Sports Champions Message Board

There goes Sony again, blowing its massive announcements the week before E3. Sports Champions 2 is coming this fall, new that no doubt have several PlayStation 3 owners wondering where they put that Move controller. to celebrate, Sony rolls out a non-traditional gamer glamour reel. More »

Sony Computer Entertainment UK VP Fergal Gara said the Move could have, should have done better in Europe, noting that the system's software lineup is crucial to its success. Gara named only one title, Sports Champions, that sold the best "by far" with a few hundred thousand units. We assume he expressed SCE's disappointment with the Move's success in the tone of, "I should have lost 20 pounds by now, even though I never work out and I eat bacon with every meal."

Gara is focusing on future titles to support Move, and by "titles" he means Sorcery (a game announced at E3 2010), and "other things that we know are bubbling under." SCE is stepping up its marketing and internal development for Move, Gara said, hoping to revitalize Move in 2012.

Next week, Sony will introduce two new bundles featuring the PlayStation Move to entice the family crowd. The first is a Move peripheral bundle, which includes the wand, PlayStation Eye, Sports Champions and Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest for $99.99.

The second offering is a PlayStation 3 Everybody Dance bundle. The box includes a 320 gigglebyte console, Move controller, PS Eye and Everybody Dance. The box also features the stock image of the ever-present Peter Pan hoodie dancer man. He haunts our dreams.

Amazon had the usually $400 350GB PS3 Move bundle for $50 off a while back, but now that that deal's ended, Walmart's in on the action. Right now, you can grab the bundle from its site for just $350 shipped to a store near you (a little more if you want it sent straight home). You even get a copy of Sports Champions along with it, so you can start swinging right away.

The bundle itself is usually $400, so if you missed the Amazon deal the first time around and have been meaning to pick one of these up, now's your chance.

[Thanks, Ahmed]

Without warning -- or explanation -- Amazon has snipped a sizable $50 off the 320GB PlayStation 3 bundle that includes PlayStation Move and Sports Champions. The set normally retails for $400 (and other retailers still list this standard price). Amazon's listing has no expiration date for the apparent sale.

[Thanks, Robert]

We were just about to accuse Sony of selling us a false bill of goods with Sports Champions -- the demo shown at last year's E3 featured sword fighting against skeletons, a feature left absent in the final version of the game. All we want is to hit skeletons with bladed weapons! Fortunately, a handful of ghoulish opponents will be added to the Move launch title in the "Haunted" DLC pack, due out on the PSN this Tuesday.

The pack, which will run shoppers $4.99, includes three new undead-themed playable characters and sports equipment, such as the "Skull Bocce Set" and "Skeleton Sword and Shield." Check out the full list of content in the pack after the jump, or a few screenshots of said content in the gallery below.

#downloadablecontent A trio of sinister skeletal figures joins the cast of Sony's PlayStation Move sports game this week, as the Haunted Pack brings the undead back to Sports Champions. More »

The games go head-to-head and we pick a favorite.

#clips We're kinda, sorta in love with the Playstation Move's Sports Champions. Here's why. More »

#review Sports Champions is bound to be the most owned Playstation Move game when the motion-detecting peripheral hits the Playstation 3 on Sept. 19. More »

And the winner is...

Kevin Butler and Subway aren't the only ones excited for the PlayStation Move. Peripheral companies, like Hyperkin, are getting ready to unleash a salvo of plastic accessories that "enhance" the motion gaming experience on PS3. Like the Wii, Move will be home to a number of absurd attachables, like the ones featured in the "Sports Victory Set" (pictured above). For $30, you'll be able to get a dagger, shield, bow and table tennis paddle, designed with Sports Champions in mind.

For $25, you'll be able to invest in Hyperkin's "Special Ops Shooter," which transforms your Move controller into (you guessed it!) a gun. Hopefully, it won't be long until companies like CTA Digital make some PS3-compatible inflatable karts.

Because we know you were wondering. Seriously, this odd setup for a Sports Champions demo unit at Gamescom 2010 made us do a definite double take. Is this now the official, Sony-recommended way to play the game?

#ps3 Are you ready to invest in motion control for your PlayStation 3? Sony has laid out your options for hopping onto the PlayStation Move bandwagon, three ways to make your PS3 Move-ready when the control scheme launches in September. More »

Where gladiators and table tennis meet.

Sony has added two titles to the PlayStation Move's launch lineup that we haven't seen before. Not only will you be able to get your Move on in Slider, Sports Champions and all of the other announced launch titles, but we can now add Disney-Pixar's Toy Story 3 and Brunswick Pro Bowling into the mix as well. Toy Story 3 is of course a tie-in to the movie, and Brunswick is in there because you can't have a motion controller in 2010 without a bowling game attached.

No seriously, you can't. Which is weird, because the future of gaming sure does look a lot like the 2007 of gaming. Only with better graphics.

[Via PSLS]

#gdc We've been trying to notice every little thing about the PlayStation Move this week. Each detail is telling. Here are two surprise Move maneuvers I witnessed during demos of Move this past week at Game Developers Conference. More »

PlayStation Blog posted a developer diary featuring Zindagi Games, developer of the PlayStation Move minigame showcase Sports Champions. The devs demonstrate the abilities of the Move controller, showing lots of game footage and demonstrations of controller motions.

They also describe their excitement about Move and its new opportunities for control -- going so far as to compare it to the feeling of playing a 3D game for the first time. If you were developing one of the flagship games for the thing, you'd be excited too!

Click for the gallery of Champions
You might think it derisive to call Sports Champions (working title) the Wii Sports of PlayStation Move, but it's really intended as a compliment. Although the collection of sports-themed games are relatively simple, they adequately highlight the Move's motion-sensing capabilities and, most importantly, how they're distinguished from those offered by the Wii (something that another Move game, The Shoot, did not do). Like Wii Sports, Sports Champions seems good at selling you on the hardware's abilities -- and what they might mean in more elaborate games.

The Gladiator game is a simple affair of blocking and attacking (your character moves towards the opponent automatically), but the Move will take into account the height of your swings and the positioning of your shield (generated by a second Move controller). It'll also sense distance -- if you don't hold your weapon arm back, it'll swing into your own shield to deleterious effect. Aside from swinging and blocking, you can also move both arms upwards to activate a jumping attack, or shuffle the controllers to the side in order to roll out of the way from an incoming strike. Basic stuff, but natural enough to not come across as a tacked-on gesture.

The Table Tennis game was even more promising, and easily bested the Wii's equivalent. Your paddle's angle and area of exposure is almost instantly determined by how you're holding the controller. The Move's weight, coupled with the game's quick response and predictable physics, made every swing feel ... just right. It'll be a shame if a table tennis game turns out to be one of the best launch games for Move, but at least it'll stand out as one of the best of its ilk. That's a win, right?

We test out the sports compilation on Playstaion Move.

First images of Sony's Move-controlled sports title.

See the Playstation Move in action.