TSA Talks is back once again, with a new trio of tantalising topics. This week’s agenda is jam packed with Sony talk, starting off with PlayStation Move, then onto the early access to Uncharted 3’s multiplayer, before we finally round things off with a look at the Long Live Play campaign.
PlayStation Move has been with us for just over a year now. What’s your experience with the tech and is there still a chance for it to shine leading into 2012?
Peter:Â It’s a great piece of technology but it hasn’t been exploited to its full potential yet. I think the problem for Sony was that they suddenly found their big competitor making a move towards a more casual market just as Sony’s amazing list of core titles were all lined up. Since the launch of Move (and Kinect), Microsoft has been 90 percent casual/Kinect and 10 percent core. Sony has been 90 percent core, at least in their big budget, widely marketed releases. They tried to match Microsoft’s big show of motion control but they weren’t properly prepared for it.
Not that Kinect has fared any better in terms of quality but from the perspective of marketing a product, Microsoft has managed to sell Kinect to an audience that Sony weren’t ready to pitch to.
Of course, that means that in terms of first party exclusives aimed at the core Sony has massively outperformed Microsoft in terms of quantity and overall quality which is a kind of sideways win for us, right?
Jim: At the end of the day it all comes down to games. Listening to the community and close friends, plenty of core gamers picked up the PlayStation Move though since the tech’s launch window there really hasn’t been anything to tide us over. Sports Champions was fantastic and despite the kid-friendly aesthetic of Zandagi’s upcoming Medieval Moves, I suspect it will be fairly successful among critics. I’ll never regret buying PlayStation Move but aside from Medieval Moves and Sorcery, which we haven’t heard from in yonks, I’m struggling to find a reason to defend it.
Aran:Â I haven’t bothered buying a PS Move. I know a few games, like Killzone 3 and Heavy Rain, have embraced the tech but apart from that, nothing has grabbed my attention to justify the purchase. Unless some big games are announced in 2012 that will make use of the Move, it’ll just stay as an outside peripheral.
bunimomike
I don’t know who initially coined the “First Impressions Last” phrase but it’s so very true for most things in a modern consumer-based society. Sony has done a lot of damage with Home and Move and I still sit here waiting for the alleged raft of good reasons as to why I should buy a Move controller. The most frustrating thing is I still want to buy one but I want to see quality AND choice. Something Sony has failed to supply.
After reading people’s opinions on TSA I can see that there are scores of us that feel the same. My biggest concern is that Sony won’t learn from this. They didn’t with Home and it appears they haven’t with Move.
Klart
In everything about the Move, I never once see mentioned that it (also) is an excellent “arcade” shooter device. I mean, we didn’t have one before on the PS & it’s great for that function. Games like Time Crisis 4, The Shoot and soon House of The Dead: Overkill are great fun & work excellent.
MS doesn’t have one.
Jim H [Teabags]
The Gunstringer and Blackwater are both Kinect-enabled shooter but I see your point.
Though good games, Time Crisis and The Shoot aren’t exactly killer apps for the PlayStation Move. House of the Dead may haul in a few new adopters however.
Origami Killer
Move, for me, is a great bit of tech but it just hasn’t had enough support yet. I own only one game purely for Move and that is Sports Champions. Its great but no other “only Move” games come close to it’s standard. I haven’t really liked Move compatibility in KZ3, R3 and LBP2 either.
The Uncharted 3 multiplayer is also a strange move for me which I will never know the reasons behind. It was great at first but now for me it’s unbalanced and inconsistent. There’s only a handful of maps at the moment and very few skins. I will be trying to get as much as of it before it closes.
I loved the Long Live Play advert. It was just great. Mainly as it celebrated the Playstation (as Aran mentioned i think).
Kennykazey
I also found the UC3 MP to be a strange but enjoyable move. I expect it will close at launch, so the addicts will buy the game.
Move is like a really cool sword that’s still to make it’s first kill. There’s a few cool titles, but that’s the problem. There’s just a few. Also Move in R3 is weird, the reticule should be centered at all times, but instead it moves all over the place and makes turning difficult.
The advert was awesome, but screw Michael, what about me?
stueeeee
I agree with everyone that the Move needs to have its must have game to succeed which we haven’t seen yet, and perhaps never will. Maybe if Sorcery sees the light of day…
The Uncharted multiplayer is an odd move as some people could be left feeling short changed from the full game after playing half of it, but I think it’s a combination of Naughtt Dog wanting people to play the MRI player first and get sucked in rather than just goin straight to single player and forever ignoring the online, and Sony wanting PS+ subscribers to feel like they are getting something big and extraordinary instead of the usual monthly stuff. And test the waters for future games and exclusive deals.
Love the ad, screw the casuals, this is what PS is about. Exclusive titles, and it was put together in a brilliant way IMO. MS could not do and advert like that. A far cry from the ‘This is Living’ ads in 2007….
bacon_nuts
Move needs more games, I think everyone agrees with that.
I really liked the LLP advert, I saw it as a unity of gamers thing, but I’m more interested to see where they take it in the future, because it was closed to those who’ve played those games, which is terrible advertising, It’s just preaching to the converted. Where they take it is where it’s at, I just hope Kevin Butler is helming it, he is hilarious..