The year was 2010. Motion controlled video games were all the rage, popularised by Nintendo‘s blockbuster Wii console. Riding this wave of success, Sony decided to throw their hat into the ring with PlayStation Move – an accessory that brought gesture-based gaming to PlayStation 3 owners. Over a decade later, has this peculiar piece of video game history left any lasting impact? As a technology historian and self-proclaimed motion control connoisseur, I decided to revisit PlayStation Move in 2024 to explore its capabilities, shortcomings, and ongoing influences with some much needed hindsight.
Diving Into the Technical Details
At its core, the PlayStation Move was a sophisticated motion controller system comprising two main components – the primary Move motion controller wand paired with the PlayStation Eye camera. Unlike the Wii‘s infrared optical tracking, the Move relied on a colour-changing orb tip that the Eye camera analyzed at high speeds to pinpoint positioning along six axes.
According to Sony engineers at the 2010 Game Developers Conference, sub-millimeter tracking precision was achievable by combining the wand‘s internal inertial sensors with computer vision analysis of that glowing orb. While Nintendo touted 1:1 motion control, the Move technically enabled greater precision with near instantaneous response times below 20 milliseconds.
The orb tip itself was an ingeniously simple solution – an internally illuminated rubber ball that the camera can easily differentiate from backdrop environments. This provided a clear point of reference to track compared to relying solely on the controller‘s overall shape and markings. Software tricks like dynamically changing the illumination color and patterns also helped sharpen motions and depth perception.
Specs Comparison: Move Motion Controller vs Wii Remote
PlayStation Move | Nintendo Wii Remote | |
Release Year | 2010 | 2006 |
Dimensions | 190 mm x 46 mm (7.5" x 1.8") | 148 mm x 36 mm (5.8" x 1.4") |
Weight | About 145 g (5.11 oz) | About 100 g (3.53 oz) |
Buttons | Trigger, Action Buttons, PS Button | A, B, +, -, Home, etc. |
Connectivity | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
Sensors | 3-axis Accelerometer, 3-axis Gyroscope | 3-axis Accelerometer |
Tracking Method | Optical Sensor + Orb Tip | Infrared Camera + Sensor Bar |
Tracking Axes | 6 Degrees of Freedom | 3 Degrees of Freedom |
You can see the Move was equipped with more advanced orientation and motion sensors compared to the Wii Remote. Combining these precision instruments with visual tracking analysis enabled much smoother, more natural feeling gestures in supported titles.
That being said, the experience still came down to the games themselves. And the Wii arguably delivered far more hit software that felt truly tailored to motion gameplay rather than just tacking on gesture support.
A Wide Spectrum of Software Support
Sony boasted over 100 PlayStation Move compatible games by end of 2011. But how many delivered compelling gameplay? Well that‘s debatable. In terms of review scores compiled by Metacritic, we can break down Move-supported software into a few tiers:
Category | Titles | Avg Metascore |
Killer Apps (90%+) | 5 | 92% |
Great (75-89%) | 18 | 81% |
Good (70-74%) | 13 | 73% |
Mixed (50-69%) | 12 | 63% |
We have a handful of excellent titles that showed off the capabilities and immersive potential with this technology. Games like Sports Champions and quirky hidden gem Johann Sebastian Joust delivered enough fun and replay value to still hold up decently today.
But looking closer, so many "supported" games simply tacked on optional motion gestures as gimmicks rather than core control schemes. With under 6 million Move controllers sold by 2013, only Sony‘s first party studios could justify investing in robust integration. And the install base remained too niche for most third parties.
Let‘s compare lifetime sales numbers across the "motion control era" consoles:
- Nintendo Wii – 101+ million units
- Xbox 360 (w Kinect) – 84 million
- PlayStation 3 – 87 million (only subset owned Moves)
As an attach ratio against total consoles sold, PlayStation Move saw very limited market penetration compared to competitors. And with gaming such a hits-driven business, the biggest factor dooming Move was likely this chicken and egg adoption dilemma.
An Important Pit Stop on the Road to Virtual Reality
While PlayStation Move never saw the mainstream success Sony hoped for, it did lay foundation for their eventual foray into virtual reality gaming. When the company unveiled PlayStation VR for PS4 in 2014, those familiar wand controllers were front and center.
Repurposing the tracking algorithms and motion sensing capabilities built for Move resulted in some big wins:
- Enabled 120 Hz refresh rates unheard of in competing VR solutions
- Delivered sub 20ms latency for immersive response times
- Dual wand support for natural hand presence and interactions
- Large instaled base of gamers owning needed controllers
The PSVR may not match PC platforms in visual fidelity. However, by piggybacking on work done for Move and PS4 install base, the company delivered an incredibly accessible gateway into high quality VR for millions of gamers. Over 5 million PSVR headsets have now been sold. And many can trace their components back to experiments first undertaken for PlayStation‘s modest foray into gesture and motion tracking all those years ago.
This stands as arguably PlayStation Move‘s most impactful legacy – proving key technologies and building an install base for control interfaces that helped democratize virtual reality gaming in the PS4/PS5 era.
Impacts Reaching Beyond Video Games
It‘s easy to write off failed video game peripherals as evolutionary dead ends. But developing revolutionary technologies is filled with pit stops down winding roads. Those seeming detours go on to plant seeds that transform entire industries in due time.
While PlayStation Move itself may forever be trapped in a console generation misremembered for pointless waggle controls, its influences reach much farther. Customized derivatives of those motion tracking algorithms and sensor fusion techniques now extend into fields like industrial robotics, remote medicine, augmented reality, and beyond.
As just one example, researchers at University of California adapted similar motion controller hardware and imaging analysis for minimally invasive ultrasound procedures. This allows future surgeons to manipulate ultrasound devices as fluid extensions of their own arms while receiving perfectly scaled haptic and visual feedback. The seeds being planted today tracing back to PlayStation Move may someday save lives.
Thomas Edison famously said of his many failed inventions: "I have not failed 10,000 times. I‘ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work." Same too for PlayStation Move and early fumblings to integrate physical inputs with on-screen virtual worlds. For every Wiimote and Kinect, there were countless Move-like stepping stones toward transformative technologies now revolutionising entertainment, industry, medicine, and sciences.
Final Verdict in 2024
Revisiting PlayStation Move over a decade later as both gaming enthusiast and historian, how do I believe this peculiar accessory should be remembered? In my expert opinion, Move represents an experimental vision and bold technical leap into new means of human-computer interfaces – one that foreshadowed many key strides taken since in bridging atoms with bits.
It arrived at precisely the point when hunger for exploring these ideas outweighed capability to deliver truly compelling new experiences. But the foundations laid here pushed future innovations like PlayStation VR far closer toward achieving that elusive goal.
So is PlayStation Move still worth experiencing today? For diehard tech enthusiasts and console collectors, I say absolutely. As a tangible artefact demonstrating emerging concepts that continue impacting how we experience virtual environments, it holds genuine historical value.
Of course temper expectations around dated visuals and limited software support in light of modern advancements. But grasping these unique controllers positioned halfway between our analog roots and gesture-driven futures still offers those curious a glimpse into the pioneering work done toward getting there. If found second hand for reasonable price, PlayStation Move now represents an artefact of historical significance marking a critical waypoint along the winding road toward our immersive present and future yet still being charted.