Get Up and Play Video Games!!

With the Nintendo Wii selling over 30 million units in the United States since their release in 2006, you would figure that they have the motion control thing locked down.  Well in the next few months Sony and Microsoft are going to try to change that with the release of the Move and Kinect (formally Project Natal.)

The Sony Move is the first motion control system to come out and consists of three parts: The Eye Camera, the Move Motion Controller and the Move Navigation Controller.  The two important controls that you need are the camera and the motion controller.  The naviagation controller is optional on some games, but like the Wii, the Move enabled games will showcase what exactly is needed to play the game. 

 

The Move is said to have better accuracy than the Wii due to the sensor tracking on the motion controller.  The small sphere will change color to help the camera detect every motion that the player makes.  There are already a handful of games out for the Move: Eye Pet, RUSE, Sports Champions and a few current games like, Tiger Woods 2011, Heavy Rain and Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, will have update patches released for them to make them Move compatible. The Move is currently available in stores nationwide.

Getting rid of the hand peripherals entirely is Kinect from Microsoft where the player is the control.  The Kinect is a sensor bar that tracks the movements of the player and transmits them to the avatar on the screen.  Whereas Playstation is releasing update patches for some of their current games, Microsoft is releasing a few games made specifically for Kinect and Kinect Adventures will be bundled with the Kinect.  

 
The Kinect sensor will be compatible with both slim and older models of the Xbox 360.  While the newer systems have a dedicated port for the Kinect, the older models will require an additional wall outlet to power the sensor bar.  Some of the key features of the Kinect other than the hands free gaming are voice control and video chat.  The system is set to release in November for $150.

Motion control gaming may be the way of the future, but it seems like the Wii already showed us what is capable with this technology.   While the 360 and PS3 are a bit more advanced with their HD graphics it would be interesting to see how they make use of their new controls.  One advantage that Microsoft has is that gamers only have to buy one item, while PS3 owners will have to buy three new items to take advantage of the Move.  Sony is selling a bundle that includes the Eye, Motion controller and the game Sports Champions for $99, which are the main components that gamers need to play games.

Although it seems like Sports Champions and Kinect Sports are direct rip-offs of Wii Sports, these games, in my opinion, are created to give players the basic feel of using the new add-ons.  I mean, when you look at all the games that are available today, a lot of them are similar to one another.  One of the problems I think gamers will have with both of these systems is the required space needed to play.  For both systems to work properly there is a required 6 to 8 feet of space needed between the gamer and the television.  Now while this might mean moving furniture around, maybe a little rearranging is worth some fun game time.

How well these add-ons sell will be up to the gaming community and will determine where these new systems will go.  I am excited for both and would like to get them, but I think I will wait, save up and make then make my decision.  See you guys next week.