Sony has been talking to Eurogamer about the PlayStation Move, and apparently it can improve the accuracy of the controller via firmware updates. Â The big question is does it need improving? Â Anton Mikhailov, SCEA software engineer, doesn’t think so:
“So far we haven’t had any real requests from studios to improve the accuracy. Â There are a couple of issues here and there we can fix, but the majority the games are not even taxing it to its full accuracy.”
It seems that gamers’ ability to deal with 1:1 control is actually more of a limiting factor. Â Realism is great, but not to the point where a game becomes just too difficult.
“At that point you’re thinking, well, how much more precise does it need to be? We need to decide. There’s room for some more precision. It’s going to be up to us.”
Speaking from a personal viewpoint I think Move’s current level of accuracy is fine, as games like Sports Champion has proven time and again.
Source: Eurogamer
Fresh191
Hopefully they will update the camera so it will work a bit better in different light conditions but so far the Move itself does seem pretty accurate if not a little too sensitive when used on games like MAG.
HD camera might get the head tracking to work better in GT5? Fingers crossed for that next year.
JesseDeya
The MAG settings are hugely adjustable, if you find it too sensitive there are several ways you can adjust it. I haven’t perfected mine (pro tip: eagle eye converter ;)) but I was very impressed with the level of control the devs have given us.
Foxhound_Solid
Yeah Fresh, they should improve Camera, although I think Move is AWESOME!
3shirts
It’s a fair point. I don’t want my limited physical ability to stop me being able to progress in a game! :)
Charmed_Fanatic
haha same, if it gets too accurate, then people’s ‘physical ability’ will stop them playing games
Nauraph
I did experience some slight delay while using the Move, I think they should try to solve that first.. although I think that has something to do with the camera.
JesseDeya
There will always be some controller lag, it becomes pretty difficult to eliminate it entirely, but I think it’s already pretty good. Clearly there are ways of reducing it further (as NFS Hot Pursuit has demonstrated recently), but I’m not sure how much lag is inherent in the controller and can’t be reduced with clever code. This is one of my beefs with Kinect – from what I read there is little they can do to improve on the physical lag of the hardware before it even gets to a useable point for the game devs to do something with.
Personally I love the 1:1 of Move. The Fight is easily the best example of this – and truly rewarding when you get it right. That kind of ‘challenge’ won’t appeal to the masses (kind of why GT5 is getting below deserved review scores) but it’s right up my alley and I’m so so SO glad Sony isn’t allowing the PS3 to become a watered down flap fest like certain other consoles *cough*.
UsernameHere
They also need to get a handle on the drifting issues. Which may not even really be a problem with the controller, ignoring the games that DO have drifting issues. I’ll find out for sure when my new controller arrives.
tantalus_blank
The majority of the time, it’s as accurate as a mouse – though mine has been known to completely decalibrate itself on rare occassion
kjkg
Having that same problem every so often. A bit annoying, but nothing a quick pause and calibrate doesn’t sort.
Grey_Ghost13
I think they need to concentrate on the camera more than the controller, on screen images look awful in low light or artificial lighting situations and with it getting darker earlier your limiting when it’s the optimal time to play with it.
TSBonyman
A better camera would be nice but doesn’t matter too much for actual gameplay. I’m happy with it as it is but some games could have a little more tolerance built-in for greater accessibility – we’re not all pro sportspersons!
RFC2007
Just give us some decent games to play FFS!!!
Mines been gathering dust since the novelty of Sports Champions wore off, and I have seen nothing else worth getting since then.
The Fight did actually look quite promising, but so many poor reviews put me off, and although I was originally looking forward to TIme Crisis, the demo was total rubbish. I hated having to see my crosshair on screen permanently too. Felt like i was cheating.
Thought there would have been loads of PS Move games to choose from this Xmas, but there’s not even a single one on my letter to Santa this year :(
bunimomike
Can’t say I feel as strongly about past titles but you’re absolutely right. Sony need to concentrate on prompting their devs to get some good, solid games out there. Christmas is here, Sony. People are spending money!
RFC2007
Damn Iphone – Apologies for the walll of text.
jayjay119
I personally think Sony should work on a firmware update to unify the calibrations function so you don’t have to do it both on the XMB and in game, that soounds like a right pain in the ass!
cc_star
Yes… if you turn your PS3 on with a BOOM Stick, then an OS level calibration should kick in, if your PS3 is already on and you later turn on the BOOM Stick the same OS level calibration should kick in.
The problem with this is different game’s need different data for example Sports Champions needs to know where your shoulder is, where your arm is relaxed and where your midriff is. Singstar Dance needs to know how far you can reach (it then does an approximation of your height)
So it’s a great idea & wish it was possible, but I don’t think it ever will be. Perhaps Sony should implement a standard screen layout for it, because if you go from game-to-game-to-game (which happens in most social situations) it is a tad confusing.
gaffers101
I love my Move, but my main gripe is getting it to calibrate accurately. Often, I point the controller at the centre of the screen (as instructed) and the cursor appear slightly off (especially with RUSE). I hope this can be sorted out in the future.
JesseDeya
That sounds like you need to calibrate it in the XMB settings. Give that a go then try Ruse again.
cc_star
That’s ‘Cursor Drift’ it can’t really be sorted AFAIK, it is one of the downsides of using Move as a pointing device (as it doesn’t have an IR beam like a Light Gun or the Wiimote)
A lot of games recalibrate it in game by repeatedly asking you to point it centre & press a button (Tumble for example) but it doesn’t take long to drift again and then it drifts on top of the drift.
Whilst its not a massive issue in the more casual game types we’ve seen for Move so far, I’m not sure how this will affect something like KZ3 & other core game types that Sony have been so keen on pushing Move as an alternative control system for, but short of fitting some kind of IR Beam attachment I don’t know what the answer is.
Bladesteel
The big three should kiss and make up. Then make a combination device.
Take the move. Add a wii style ir sensor so it always knows where the centre of the tv is, and can autocalibrate the other sensors everytime it’s pointed in the tvs general direction. Then toss out the PS-eye and replace it with the kinect camera.
That would be pure awesome, but will never happen.