PlayStation Move Message Board older than one year ago

Analyst estimates 300,000 Move units sold. 1.5 million in Europe.

It seems that Sony settled on the right name for its PlayStation Move motion controller, as the company is definitely moving plenty of units in Europe. Speaking to Bloomberg, Sony Europe's Andrew House noted "very significant sales" for the Move, saying that it has sold "somewhere in the region of 1.5 million units for the new controller across just Europe." He added that sales have exceeded Sony's original hopes, and that the company will likely increase production of the peripheral.

Sales may not be as motivated in America, however. In a report released to the media, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter estimated that the motion controller sold around 300,000 units in its US debut, including Move console bundles; though it's important to note that SCEA has not released official sales figures. Despite the sluggish launch estimate, Pachter expects both the Move and Kinect to drive console sales in the US this holiday season.

When Get Fit with Mel B is name-dropped no less than three times in your annual fiscal year report as a positive indicator, it tends to raise a red flag. SouthPeak Interactive today shared the financial results of its fiscal 2010 year (July 2009 - June 2010) and did its best to paint an optimistic picture for the current fiscal year. But even fervor over a Spice Girl comeback "this fall" (a firm release date has yet to be locked down) couldn't cover up the bottom line: SouthPeak recorded a net loss of $5.8 million last fiscal year. At least the company has "improved" upon fiscal 2009's $13.3 million loss ... Anybody?

Other highlights from fiscal 2010 include an increase in total units sold to 2.6 million from 2.4 million in fiscal 2009; and the release of 29 titles compared to 18 in fiscal 2009. Read that again -- it seems two "highlights" can combine to form a low point: Average unit sales per title fell from 133.33K in fiscal 2009 to 89.66K last fiscal year.

"While fiscal 2010 was a challenging year, we made critical improvements to our infrastructure and carefully controlled our costs to better align our operations with our revenue stream," SouthPeak CEO Melanie Mroz said in a conference call today. "Fiscal 2011 will be a continuation of controlled expense and a carefully managed title release schedule. Our focus remains on increasing sales with new titles that address gaming in a way that separates us from our competition."

Hello! I’m the Creative Director for SCEE’s Cambridge Studio in the UK. The PlayStation Move launch has been a really exciting ride for us, and as everyone prepares for the next wave of PlayStation Move games I wanted to take a moment to share a little more about our latest title TV Superstars. Apparently some retailers can’t wait and we’re shipping it early, so look for it starting this Wednesday, October 13th!

For anyone who hasn’t heard of TV Superstars yet, here’s a bit of background info to help you get excited about its release this week.

TV Superstars was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s Cambridge Studio, the creative minds behind the popular Medievil series, Primal, Ghosthunter and the award winning LittleBigPlanet on PSP, just to name a few. TV Superstars lets you and your friends and family actually appear in the game and compete in a world of TV stardom. It uses the PlayStation Eye camera to capture your likeness and the PlayStation Move motion controller to get you competing in a series of crazy TV show challenges, battling it out to become a famous superstar! Each of the TV shows within the game showcases a different use of the PlayStation Move controller and PlayStation Eye camera.

Here’s a look at each of the interactive TV shows within the game:

Let’s Get Physical:

Get set for madcap mayhem with everyone’s favorite extreme sports host, Spike Powers, as he puts unsuspecting contestants through crazy physical challenges. A giant spinning wheel. A robotic monkey wearing boxing gloves. A giant catapult. You’ll need quick reactions and skill as you use the PlayStation Move to twist, turn, duck, run, jump, and aim your way through each challenge.

Frockstar:

If you think being a model is just about putting one foot in front of the other, you’re in for a surprise! Go backstage with host Randy Darling at some of the world’s most glamorous fashion runways. Using the PlayStation Move motion controller, you must select the right clothes and makeup before hitting the catwalk, earning the crowds’ applause for striking the correct pose during your debut runway performance.

Big Beat Kitchen:

Host Big Chili D puts wannabe chefs to the test in the hip hop heat of Big Beat Kitchen. Use the PlayStation Move motion controller to pour, chop, and whisk, then tip, flip and shake following Chili’s instructions to plate the perfect meal then rap along with Chili following the on-screen lyrics.

DIY RAW:

Grab your toolbox and join Jenny Ratchet for the do-it-yourself show where dream homes can become a reality… or a nightmare. You’ll use the PlayStation Move to smash through walls, saw through lumber, and paint walls as you build your clients their dream home.

Super Television Acting Agency:

Vivian Katzenburg runs the Super Television Acting Agency, home to all the brightest rising stars and the only place to go to get your face in TV commercials and on posters and billboards. From toilet cleaner to perfume, you’ll need all your acting talent and skills to sell these products. Use the PlayStation Move to follow the director’s instructions as your acting talent and skills are to put to the test to sell everything from toilet cleaner to perfume.

While competing in each of the shows, players earn “Fame Points” to rise from a Z-list wannabe to an A-list superstar. As players earn Fame Points and become more famous, they’ll have the opportunity to compete in lavish reward challenges and even star in their very own TV commercials, rising through the ranks to leave their own unique mark on the world. You’ll have to battle it out to see who controls the global television media as the world of TV Superstars comes to life based on your performance, allowing you to choose your own path through the world of TV fame.

Keep an eye out for TV Superstars coming soon to a retailer near you and we hope you and your friends and family will have as much fun playing it as we had making it!

#clips It's day 10 in the McGuire household, Kevin Butler is getting into the peanut butter, and not even vuvuzelas can stop the family's matron from being one bad mamma jamma in Tiger Woods 11. More »

Heroes on the Move was always a tentative title for Sony's motion controlled mash-up mini-game collection. Perhaps thinking the placeholder moniker was too clever, the Sony marketing team has unveiled a brand new title for the game: PlayStation Move Heroes. The alternate title was going to be That PlayStation Move Game with Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper, so at least the better title won out.

In addition to the new title, Sony also revealed details of the game's story. How do these heroes come together?
A mysterious alien duo has swept through the galaxy, fiendishly snatching entire chunks from the worlds of Ratchet, Jak and Sly to create a mysterious new planet in the galaxy. After being abducted to this new world, Ratchet, Clank, Jak, Daxter, Sly Cooper and Bentley are invited by their gracious alien hosts to compete in friendly, yet challenging competition to test their extraordinary skills ... but as our heroes discover, all is not as it seems. Our fearless heroes soon find themselves joined together in the ultimate battle to protect the galaxy -- and in a fight for their own survival. PlayStation Move Heroes is set for release in Spring 2011.

#ps3 The game formerly known as Heroes on the Move is now PlayStation Move Heroes. It's still coming the the PlayStation 3 next year, still stars Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, Sly Cooper and Bentley. Still motion-controlled. Here's a new level. More »

TRON: Evolution is formally considered the second entry in the TRON trilogy, bridging the fiction between the 1982 film and the upcoming film TRON: Legacy. But in addition to its new single-player story, TRON: Evolution will also serve up a comprehensive multiplayer mode complete with a player progression system, upgradeable weapons, and driveable vehicles. The new video below will give you a taste of what’s in store.

I spoke with TRON: Evolution’s design director, Chris Whiteside, to learn more about the scope of multiplayer and how stereoscopic 3D support will add to the experience (and possibly improve your aim). And though details on PlayStation Move support are still scarce — sadly, it wasn’t playable at the event — I was able to tease out a few details about how it will work when the final game ships this December.

Sid Shuman: Visually, TRON: Evolution looks to be showing many new visual effects since its last appearance. What have you done to enhance the visuals?

Chris Whiteside, Design Director, Propaganda Games: Prior to E3, we didn’t have proper reflection maps. The lighting passes weren’t complete, the visual effects were revamped after E3, and the camera was completely redone after E3 based on feedback that it was too fast and wasn’t framing the action well enough. We’re very receptive to criticism and commentary, so we spent a lot of time getting it up to scratch. We’re making this game for the fans of TRON, so we want to make sure it’s tip-top.

SS: Why is stereoscopic 3D a good fit for TRON: Evolution?

CW: From a technical standpoint, the reason 3D works so well is the contrast of the colors in the environment, and the lines in the environment and the architecture style we use. It’s not a messy world, you know? There are no trees with leaves on them, that kind of thing. The environments are very angular, which creates an advantage with depth of field and super-advanced parallax effects when we render in 3D. We had to mess with the art style a bit. We went mental with the lighting to bring out the definition of the buildings, for instance.

SS: Will 3D be supported in both single-player and multiplayer?

CW: It totally does, yeah. 3D is awesome for combat because you get a sense of depth with the characters. The normal targeting system is based on the angle of the analog stick, and very minute aiming adjustments, so the 3D helps with targeting. We invested a lot of money in the 3D technology and we’re hoping that TRON: Evolution is the pinnacle 3D gaming experience this year.

SS: We’re seeing TRON: Evolution’s multiplayer for the first time today. What’s the scale of the multiplayer experience?

CW: For me, the multiplayer mode is the jewel in the crown. We’ve got four modes in all: Disintegration is a Deathmatch-style mode, we have Team Deathmatch, Power Monger in which you can take over sections and control them, and Bit Runner is our take on Capture the Flag. The difference is you don’t take the “flag” back to the base, you have to hold onto it while everyone else tries to de-rez (kill) you.

We’re also launching new modes and maps in DLC. You’ll see new free maps at launch, and you’ll get new modes in DLC. You’ll also get upgrades to the player progression systems: new level caps, new vehicles, and so on.

SS: How do the lightcycles and tanks fit into the multiplayer ecosystem?

CW: We wanted to create this sort of sandbox cybersport, which meant that we needed players needed to be able to “rez” in and out of vehicles almost at will. The lightcycles are very fast and are a primary way for players to move around quickly. The tanks bring the heavy firepower, and on-foot provides protection for the tanks. It’s rock-paper-scissors design. The perception is that the tanks are the most powerful, but the reality is that you’re most powerful when you’re on foot.

SS: TRON’s characters are unusually maneuverable. How do you maintain balance in a multiplayer setting with characters that can run on walls and make these huge jumps?

CW: Awesome question. We knew this game was about mobility. We basically set rules for how we build the environments — the distance between jumps and so forth. We created basic, grey-textured blocks that were kind of like LEGO pieces. We knew that the distance between them was just right, so if we kept using the same blocks when we built multiplayer levels. This is a traditional tactic in this kind of game, but the difference is we have online multiplayer so it was even more important.

SS: How can players evolve and enhance their multiplayer characters?

CW: For starters, you can play the single-player game, level up, get vehicles and enhancements, specialize your character. Then you can take those upgrades with you when you go into online multiplayer, or vice-versa. Our player progression system allows you to customize a character to your own strengths, so when you start teaming up with people playing online, you’ll essentially be forming a party.

There are a huge number of upgrades — upgrades that increase your damage greatly but make you slower or weaker, upgrades that make you stealthy and scout-like, or other enhancements that will buff the team as a whole. There’s a ton of stuff in multiplayer: you can buy new bikes, augments for the different weapons, and more. But you can’t buy everything, and that’s really the secret. You have to specialize in what works for you.

SS: How will TRON: Evolution support PlayStation Move?

CW: PlayStation Move is used in vehicle segments, particularly the lightcycle segments. It gives players a more nuanced control over the lightcycle, and it’s fun to be able to hold it like it’s the actual control panel of the lightcycle. And yes, PlayStation Move support is included on the disc!

SS: Do you use one PlayStation Move controller to control vehicles, or two?

CW: You use one, though we experimented with using two. You hold it on its side and tilt it up or down to accelerate or slow down. Watch this space — I think PlayStation Move is something we’ll be doing a little more with going forward. We’ll see what happens with that.

PlayStation Nation,

It has been more than two weeks since the launch of PlayStation Move here in North America and we’re blown away by the fantastic reception we’ve received from avid gamers, new gamers, the press and retailers. Positive reviews continue to pour in for PlayStation Move, with one critic labeling it “the pinnacle of motion-sensing technology” and and another crediting it with going “further than any other system to date in bridging the physical and virtual worlds.”

By now you’ve hopefully gotten your hands on PlayStation Move and have seen Kevin Butler’s big “move-in” with the Maguire family. With a few weeks under their belts, the family raises the stakes with a little friendly competition on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. EA Sports has done a fantastic job highlighting the incredible precision of PlayStation Move with a game that the Wall Street Journal recently pointed to as being one of the best justifications for getting your hands on a PlayStation Move .

Part of the inspiration for this next commercial came directly from Tiger as a young boy. Tiger’s father Earl would rattle the change in his pocket to teach him not to be distracted. Well, the Maguires have kicked this up a notch or two.

We have many more PlayStation Move games coming for the holiday including The Fight: Light Out and SingStar Dance which will hit stores later this fall. These two games couldn’t be more different: one is a gritty bare-knuckle brawler that lets you throw punches with 1:1 precision and the other offers an engaging and entertaining experience for the whole family. We’re confident that both will deliver hours of fun for the entire family.

In the meantime, grab a copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and see if the PlayStation Move’s precision helps your game!

#clips Kevin Butler, Sony's fake vice president of animal control, doesn't drop the snark even if cute widdle pwane-fwying pets are the subject. And hey, dude's got a point about chewed furniture and piddle stains. More »

#preview The video game series that made PlayStation thumbsticks mandatory is now one of the first Sony franchises moving to PlayStation 3's motion controller. We wrote about Ape Escape for Move in Tokyo. In New York yesterday, we shot video. More »

A couple weeks ago we announced the official track list for the newest installment to the popular SingStar franchise, SingStar Dance. Today we have some more exciting news for you. So the question I have for you, is are you ready to show your friends, your family, and the world your best dance moves?

Well get ready, because SingStar Dance officially ships on November 9th, just in time for the holiday season. You’ll be able to grab your microphone and your PlayStation Move motion controller and start singing and dancing along to some of the hottest new tracks and music videos.

For those of you who already own a SingStar microphone, be sure to pick up a copy of SingStar Dance to add to your SingStar collection. And if you’ve already picked up your PlayStation Move, you’ll be all set to start grooving along with the choreography. But for those of you who might be a little new to the SingStar franchise, we have a special bundle just for you. Check out the SingStar Dance Party Pack. The SingStar Dance Party Pack will provide you with everything you need to immediately start singing along with the entire SingStar Dance track list. The SingStar Dance Party Pack, which also launches on November 9 alongside the stand-alone game, will include:

• The newest SingStar game, SingStar Dance
• 2 Official SingStar Microphones
• 1 Official SingStar USB converter

Both the SingStar Dance Party Pack and the stand-alone game will retail for $39.99. This means if you pick up the bundle, you’re getting two SingStar microphones for the same price as the game alone, an instant $20 value for free. Talk about a great deal!

So, what are you waiting for? Pre-order yours today!

Stop by to see the PlayStation Move in action on Saturday, Oct. 9 when nearly 370 GameStop stores nationwide will be demonstrating two exciting PlayStation Move games: Sports Champions and EyePet. Learn more about Sony's motion technology and try your hand at an array of competitive sporting events or caring for a virtual EyePet.

Our development teams have been hard at work creating new motion-control experiences for the PS3 and I’m excited to share that the latest PlayStation Move exclusive is blasting its way onto the scene later this month.

I’m proud to announce that the official North American release date for The Shoot is October 19!

In just a few weeks, The Shoot will cast you as the ultimate action-movie hero. Using the PlayStation Move motion controller, you’ll be able to blast through five action-packed movie sets in this over-the-top arcade shooter. Impress the director with your accuracy by building up combos to activate special powers that will help you take down targets and inflict maximum destruction in your scenes.

Take your experience to the next level by picking up the Shooting Attachment at the same time as The Shoot. Specially designed for arcade-style shooting games, the Shooting Attachment lets you hold your motion controller like a pistol to allow for more intuitive target shooting. Just snap in your motion controller, take aim and get ready for an even more immersive gaming experience.

Be sure to check out The Shoot and the Shooting Attachment when they hit stores later this month, and show us if you have what it takes to be an action movie star!

Last night, Ubisoft held a Kinect-specific event in downtown San Francisco. There, president Laurent Detoc and senior VP of marketing and sales, Tony Key, talked about the company's strategy for Kinect and why it's investing so heavily to become the biggest third-party supporter of the device at launch.


"I think today is a pretty good testament that we think Kinect will do well because this is an event only about Kinect, so that's our statement on how well we think it's going to do," said Detoc in his opening presentation. It's a technology the company believes is the future of gaming and it's not afraid to say it -- Detoc's next few minutes addressing attendees proved that.

What is a motion controller without nifty attachments that make it look like real life objects? Nothing, that's what -- a point driven home by CTA Digital's latest PlayStation Move accessories. The "Perfect Aim Pistol" gives your Move controller that firearm look and feel, while CTA claims it's also light enough to prevent dreaded light-gun fatigue. Meanwhile, the aptly named "Submachine Gun" offers a heftier military experience, housing both the Move and companion Navigation Controller; and it even features a removable stock and scope. The pistol and submachine gun can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $15 and $30, respectively.

Whether either of these trump the Sony's own, Earthworm Jim-style gun shell, well, that comes down to personal preference.

Here’s a typical exchange at an SCEA event planning meeting:

“We’re going to be holding a media event in New York.”
“Can we get some Blog readers in?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”

That’s how you get events like this and this and this.

And now this: We’re holding a PlayStation Move media event in NYC on Wednesday (October 6th), featuring Heroes on the Move, TV Superstars, The Shoot, SingStar Dance and the newest build of The Fight which nobody outside of PlayStation has yet played. It’s ass-kickingly good :)

While I wish I could bring all of you in to go hands-on with this next wave of PlayStation Move games, it’s being held at a venue with a capacity of less than 100 people. So instead of having the place fill up in 30 seconds and disappointing a lot of people who lined up for a long time, we’re going VIP style.

So if you’re in New York (the event will be in the Midtown area), available from 7-9pm, and crave playing things before you can buy them, please RSVP at playstationnymeetup@gmail.com.

Please give us your first and last name, and indicate if you will be bringing a +1… if you don’t say so, we’re going to assume that you’re coming by yourself. No +2s or +3s or +50s, please. Also, this is a 21+ event; I did say VIP :) ID will be checked!

If you’re among the first to reply, we’ll notify you via email by tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon Pacific. We’ll also select some alternates to fill any spots vacated by no-shows, so fingers crossed.

Let me bring you back in time to E3 2009, where we debuted a little tech demo for a brand new motion control platform, later to become what we now all know and love as the PlayStation Move. In the tech demo you could sword fight with a skeleton (anyone remember tickling the skeleton’s chin with the sword blade?), use dual handed throwing stars, and shoot arrows at an endless parade of skeletons. Most of the mechanics in the demo were the basis of a title that was, at the time, only a work in progress, but would become Sports Champions.

Well, our skeletons have finally been let out of the closet again with a brand new Sports Champions DLC pack called the Haunted Pack, available for sale through the PlayStation Store on Tuesday, October 5 for $4.99. The new content includes three new frightful characters that are playable in all six events, as well as new spooky equipment for each of the sports.

New Characters:

Specter:

Deadmund:

Numbskull:

New Equipment:

Disc Golf – Phantom Disc Set
Bocce – Skull Bocce Set
Table Tennis – Phantom Paddle
Gladiator Duel – Skeleton Sword and Shield
Archery – Skull Bow
Beach Volleyball – Skull Ball

I dare you to play a round of Disc Golf with Specter and not laugh. Also, for those wanting the easy way out, there will be an Unlock All DLC added the same day as the Haunted Pack. Please be sure to watch for more Sports Champions DLC in the months to come. Enjoy!

At the Eurogamer Expo in the UK this week, Prope head and Sonic the Hedgehog creative lead Yuji Naka spoke of two canceled PlayStation Move/Kinect games he worked on that "unfortunately didn't come out." GamesIndustry.biz reports Naka as saying, "I do enjoy working with new hardware, so I am hoping to create something exciting using those new technologies." He then added, "Actually, I worked on two games which unfortunately didn't come out, but those games were using those two technologies," referring to Sony and Microsoft's motion peripherals.

He also spoke to the recent, repeated comments from Capcom global head of production Keiji Inafune regarding Japanese development in comparison to Western development, saying, "You could say that Japanese developers today are behind Western competitors in terms of technology. But at the same time, Japanese developers still come up with new game ideas and styles that are very much different from Western counterparts ... so I do agree with [Inafune's] comments to some extent, but I believe Japanese games technology has its own strong areas to compete with Western titles." In light of Mr. Naka's humility, we'd also like to point out that his team used the Nintendo Wii's motion controller in a completely unique way with Let's Tap, so the thought of them working with Move and Kinect is absolutely thrilling.

#demo LittleBigPlanet 2 will have a multilevel PlayStation Move enabled demo, but full support won't be added until after the game arrives in January, Eurogamer reports. More »

Though we thought up a few applications for the PlayStation Move controller at first glance, we hadn't really considered its capacity for inflicting unthinkable violence upon the Helghast. Fortunately, PlayStation.Blog was recently able to fill in the blanks in our imagination, demoing Killzone 3's Move functionality in the video posted after the jump.

Not only does the demo do a good job of showing how the series' gameplay mechanics have translated over to the motion controller, it also includes a few interesting details about multiplayer -- for instance, there will be separate matchmaking playlists for people using the DualShock 3 and people using the Move. But what about the people like us, who plan on playing the game using a Dance Dance Revolution pad? Where's our playlist?

#clips In this video Guerrilla Games' Steven Ter Heide walks us through what it's like to play Killzone 3 with the PS3's Move controller. More »

Dungeon Defenders originally began as "Dungeon Defense," an indie game created with Epic's Unreal Dev Kit that mashed up the tower defense and action-RPG genres. Developers Trendy Entertainment then decided to revamp the game, which became Dungeon Defenders, and it's now being readied for release on XBLA, PC and PSN (with support for Move and stereoscopic 3D) later this year.

After a recent preview session with the game, I'll say this: It's complicated. Dungeon Defenders doesn't just mix pieces of a few genres, it totally combines them. There is a full tower defense game here, and a full action-RPG game, and even a little bit of real-time strategy resource management. There's a lot going on, but just like recent genre-mixer Monday Night Combat, players who can juggle a few genres at a time will find a lot to like.

The latest iteration of O-Games' "phenomenally successful" PDC World Championship Darts franchise is getting two no-brainer features: support for PS3's Move controller and Wii's MotionPlus add-on.

From a technological perspective, PlayStation Move offers much more than what Nintendo's original Wiimote, and even the subsequent MotionPlus add-on, can provide. However, critics point out that it's taken four years for Sony to develop and market a proper response to Nintendo. Considering Move-like technology was in development at Sony since the PS2 era, why has it taken the company so long to produce something? Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios, offered a reasonable explanation.

"We couldn't have made Move when we launched PS3," Yoshida told Wired. "We needed the time to be able to create the performance of Move with the target price that we started out with." (Microsoft has reportedly struggled with balancing technological edge with a reasonable price tag for Kinect, as well.) Still, all these years later, PlayStation Move controllers aren't exactly cheap, and Sony continues to been criticized for being late to the game. Yoshida had his response to that, though: "A 2010 system is what we are launching in 2010. In that sense, I don't think we are late at all."

Of course, with sales of Wii hardware and software on the decline, even Sony has to wonder: Has the motion control fad lost its momentum? It'll be interesting to see how Move (and Kinect) answer that question in the months to come.

#podcast Dante goes punk. Wesker slaps down Spidey. Doc Brown is back. Pokemon for grown-ups? What's going on! More »

#richardmarks Richard Marks has an impressive resume: He has created the EyeToy, the PlayStation Eye and the PlayStation Move. He also likes buttons. More »

Sony and Microsoft may be going head to head this holiday with motion-based gaming peripherals, but SCE Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida doesn't see Microsoft's massive Kinect ad campaign as a problem for PlayStation's Move -- in fact, Sony quite likes the free attention it's getting as a result. Yoshida recently admitted as much to GamesIndustry.biz, saying, "I've always felt like we were lucky that Microsoft made such a big deal with Project Natal. In a broader sense, we are categorized as 'motion gaming' -- if we were just doing Move, we wouldn't have had as much coverage and attention from media and consumers."

Also, despite the fact that Sony has been touting 3D functionality in lots of upcoming games -- even updating older releases with the technology -- Yoshida doesn't necessarily believe we'll be seeing 3DTV-exclusive titles anytime soon. "Never say never -- but I don't think that makes sense. Stereoscopic 3D isn't adding something completely different, it's just making it a bit more natural for users to see 3D images. We just don't have to think about making games exclusive to 3DTV," he said.

The interview also covers the turbulent trip of the hand-carried PlayStation Move prototype by Richard Marx, not to mention the changes in Sony's structure over the past few years as various major executives have played musical chairs.

The latest victim of techno-savvy website IFixIt's particularly brutal brand of evisceration is none other than Sony's new magic wand, the PlayStation Move. The site performed a teardown on the new controller, examining how easily it could be repaired should one of your friends decide to throw it, full force, at the razor-sharp corner of your living room coffee table. (Don't they know that motion controller-related accidents are so 2006?)

You can check out all of the controller's inside-parts over in IFixIt's teardown -- unfortunately, though, they didn't crack open the orb which tops the device. We think it has something to do with them not wanting to injure the magical, polychromatic fairy which lives inside of said orb.

EA is sending in the experts to salvage Dead Space Extraction, left adrift in retail space last year. Although Extraction impressed critics with its threatening environments and frantic action, it never quite found the audience it deserved on the Wii. The on-rails shooter was an essential component of EA's harsh sci-fi universe, trading engineer Isaac Clarke's high-pressure exploration for a briskly paced series of intense standoffs -- that 480p resolution certainly didn't stop it from being it a Dead Space game.

The PlayStation 3 version's high-definition graphics are a straightforward (if unambitious) improvement, but the wider distribution via the PlayStation Network and through Limited Edition PS3 copies of next year's Dead Space 2 offers the greatest opportunity to connect with new players.