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Sony today confirmed that its PS3 Motion Controller is in fact called Move.
And the format holder said the device (which, yes, sports a nunchuck-style add-on), will win over the Wii audience as it looks to grow its market share.
The device launches later in the year, and is planned to arrive in a bundle costing under $100 that includes the Move wand itself, a game and PS Eye camera – which is used to track the peripheral’s movement.
Sony didn’t hold back in drawing favourable contrast with the Wii, pointing out Move’s improvements, saying the Wii audience "will gravitate" towards Move.
"Nothing has ever been this precise, this responsive," said Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios.
He said that the device was "more precise, immersive and responsive" than rival controllers, and that it "breathes new life into new game genres".
Sony’s Peter Dille, head of hardware marketing at SCEA, added that there was "not a high level of precision" in the Wii which gives PS3 Move the advantage as precision "drives the core gamer".
Aggresive hyperbole aside – the firm promised promotional efforts for the Move would be its ‘biggest effort of the year’ in terms of PR and marketing – impressive software demos showed off the devices unique differences.
An inevitable sports game compliation, Sports Champions, is in the works, but its Gladiator Arena and Table Tennis components showed off the device’s precision and accuracy.
Other games, like Move! Party – by UK indie Supermassive Games – uses augmented reality via the PS Eye camera.
Meanwhile Motion Fighter boasted high-end HD visuals coupled with Wii-like motion control.
Older games, like LittleBigPlanet, will be retrofit for the controller as well.
As for third parties, Sony said 12 major publishers were already in board making games for the Move: Activison, Crave, Sega, Disney, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami, Capcom, Bandai Namco, WB Games, Koei, EA.
