What are my options for motion control on the three consoles?

Question

What are my options for motion control on the three consoles? What are the pros and cons of each motion control system on the Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3?

Answer

The real question you want to ask yourself is "what kind of games do I want to play." That question affects the "best" choice pretty heavily.

Hopefully, the below list will give a better overview to help your choice.

The Nintendo Wii

• Largest current library
• cheapest standalone console
• You can acquire controllers (wii-motes) or even wii motion-plus versions packaged as parts of certain games.

Playstation Move

• Most expensive controllers
• Most expensive console
• requires peripheral (Playstation Eye)
• Small game library, (some current playstation games getting retroactive support)

Microsoft Kinect

• most expensive peripheral (the Kinect itself)
• excellent non-kinect 3rd party support (you may buy a kinect, but at the end of the day, you can fall back on Halo, if that's your kit)
• no extra costs in controllers
• small game library, few (none?) "hardcore" games with kinect support.
• Milo was just plain creepy.

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Should I get a Wii, Xbox Kinect, or the Playstation Move?

Question

What are the pro's and con's of getting each system?

Answer

The real question you want to ask yourself is "what kind of games do I want to play." That question affects the "best" choice pretty heavily.

Hopefully, the below list will give a better overview to help your choice.

The Nintendo Wii

• Largest current library
• cheapest standalone console
• You can acquire controllers (wii-motes) or even wii motion-plus versions packaged as parts of certain games.

Playstation Move

• Most expensive controllers
• Most expensive console
• requires peripheral (Playstation Eye)
• Small game library, (some current playstation games getting retroactive support)

Microsoft Kinect

• most expensive peripheral (the Kinect itself)
• excellent non-kinect 3rd party support (you may buy a kinect, but at the end of the day, you can fall back on Halo, if that's your kit)
• no extra costs in controllers
• small game library, few (none?) "hardcore" games with kinect support.
• Milo was just plain creepy.

Check more discussion of this question.

One Move Controller for 2 players?

Question

Can you play some games like bowling and Sports Champion on ps3 with 1 controller for 2 people by passing the move controller around?

Answer

From the PlayStation blog: Yes, some games do have this option. What you are looking for is pass-and-play multiplayer.

Q: How many PlayStation Move motion controllers do I need?
A: Most PlayStation Move games only require one motion controller. However, some games may support two controllers for single-player gameplay (such as The Fight: Lights Out and certain events in Sports Champions) or for multiplayer mode.

Q: How many players can use PlayStation Move at the same time?
A: The actual number of players supported depends on the game you are playing. Many PlayStation Move titles support anywhere from 1 to 4 players with many options for gameplay, including single player, pass-and-play multiplayer, competitive, or co-op modes. The PS3 system supports up to seven devices, of which up to four of those devices can be PlayStation Move motion controllers.

Sports Champions does support pass-and-play.

Sports Champions supports 1-4 players through intuitive, pass-and-play gameplay or head-to-head challenges.

High Velocity Bowling does not specifically mention it, but reviews I have read suggest that it supports pass-and-play. Brunswick Pro Bowling doesn't mention it either, and I can't tell from reviews whether or not pass-and-play is supported.

If there is a specific bowling game you're asking about that isn't listed, add that to your question and we'll see if we can find out whether or not pass-and-play is supported for that game.

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Is PS3 with Move an alternative to Wii?

Question

My girlfriend tried the Wii during holidays and she told me that she liked play Wii Sports game. Now I would prefer to buy the PS3 with Move because I think I can use it more, not only for Move-based games.

Back to my question, is PS3 with Sony Move an alternative to Wii in this case? Which are the differences technically speaking between Sony Move and Wii controllers? Does PS3 game catalog contains sports and music games that support Sony Move?

More info (if relevant). The console will be attached to a Samsung (LE40C650) 40" Full HD television. In addition TV is installed in a little dining room with couch placed about 2 meters far from TV.

Answer

There will be fewer games that support Move at the moment because it's a relatively new device. If you look today you might not find the games you want on the PS3, but as time passes more games will be released that make use of Move.

Digital Trends has an article that compares the Move to a Wiimote. The basic difference is:

While the accelerometers inside the controller act much as a Wii does, the balls provide what Sony calls a zero point – an absolute location in physical space for the system to peg all the other data to.

While the Wiimote uses its camera to locate the IR emitters in the sensor bar placed above or below the screen, the PS3 uses a camera to locate the glowing ball on the Move. I've never used the Move so I can't tell you whether it's better or worse than the Wii.

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