Move games of 2010 and 2011. Exciting!

But it begs the question: What would you like to know about these games? I can’t promise I’ll be able to get an answer for every one of your burning questions, but I will have hands-on access to most of the games on display as well as opportunities to ask producers and developers directly. Your questions will inform an upcoming series of blog posts that will drill deeper into each game’s features.

Please leave your questions in the comments. Below, I’ve attached some brief descriptions of each of the games on display and what features will be shown tomorrow in NYC.

PS3 Games

Killzone 3: Hands-on demo of the “Frozen Shores” arctic level in full stereoscopic 3D, complete with jetpack shootouts and brutal melee attacks.

Gran Turismo 5: Hands-on with a variety of tracks and vehicles in the game, including 3D support and the GT racing sled.

MotorStorm Apocalypse: Hands-on racing through a demo of the destroyed urban landscape in stereoscopic 3D.

LittleBigPlanet 2: Create and play full games using Sackboy’s new abilities, innovative tools, and expanded gameplay.

The Sly Collection: Hands-on with two missions from Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves displayed in 3D.

Heavy Rain: Hands-on with PlayStation Move functionality for this evolving mystery game.

EyePet: Interact with your virtual pet in stereoscopic 3D using PlayStation Move.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11: Hands-on with PlayStation Move support for this EA Sports golf simulation that was last seen at the PlayStation 2010 E3 Expo press conference.

Time Crisis: Razing Storm: Hands-on with PlayStation Move for this upcoming PS3 shooter from Namco Bandai.

Tron: Evolution: Hands-on with this holiday 2010 title, based on the upcoming film starring Jeff Bridges, that includes support for PlayStation Move and stereoscopic 3D.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: A new chapter that picks up where Assassin’s Creed II left off, this title will feature a multiplayer component for the first time as well as an all-new single-player experience.

echochrome ii: Use the PlayStation Move controller as a flashlight to shine light on puzzles and find solutions hidden in the shadows in this upcoming PSN title.

Dead Nation: From the creators of Super Stardust HD, this upcoming PSN shooter puts you in the middle of an overwhelming zombie apocalypse.

PixelJunk Shooter 2: Hands-on demos of two stages that introduce new underground caverns teeming with mysterious, deadly creatures.

Tumble: Use the PlayStation Move motion controller (and stereoscopic 3D support) to accurately and precisely stack blocks in tall towers.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: Gameplay demonstrations of this upcoming PSN title that will stress co-op gameplay in offline and online flavors.

Additionally, I’ll have access to hands-on play for the PlayStation Move launch window games, which include Sports Champions, The Fight: Lights Out, TV Superstars, The Shoot, Singstar Dance, and Kung Fu Rider.

PSP Games

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta: Hands-on with Kratos’s latest quest, a prequel to God of War II that tells the story of how the Spartan warrior rose to power as the God of War.

Patapon 3: Hands-on with the new Superhero Patapon in this musical battle game for the PSP.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: Hands-on play in a new PSP chapter of this RPG mashup that features characters from Square Enix and Disney.

Invizimals: Experience augmented reality by capturing, training, and battling a vast collection of creatures using the PSP 3000 and PSP camera.

Piyotama: An action-puzzle game for PSP where you hatch eggs before they overflow the nest by lining up eggs of the same color and chaining them together four at a time.

Gravity Crash Portable: Combines vintage arcade shooter gameplay with next gen visuals, as well as new content and enhancements not seen in the PS3 version.

Catch a glimpse of the device's final packaging.

Now that E3 2010 is in the books and all of the launch details around PlayStation Move have been announced, I know a lot of you may be wondering exactly what you need to start playing motion-controlled gaming on the PS3. So, here’s a primer that spells out all the great options that will be available and how much it will cost you to get up and running with PlayStation Move.

The PlayStation Move platform consists of the PlayStation Move motion controller, the PlayStation Eye camera and, of course, the PS3 system. We’ll offer various options for you to choose from depending on what hardware you already own and what kind of PlayStation Move experience will satisfy you. Here’s a breakdown of prices depending on your current situation.

What Move Setup is Right for You?

I don’t yet have a PS3

• Your best option: *PlayStation 3 Sports Champion Move Bundle
• How much it will cost? $399.99

I have a PS3 and nothing else

• Your best option: **PlayStation Move Bundle
• How much it will cost? $99.99

I have a PS3 and PlayStation Eye camera

• Your best option: Move Motion Controller
• How much it will cost? $49.99

*The PlayStation 3 Sports Champion Move Bundle comes with: a PS3 system, 1 PlayStation Move motion controller, a PlayStation Eye Camera, the Sports Champions Blu-ray game and a PlayStation Move game demo disc.

** The PlayStation Move Bundle comes with: 1 PlayStation Move motion controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, the Sports Champions Blu-ray disc game and a PlayStation Move demo disc.

For those of you who own a PS3 already, the PlayStation Move Bundle is the complete Move package, offering everything that you, your friends and your family need to enjoy PlayStation Move in both single-player and multiplayer modes. The PlayStation Move platform is designed to be flexible. We’ve done our best to give you plenty of options, both in terms of gameplay and hardware, so you can customize your PlayStation Move experience to fit the way you game.

For the vast majority of PlayStation Move games, you can play with one motion controller when playing solo. There are some titles that give you the option to play single-player with one *or* two motion controllers if you would like, such as Sports Champions. It’s completely up to you. One title launching this fall that is an exception worth noting is The Fight: Lights Out, which requires two motion controllers to deliver the best possible experience, tracking both arms and your head with one-to-one precision.

In many games, when you’re playing against friends or family, you can all share one motion controller – in a game like Start the Party!, for example, players can just pass the motion controller around. You will need more than one motion controller only for simultaneous game play — for example, if you’re going head-to-head with a friend in a Sports Champions gladiator duel, you will each need your own motion controller.

The PlayStation Move Navigation Controller is an optional add-on that brings directional buttons, an analog stick, and two face buttons into the PlayStation Move’s control scheme. The sleek Navigation Controller essentially replicates the left side of the DualShock 3 controller for familiar and natural control. At $29.99, we think it’s a wonderful supplement to the PlayStation Move platform, especially for games like Heavy Rain, where you control a character, but it’s not required for any of the PlayStation Move games. The DualShock 3 controller that came with your PS3 will let you do everything the Navigation Controller does in all PlayStation Move titles.

It all goes back to the PlayStation philosophy that every consumer is different, and everybody benefits when you get to make your own choices. An extra motion controller or a navigation controller are additive to the PlayStation Move experience. For some of you, aiming a bow and arrow with two motion controllers in Sports Champions will be the enhanced realism you’re craving; for others, one controller will work just fine.

Bottom line is, we’ve got you all covered. We hope we’ve provided enough great options for all of you out there and can’t wait until you can get your hands on PlayStation Move come September 19th.

#clips Sony has released a list of upcoming titles for the PlayStation Move's Japanese release. Accompanying that is a new Move trailer, complete with game footage. More »

Which games can the east waggle to this October.

#sony On October 21, the PlayStation Move will hit Japanese retail. That's not all as there will be Move games as well. Sony Computer Entertainment has released a list of those games. More »

You'd better hope that playing Heavy Rain with PlayStation Move controls feels like a completely new experience, because that's pretty much the only way you're getting new content. Creator David Cage has added a note of finality to the announcement that work on the "Chronicles" DLC was shelved so the team could concentrate on Move support. Cage told Eurogamer that "Chronicles, as we saw them, were ambitious and with high expectations," and thus would have occupied the team's resources. "As explained, they are on hold to allow the team to work on Move and on new projects, and I doubt they will ever be produced."

Cage sounds pretty put off by the decision to dedicate time to Move support, but at least a little interested in the result. "I understand Sony's decision, and it gave us the opportunity to explore new possibilities regarding controls," Cage said. "I am really proud of this Move edition and think it will surprise many gamers, and show that Move can be used for things other than family entertainment. Now as a writer and director, would I have preferred to work on the three Chronicles I wrote? Guess."

#delayofgame The good news is that Quantic Dream's moody adventure game for the PlayStation 3, Heavy Rain, is going to fully support the PlayStation Move motion controller when it launches later this year. The bad news is that decision's impact. More »

It seems 3.40 firmware update added more than PlayStation Plus to the PS3. It appears support for the Move motion controller has also been added to the system, as evidenced by a new option in the "Settings" area of the XMB. This setting (pictured) will allow you to calibrate the motion controller, if the controller doesn't move "as expected."

The Move controller isn't scheduled to launch until later this year. However, this isn't the first time Sony has prepped future-tech in earlier firmware releases. For example, firmware 3.30 added support for 3D games about two months before the first 3D games were released. Barring any further changes to the PS3 OS, you may be able to play Move games sans system update when the controller launches.

[Thanks SecretAgentHam!]

Sony Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida isn't looking to cut the price of the $299 PS3 this fiscal year. Speaking with IGN, the executive reiterated that the console became profitable this year. "We aren't making huge money from hardware, but we aren't bleeding like we used to," he added.

The company is currently focused on getting PS3s on retail shelves, having run into supply issues throughout most of this year. Yoshida noted that Sony is currently "trying to catch up [its] production."

With its attention on marketing 3D gaming (and TVs) and the impending Move launch, Yoshida said that Sony is considering additional hardware bundles to appeal to consumers instead of slashing the price of the base PS3 model.

For every Batman: Arkham Asylum or Epic Mickey, there's got to be someone out there bringing shoddy licensed games to the floor of E3. Bless Crave Entertainment then, because the publisher was back at it this year, showing off titles based on Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch and Man vs. Wild TV shows, and a Brunswick-licensed PlayStation Move bowling game. The trio was quite generally terrible -- unpolished, unfinished, pretty blatant attempts to take a familiar name, slap it on some semblance of gameplay and make a few bucks from people buying something for the name on it.

So don't read the rest of this post because you're thinking of buying any of these games -- even if you happen to be a Deadliest Catch or Man vs. Wild fan, there are better and more enjoyable ways to spend your time with the properties (like, you know, watching the shows, which are both pretty well done). Instead, read on about the three most awkward moments of my time spent in Crave's E3 booth.

If you read my Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 review, then you know that I'm totally on the bandwagon when it comes to motion-based golfing. Going into my E3 appointment to preview O Games' John Daly's Prostroke Golf, I didn't expect the game's Move functionality to add anything to the experience I couldn't already get with MotionPlus on the Wii. But Prostroke actually impressed me, thanks to some clever design decisions.

At the conclusion of Dead Space, space miner Isaac Clarke was, shall we say, a little unwell. Though Clarke’s body survived his first encounter with the Necromorph, the same can’t be said for his mind.

We caught up with the creative director of Dead Space 2, Visceral Games’ Wright Bagwell, to learn more about the game’s gargantuan new setting, new enemies including the Tripod and the Pack, and new combat abilities including the Javelin gun. Watch our interview below to learn more.

Notably, Dead Space 2 will feature a bigger, deeper universe than the first game. No longer stranded on a dinky deep-space mining station, Clarke now prowls a labyrinthine interstellar complex called “The Sprawl,” comprised of hospitals, schools, churches, and unspeakable things that go bump in the night. Visceral Games has confirmed that the Church of Unitology, the cult-like Necromorph worshippers introduced at the conclusion of Dead Space, will play a far more direct role in this sequel. Naturally, Visceral Games is keeping its lips tightly sealed on the specifics of their involvement, but we can’t imagine it’s going to end well.

Dead Space 2 arrives on the PS3 in early 2011. At the 2010 E3 Expo, EA announced that the limited edition of Dead Space 2 on the PS3 will include Dead Space: Extraction with full support for PlayStation Move and Trophies.