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Review: Sony PlayStation Move

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 07:14 PM PDT

Short Version:

Sony sent us 4 games along with the PlayStation Move. Two of them make me want to turn off the PS3, curl up into the fetal position, and cry my pain away. One is decent. One of them is so damn good that I want to invite everyone I know over for a glimpse into the future.

The platform that Sony built here has incredible potential — now it’s up to game developers to make it worth while.

Long Version:

How it works:

Back in 2006, Nintendo shook up the gaming world (for better or for worse) with the release of the Wii. Motion control was suddenly on everyone’s mind — so of course, Sony and Microsoft had to get in on it. Three years later, Sony is the first of the latter two to reach the shelves.

Like Nintendo’s approach, the Move generally requires the player to hold at least one controller. Given that similarity, one might assume that they’re based on the same technology. They’re actually similar in principle, but opposites in execution.

You see, the Wii uses a passive infrared light above or below the screen, which is detected and tracked by a camera in the Wii remote. The Move, on the other hand, puts a camera below the TV, which detects a little glowing ball stuck to the end of the Move remote. Throw in a whole bunch of gyroscopic and accelerometer voodoo for both, and you’ve got the basic idea.

The Controller:

I’ve got nothing but good stuff to say about the Move controller hardware. It’s comfortable in the hand, the wrist straps stay nice and secure, and they’re surprisingly light. Sure, the glowing orbs make you feel like a magical fairy princess when you first flip ‘em on — but once you’ve lost yourself in a game, you hardly notice.

I much prefer the Move’s button layout over that of the Wii. Sony didn’t try to go for a controller that worked in two different orientations, so the layout here is considerably more natural than that of the Wii remote.

I also prefer the Move’s button layout over that of the Kinect, as it… you know, has buttons.

Side note: if you’ve got dogs, be careful where you leave your controllers. The glowing orb bits are soft, malleable rubber — just like your pups favorite chew toy.

The Camera:

The camera isn’t quite as spectacular as I’d hoped.

When it comes to detecting the little glowy bits on the controllers, it’s just grand. When games attempt to forego use of the controller and simply detect the player’s hand (as EyePet does, see below), however, all hell breaks loose.

My living room is fairly well lit, especially during the day — even there, though, the amount of camera noise in pictures was pretty disappointing. Some of the games take snapshots of the player during game play (often unbeknownst to the player, which is in and of itself a downright terrible idea. That’s for another post, though); over half the time, these pictures were pretty gnarly. And that’s not just because I look funny.

The Games:

As mentioned above, Sony sent along four games (EyePet, KungFu Rider, Start The Party, and Sports Champions) as a sampler of what the Move could do. I’m not going to touch on things like plot, graphics, or sound for each game here — the focus of this review is how well the Move itself works, so those things would be a bit irrelevant.

Let’s check ‘em out, from worst to best:

EyePet Move Edition:

Note: This is not my family and, contrary to what some of my fellow CrunchGear writers might tell you, I am not that little blond girl.

In EyePet, the player hatches, raises, and interacts with an adorable little creature called a . When I say adorable, I mean it: this thing looks like a cross between Gizmo and a marmoset.

I was pretty excited by the concept, having played with an early build of the game a few months ago. Unfortunately, it ranks the worst by default: I just couldn’t get it to work. At all.

I tried making my room darker, and making it lighter. I tried different rooms. I thought my tan carpet might be too close in color compared to my pasty white hands, so I put down a bright blue blanket. Nothing. At any point in the game where the player is supposed to put down the controller and interact with their pet by hand, it all stops working.

Your mileage may vary, but an hour of experimentation later, I gave up. Technical mishaps like this are just unacceptable.

KungFu Rider:

Somehow they managed to make flying down a hill on an office chair not fun.

You’re running from the Triads. Why? Because they’re the Triads, duh. They want to kill you, and you don’t want to die. That’s pretty much the gist of it.

Oh, and you’re blasting down hills on an office chair (or a vacuum, or something else equally crazy). Imagine Tony Hawk Downhill Jam, except absolutely absurd. And also not very good.

The Move support feels tacked on. Really — it just doesn’t make sense. You sort of wave the controller back and forth to steer, and paddle awkwardly through the air to have your character kick for speed. The steering is ridiculously slow and clunky, turning what should have been a fast-paced, all-out-speed game into a weird, frustrating experience. It’s like you’re on a rollercoaster, but the wheels are made of gummy bears.

This game could have been awesome, if it had just stuck with the standard controller. Instead, the developers chose to tie in nonsensical Move gestures and pretty much ruin the whole thing.

Start The Party:

PLEASE HAMMER DON’T HURT’EM.

Here’s where things start getting good.

As the name implies, Start The Party is a party game. Players take turns passing (meh) the controller as it rotates through 20 different mini-games.

Throughout the game, any player in front of the camera are shown on screen. In place of the Move controller, however, each mini-game renders its own related object. One second, you might be smashing bugs with a tennis racket; a few seconds later, you’re brushing an alligator’s teeth with a big ol’ toothbrush. It’s a really adorable idea.

Some of the mini-games work better than others, but they generally all work well enough. The fact that you have to pass the controller (even if you have more than one) is a bit disappointing; it’s totally fine that the game only supports one player at a time, but having to take off the wrist-strap and pass things around gets tiresome.

Sports Champions:

I GOT IT, I GOT IT nope dont got it.

Remember the game that I said I wanted to share with everyone I know?

This is it.

This is the game that proves to me that the Move is actually capable of being awesome.

This is the game that everyone with a Move should buy — which is good, because it’s the one that comes with it in the $99 bundle.

Sports Champion is to the Move as Wii Sports was to the Wii. It’s less cartoony, but strikingly similar in concept: you’ve got a widely varied bunch of sports games packed onto one disc, each with its own set of challenges and levels.

The game has its faults (the selectable characters are almost comically stereotypical, for example. A black dude who breakdances constantly? A Brazilian girl who does a funky Ju-Jitsu flip as she throws a frisbee? Come on.) but that’s not the point. The point is how well it works with the Move, and hot damn, does it do that well.

You’ve got six games to pick from: Archery, Volleyball, Bocce ball, Table Tennis, Gladiator Duel, and Frisbee golf. Every single one of them is amazing.

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt as immersed in a game as I did here. From reaching behind my neck to grab an arrow to jumping around my room attempting to hide behind my Gladiator Shield, it’s all simply astounding. Frisbee Golf actually feels like playing Frisbee Golf, down to the most precise flick of the wrist. I love it. Love it, love it, love it.

Overall experience:

While each game brought a pretty wildly different experience, some experiences — both good and bad — were common across all of ‘em.

The Good Experiences: the Move is awesome for menu navigation. Some games use the remote as a pointer; others do a crazy sort of gesture thing, wherein you hold the trigger and move in the direction you want to go. Both work swimmingly. The pointer method actually tends to work better than it does on the Wii, as it doesn’t ever freak out due to ambient IR light (read: Christmas lights and candles).

The Bad Experiences: Start playing a game. Leave the room (or even just move too far from where you started) and come back. Suddenly, your aim is crazy or the Move think your hands are above your head when they’re not. This technology — wherein the tracker (the camera) never moves while the beacon (the controller) does so constantly (as mentioned, the opposite approach the Wii takes) — requires fine calibration. Leave the frame and come back, and you’ll need to recalibrate. It’s a quick process (~8 seconds or so), but it gets a bit old if you’re one who likes to pause mid-game to run and grab a handful of chips.

Conclusion:

Two of the four games Sony sent were downright, jaw-droppingly terrible. That’s not a good sign. However, the other two ranged from not-too-shabby (Start The Party) to LEAVE-ME-ALONE-I’M-PLAYING-A-GAME-COME-BACK-NEXT-WEEK (Sports Champion).

Sports Champion honestly gives me hope for this platform, and proves to me that Sony has done their job in building something awesome. However, it’s now entirely up to Move developers to build the games that blow the minds. They can’t rely on the Move support alone to sell their game. They can’t ship things that don’t work. Most importantly, they can’t just tack this thing on. If they do that — or if Sony allows that to happen — the Move is destined to a lifetime of dust gathering, remembered only as a misguided “Me too!” gimmick.

12-Gauge Shot Glass, For Gun/Liquor Lovers

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 07:00 PM PDT


This attractive shot glass thing is made from a single piece of steel and made to look just like a real shotgun shell. Well, except for the all-metal part. Too bad they cost $70 each! Still, a quarter-pound milled-steel shot-taking machine is a pretty amazing way to get tore up. Had to share it.

Get ‘em at Made By Ammo.

[via Neatorama]

3DS Titles Compared To Their Predecessors

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:30 PM PDT

I knew there would be some improvements for the 3DS remakes of old games, but these comparison screenshots really drive the point home. I’m not sure I buy that Resident Evil 4 one, though. I have to say, this might be the first handheld game system I ever buy. One Reddit commenter even claims it’s got more graphical muscle than a Wii. Of course, a wet noodle has more graphical muscle than the Wii, and so will the PSP 2 when that comes out.

$300 is a grip, though. I better start saving now.

The Making Of A Homebrew Retro Game Cartridge

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:00 PM PDT

1up has an interesting article right now about how dedicated homebrew guys put together, test, and actually manufacture modern-retro cartridge games like Retro City Rampage. Sure, you could just emulate, or get a flash cartridge, but let’s be honest: there’s nothing like the real thing. Even if it isn’t real.

Zune HD Gets New Games, Live Messenger

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 05:35 PM PDT

An update rolled out last night to users of the Zune HD (that’d be me and Nicholas) including a few much-appreciated new games and access to Microsoft’s Live Messenger client, which by extension supports a few social feeds as well. A nice bonus to be sure, but I get the feeling the poor device is going to be neglected once Windows Phone 7 hits in a couple weeks.

Screenshot at right for you to consume at your leisure. I can’t update right now because my PC borked itself. Any Zunatics out there want to weigh in on the new goodies?

10,000 Hard Drives Stolen, Craigslist Hard Drive Market Crashes

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 05:30 PM PDT

Thieves in Malaysia managed to drive off in a truck containing 10,800 Western Digital hard drives. Don’t expect to see the drives hit the market though, Malaysian police were able to identify the culprits, as they used to work at the warehouse the drives were stolen from. The Malaysian news site NST reports that the people driving the truck were in fact waved through security after being recognized by the guard on duty as employees. Apparently the guard hadn’t got the memo about the men being fired.

[via HardOCP]

Turn Your Expensive DLSR Into A Cheap Pinhole Camera

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 04:35 PM PDT

Feeling a little jealous of all the “hipstamatic” shots out there? Want to take your modern camera down a few years? It’s easy! Just spend $50 on Photojojo’s pinhole body cap.

You’ll need to order the appropriate cap for your body, but after that it’s easy. The pinhole cap even continues to work as a body cap; Photojojo thought to include a clear cover over the hole to keep your sensor clean. Be aware, you’ll need to use a tripod to get any kind of decent looking picture, but that’s not the point, is it? One thing though – $50 is a little steep for a body cap, even if it does have a laser cut hole in it. Why couldn’t you make your own? Props to Photojojo for marketing the idea though.

[via Gearlog, Gizmodo]

Images From The West Coast Green Show

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 03:30 PM PDT


There’s a nice gallery of items from the West Coast Green show over at CNET. Many of these technologies are, of course, prototypes or cost-ineffective at the moment, but there are lots of totally legit ideas here for building energy-efficient homes. Above is an efficient floor-heating element; personally, I just wear socks, but hey.

COICA Bill Postponed; It’s Time To Discuss Alternatives To Traditional DNS

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 03:00 PM PDT


COICA, the bill that made waves last week as an affront to free speech and due process rights, was recently postponed, to the net’s great relief. While it seems to have been the kind of inflammatory election-year FUD bill we see very often in this country, it brought up several issues that are worth taking action on.

The bill is ostensibly to “combat online infringement, and for other purposes,” but broadly speaking, it would grant “root access” to one of the fundamental technologies running the web: DNS. Here’s the question: if such an important technology could come so easily within a breath of being in the clutches of politicians and lobbyists, why do we rely so much upon it?

It’s a miracle that the web is as open as it is. Although we have many legitimate issues with packet prioritization, surveillance by ISPs, and the boundaries of free speech, the fact is that our internet is insanely open when you consider how it might have been with just a little nudge in another direction early on. Such nudges have actually taken place, and have had their effects: various sites and services have been shut down with huge fines and penalties, and laws have been established for the prompt takedown of copyrighted content (already lacking due process, I might add).

But the result of these nudges is always decentralization. Bruce Lee would have been proud. They can’t hurt what they can’t hit, after all, and so it was that ideas like Bittorrent and others arose. While their overwhelming use for illegal file sharing says something of mankind’s nature, these ways of transferring data are secure and secret.

I can transfer a file directly to another IP address based on peer to peer discovery. So why do I have to contact a private, third-party company for information on where a website lies? Centralized DNS is ripe for replacement, or perhaps I should say disruption.

Now, I’m no IT guy, so I’m probably way off on some of these things, but it seems to me that the principles of Bittorrent, and peer discovery in general, should be applicable to locating and serving websites. We shouldn’t be forced to locate our data, servers, DNS, etc., in foreign countries just to ensure access. I doubt the government is likely to decide our blog is worth blocking, but it would be a comfort to know that should the worst happen (or something more prosaic, like our DNS servers being hacked), there is a backup protocol for establishing a chain of communication between client and server.

It’s more than simply anonymizing access (like TOR or Haystack), too, since the block on a website or server wouldn’t necessarily be based on where you’re trying to access it from. And more serious measures, like isolating the offending site by blacklisting it on nearby nodes, would be more difficult to circumvent — but let’s be honest, if things reach that level of Gibson-esque cyber-espionage, things may require something more than a technical workaround.

I have no doubt that there are already projects in development for this purpose, perhaps even protocols in place for such a thing. But despite having lived and worked on the net for years, I haven’t the slightest clue where to look, who to donate to, what to enable or disable, and so on. Changes like this one tend to be bottom-up, like the adoption of Bittorrent and ad blockers. What do you suggest? Where do we go from here?

Unboxing Gallery: The Nokia N8

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 02:34 PM PDT

Oh, how I love when the doorbell rings. Most of my buddies call about 5 minutes before they decide to come over, so they tend to just walk right in. As such, the door bell means one of two things: a solicitor just waiting to be yelled at, or Mr.FedEx-slash-UPS-dude coming to drop off some goodies

When the door bell rang this morning, it wasn’t a solicitor. In Mr.UPS-dude’s hands? Nokia’s first Symbian^3 smartphone, the N8, fresh outta Finland.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

The new AT&T Navigator for iPhone totally helps you run red lights

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 02:32 PM PDT

Perhaps that headline is a bit of an exaggeration. The latest update to Telenav’s AT&T Navigator for iPhone doesn’t tell you that you should run red lights, but it does tell you when you definitely shouldn’t.

Telenav has just pushed out an update to their turn-by-turn app for the iPhone, AT&T Navigator. One of the big new features, amongst others: Red-light camera alerts.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Fujifilm US Giving Away W3 3D Camera On Twitter

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 01:45 PM PDT

Ever wanted to win one of those Fujifilm 3D cameras, the W3 3D? You know where this is going: Fujifilm has a little Twitter contest going on right now (it runs through the end of the month), and if you win it, bam! You'll be taking 3D photos in no time.

There's very little effort on your part. You follow @FujifilmUS and tweet the answer to the following question: What movie should be redone in 3D? You'll need to include the hashtags #3d and #sweepstakes to be in the running.

You don't get extra points for creativity, so long, multi-part tweets about how movies filmed in 2D were filmed for 2D, so re-making them in 3D is a curious idea at best. Just say something like The Lion King and cross your fingers.

US-only, I'm afraid. Sorry, Stoke.

Sintek Photonics Tipped As Potential iMac Touchscreen Supplier

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 12:36 PM PDT


August saw Apple filing for a patent on a “convertible” iMac with iOS integration. While some thought it was merely an exploratory filing in case they went for it someday, it may in fact be more than that. Digitimes reports that Sintek Photronics, a display manufacturer with an amazing name, has sent samples of an upcoming display line to Apple for their consideration — capacitive touchscreens over 20″ in size. Rumors confirmed? Not quite, but they have gained a bit more credibility.

The screens are of the newest type, which, like other high-end touch devices, have the capacitive layer fused to the glass, reducing thickness and weight, two considerations I brought up last month.

No information was reported regarding resolution, pixel density, or actual sizes, and it should be said as well that the “iMac touch” is still unconfirmed. I argued that it would be a great idea for a desktop system, but not so much for a convertible notebook for heat and weight reasons. We have, of course, argued against desktop touchscreens before as well.

When and if Apple announces the iMac touch relies entirely on the price and availability of the components, the most notable of course being the screen. If Sintek can get a million of these things built by February, we might see it as early as then. I’m sure we’ll hear more murmurs on this subject before then, though, so I’ll defer to potential future reports for now.

Once Again, Samuel Eto’o Shows Off His Sports Photography Chops

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:45 AM PDT

The following post brings me great joy. Years ago, almost like three years go, Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o scored a goal for FC Barcelona, then grabbed the nearest Nikon camera to take a photo of young Bojan, his team-mate. (Apparently the photo has exploded on our server since then.) It seems Mr. Eto’o has been bitten by the sports photography bug once again, grabbing the nearest camera after scoring his third goal for Inter in the Champions League this past Wednesday. Here’s the photo (click "guarda le foto").

The photo, of Holland international Wesley Sneijder, truly shows that Eto’o could find himself on the payroll of a sports publication once he decides to hang up his boots.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell what type of camera he used this time around.


2011: The Year We Say Goodbye to BIOS And Hello To UEFI

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 10:45 AM PDT

Are we looking at the final days of BIOS? Apparently so, if we’re to believe the BBC. Its replacement, UEFI (which I’ve taken to pronounce like UEFA, as in the UEFA Champions League), will be found on more and more PCs beginning next year. For end-users that immediately means one thing: much faster boot times.

The deal with BIOS is that it’s really quite old—it’s pushing 25 years old at this point. It’s not very efficient to try to run modern hardware when you’re constrained with that kind of legacy code.

Should your next PC use UEFI instead of BIOS you could see boot times go from minutes to seconds. I mean, your hard disk drive will still have to rev up, but it should no longer be the case where you can take a shower before you see the Windows logo.

And since the E in UEFI stands for extensible, it means it can be modified as companies develop cool new stuff for us to slap into your PC.

If this were Slashdot I’d say something like "I eagerly await our new UEFI overlords."

Beer Gardens NYC iOS App Helps NYers Find Beer Gardens In Time For Oktoberfest Fun

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:30 AM PDT

It’s October 1, which means that you’re average American think Oktoberfest has started. Not true: Munich’s Oktoberfest begins in mid to late September and lasts through October. A minor technicality if all you’re looking to do is celebrate the holiday best known for, well, bier and busen. In any event, there’s a handy iOS App that was just released that can help New York City folk find Oktoberfest beer gardens. It’s called Beer Gardens NYC [iTunes link], and it works quite well.

What does it do? It has some 50 city beer gardens organized by borough, price range, and beer selection and price. Fancy a Berliner Wieser? Then make your way to the Lederhosen German Wurst & Bierhaus in the West Village. Or perhaps you want a Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Weisse? The Radegast Hall & Biergarten on N 3rd Street in Brooklyn is where you’ll want to go.

Maps, photos, and directions are provided, as you might expect.

And of course, the App doesn’t all of a sudden stop working once Oktoberfest ends on the 4th. Nope, many of the beer gardens in New York City are open year-round (or at least close to it), so once November rolls around you’ll still be able to use the App effectively.

Beer Gardens NYC can be downloaded from the App Store right now, and it’s only $1.99.

Pretty neat little App here.

b1 b2 b3 b4


Opie And Anthony Have Re-Signed With Sirius XM: Woo!

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:00 AM PDT

Put down your pitchforks, fellow pests! Opie and Anthony have re-signed with Sirius XM. It’s a two-year deal, so you’ll be able to listen to Op, Ant, and Chip for many months hereafter. Can someone bring me back my money please?

CrunchDeals: TiVo Slide Remote For $65

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 08:30 AM PDT


The TiVo Slide remote is a fantastic addition to any TiVo box. It brings a QWERTY keyboard but also a more refined standard TiVo remote. But it’s a tad pricey at $90. Good thing Al Gore created the Internet because the remote has been found for only $65.

TigerDirect is selling via ebay the remotes for only $65 with free shipping. That’s a good deal. Of course it is through ebay, but at least it’s shipping from a retailer and not some random dude. If you’re still using the original peanut remote that came with your TiVo, forgo $65 bucks and buy this remote. Trust me. It’s that good. [ebay via zatz not funny]

Taliban Name Removed From EA’s Medal Of Honor, Changed To ‘Opposing Force’

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 08:00 AM PDT

Well, there it is. EA has announced that it’s changing the name of "the bad guys" in Medal of Honor from the Taliban (which, incidentally, merely means "students" in Pashto—I know this because I read it in a book) to the "Opposing Force." If you ask me, "Opposing Force" sounds like the name for a stable of heels in pro-wrestling. "Look out, Opposing Force has arrived at the arena!"

Now, we all know "why" EA had to do this (constant pressure from the media, not wanting to look like US military-hating cads in the midst of a mid-term election, etc.), but what’s the official reason?

Here you go, in the words of Greg Goodrich, the game’s executive producer:

In the past few months, we have received feedback from all over the world regarding the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor. We've received notes from gamers, active military, and friends and family of servicemen and women currently deployed overseas. The majority of this feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. For this, the Medal of Honor team is deeply appreciative.

However, we have also received feedback from friends and families of fallen soldiers who have expressed concern over the inclusion of the Taliban in the multiplayer portion of our game. This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team. This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about. Because of this, and because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force.

While this change should not directly affect gamers, as it does not fundamentally alter the gameplay, we are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice – this franchise will never willfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service.

To all who serve – we appreciate you, we thank you, and we do not take you for granted. And to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines currently serving overseas, stay safe and come home soon.

I fully expect a mod (at least for the PC version) that reverts the name back to Taliban.

Not at all surprised. In fact, I’d be shocked if the game isn’t changed from a first-person shooter set in Afghanistan to a college football tailgating simulator before its release on the 12th.

Fancy Moleskin iPhone & iPad Cases Prompt Question: What Do You Look For In A Case?

Posted: 01 Oct 2010 07:30 AM PDT

So here’s an honest question: how do you guys go about looking for and buying an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch case? Do you go to device-specific sites (like iLounge) and look up case reviews? Troll message boards? Search on Amazon for "iphone case"? Or do you go to Wal-Mart (or wherever), go to the iPhone aisle, and pick up the first thing you see, and for the cheapest price available?

I only bring this up because I was just alerted to these Moleskin covers for the iPhone and iPad. They look spiffy enough, and certainly err on the "professional" side on the looks departure. They’re not Justin Bieber cases, that is.

The cases do one thing that’s sorta interesting, in that they combine a case with a notebook of sorts, giving you a couple of pages of blank paper.

So, a nice-looking Moleskin case: black cover, suede interior, you know the deal.

They’re not available yet, but you can hop on Amazon‘s little e-mail alerts to knew when they go on sale (and for how much).
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