subject: Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Playstation Move And Xbox Kinect [print this page] Just lately there has been a great deal of discussion concerning the relative merits of Sony's PS3 "Move" motion controller and Microsoft's XBox 360 "Kinect". The argument is between serious gamers and proponents of each platform, however , this isn't very useful for the average buyer who just needs to find out which system they ought to buy. This write-up describes in basic English some of the essential distinctions among the two systems and summarizes the pluses and minuses of each one to enable you make a purchase decision.
Good and bad points of the PS3 Move
The PS3 employs the Move combined together with the Eye Toy digicam to improve game play. The motion recognition on the Ps3 is amazingly good, recognizing your own moves with amazing precision. In fact, quite a few reviewers have noted it's much more accurate than the Nintendo Wii which has been the benchmark thus far. It really is extremely smooth and carries very little delay. This sort of innovative movement detection is doable thanks to the systems enbedded in the Ps3, such as eight unique processor chips and an excellent graphics card. The Six Axis system also aids with detecting movements and produces a less expensive console than Kinect's motion controller at just $30 for a base price, and a tad bit more for add-ons. It offers a very 'realistic' feeling movement controller.
On the down side, lots of reviewers have compared the Move motion controller to the Wii console and consider it a direct copy mainly because of how the controller appears (ie, the wand and the add-on that looks like Wii's nunchuk). Moreover, at the time of writing there are no major games out that can adequately demonstrate Move's technology, so giving the Kinect a distinct appeal at this moment (see below). Also, many claim that it's far too conventional and doesn't offer much creativeness or scope to really push the envelope of motion controller systems.
XBox Kinect
The major advantage that the Kinect has with its motion recognition is no controller. Literally. All the motion is recognized from natural body motions. You can search through the selections on the screen by just switching your hands backwards and forwards, which may take a little getting used to, but is huge on the 'wow' factor. An additional special feature it has over the PS3 Move is voice recognition. Just imagine saying "Hello" to your Console and it responds back to you or activates without you pressing any control keys. Over-all Microsoft ought to be commended for the improvements in the Kinect and to developers who will have several very fascinating interaction options to discover.
However some assert that all of Microsofts boasts will go for naught if it isn't going to operate with its future games. Until now the mini games have been great, but is this actually just a gimmick disguised as innovation? Loads of the game titles that will work with the Kinect being released are developed for kids and not really the hard core gamers. The kind of functionality may also pose issues, because it is still a work in progress. Quite a few speculate how appealing the Kinect is going to be against the hard core gamer base of the PS3 Move.
In Summary
It's clear that the Playstation Move and Microsoft Kinect are two very different movement controllers with two very different targets. Playstation 3 Move is attempting to give a super realistic sense to its serious gamers with future titles like SOCOM 4, Killzone 4 guaranteeing to work with the PS3 controller. Meanwhile the XBox is attempting to give it's customers much more innovation with its controller free UI and voice recognition in game titles like Kinectables. Needless to say all this is very early in the lifecycle of these solutions...will the Kinect entice enough game developers eager to drive the limitations of interface design and style, and in that case will the Ps3 Move be gripping enough in a couple of years time, or instead will the Kinect prove being too much of a novelty with insufficient genuinely engaging game titles to bring in the most avid gamers.
The decision for shoppers is probably much more to do with just what type of game playing they desire to do currently. If you're a serious gamer the Ps3 and the Ps3 Move is likely the gaming system for you. But in the event you are completely new to game systems and really want something really entertaining for family members of any age (which includes the very young) then I would recommend trying the Microsoft Kinect.
