Old Discussion Thread for all 3 motion controllers

[Shifty Geezer]

One presumes the trademark wouldn't have been granted if it infringed on an existing IP.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, right! "What's that? You're paying us lots of money to file this paperwork, which we won't get if we find its already taken? No, no! There are no previous trademarks at all! Thanks for your business."

 

[Graham]

I'm curious how Sony are going to handle social/party gaming with the PSMC (ie, 4 players) and how they will deal with two handed games. Especially when it comes to price.
It would be a shame if multiplayer is limited to single controllers. There is a USB port on it. I haven't seen any indication of Nunchuck like accessories though.

I wonder how the face buttons for the second controller map to the same player. 'Now press X'. etc.

Btw, I refuse to call them 'Arcs' - I think it sounds beyond ridiculous

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Isn't the controller super-adaptable with plugin widgets? I expect nunchucks and ancilliaries are an (expensive!) option.

As for four Arcs (rubbish name ) being expensive, this is true of 4-player gaming in general regards buying controllers. Although Natal has a cost advantage there, I don't think the general populace is particularly put off by the requirements for peripheral expenditure. Indeed, some may point to Wii as proof that the public is just dying to spend money on extra bits of plastic! But there's also the fairly common case of shared cost across the players. You only need two people with the same console and the more reasonable two controllers to come together to supply four controllers for party play. That's how it's been in my gaming circles since PSone. For family four-player gaming, it does get pricier, but like I say, nothing we haven't had for years. It's not that PS3 + Wii are so much at a disadvantage, as 360 is at an advantage and MS could push the cost benefit with their marketing.

"Take four controllers into the living room? Not me. I just want to play, and go! Natal combines a shampoo and conditioner into the one controller, saving you time and money."

 

[obonicus]

Quite a few of the Wii's 'party' games work with a single controller, by passing it around, for what that's worth.

 

[patsu]

One presumes the trademark wouldn't have been granted if it infringed on an existing IP.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, right! "What's that? You're paying us lots of money to file this paperwork, which we won't get if we find its already taken? No, no! There are no previous trademarks at all! Thanks for your business."

Have to see how they render the phrase "Playstation Arc". Not just "Arc".
Did MS trademark Arc ? I see many other claims on Arc on a cursory trademark search but didn't go into the details.

Btw, I refuse to call them 'Arcs' - I think it sounds beyond ridiculous

Same here ! ... well, not ridiculous but strange/awkward.

It would be a shame if multiplayer is limited to single controllers. There is a USB port

I thought someone already tried it with 2 controllers (2 players) ? Don't think you're limited to only 1 controller per session:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1383100&postcount=1048

 

[Prophecy2k]

Have to see how they render the phrase "Playstation Arc". Not just "Arc".
Did MS trademark Arc ? I see many other claims on Arc on a cursory trademark search but didn't go into the details.



Same here ! ... well, not ridiculous but strange/awkward

They could always opt for the following:
"Playstation Arc" - Singular
"Playstation Arx" - Plural

 

[Arwin]

We don't know yet if Arc refers to a specific controller or if it refers to family, like the ARC Wand, ARC Bat, ARC Lightsabre, ARC Baseball Bat, etc. In that case you never need a plural.

Anyway, we'll see.

 

[ShadowRunner]

"ARC" should sold as the camera together with the wand. This should be the standard package on display shelves. You should then be able to buy single wands seperatly for additional players, wich will also cover those that already have PSEye.

Im also wondering if Sony could be planning on scrapping the idea of using peoples existing PSEyes and making use of a new Dual camera (ICU) or IR based system. The amount of people with PSeyes is probably quite low anyway. This would then give them a system quite close to the capabilities of natal and also the Wii. It may not be cost efective for them to do this but if it is i dont think they should be held back by the current PSEye userbase.

 

[patsu]

ARC Wand, ARC Bat, ARC Lightsabre, ARC Baseball Bat, etc. In that case you never need a plural.

Yes, it's this thought train that led me to the cat in Bloom County:
http://i46.tinypic.com/143atl.gif

 

[Prophecy2k]

"ARC" should sold as the camera together with the wand. This should be the standard package on display shelves. You should then be able to buy single wands seperatly for additional players, wich will also cover those that already have PSEye.

Im also wondering if Sony could be planning on scrapping the idea of using peoples existing PSEyes and making use of a new Dual camera (ICU) or IR based system. The amount of people with PSeyes is probably quite low anyway. This would then give them a system quite close to the capabilities of natal and also the Wii. It may not be cost efective for them to do this but if it is i dont think they should be held back by the current PSEye userbase.

Well since ARC is their initial motion control outing, and most of their R&D and such has been firmly based around making use of the exisiting PSEye tech with a "new" wand peripheral, I say why not save the few of us that actually bought the PSEye this gen a few coins buy allowing us to only have to buy the extra wand?

Afterall they could use the dual camera or IR based tech for "PS ARC2" and flog it with PS4 at launch ;-)

Funnily enough i kinda feel sorry for the poor saps that ran out to buy the MS vision camera only to hear a year later they're scrapping him and releasing his "bigger, better and more badass big brother!"

 

[obonicus]

There's plenty of fun to extract from the camera in Uno, late at night, or so I hear.

 

[patsu]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/01/28/sony_motion_controller_games/

Nikkei has a short report on Sony's upcoming motion controller device. The one piece of new information in the report is that Sony will release "around 10 or so" titles for the device within the year. Included among the titles will be sports and pet raising games.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Within the first year of its life, or within this year that it launches (end of 2010)? If the former, it's good as dead IMO.

 

[patsu]

May need to look at the quality of the apps, and how they market the concept.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Doesn't much matter IMO. There'll be squat momentum with one game a month, no devs will adopt it, and it'll become as useful as my PSEye. You need multiple top-quality titles at launch to attract different people with different tastes. A pet game at launch, a puzzle game 2 months later, tennis after that, and I won't be buying. If there were a half dozen launch titles, the chance of someone seeing something they want will be high, leading to rapid growth in the ARC market and interest from 3rd parties. Without external interest it'll be a pointless gimmick.

 

[patsu]

That's true ! Will have to see the release schedule of the 10 or so games then.

We should be hearing about any Arc bundle before end of the year. They may be forced to do that rather than being the odd one out.

 

[thop]

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blog...stem-natal-may-be-a-blockbuster-goldman-says/

Videogame enthusiasts are looking forward to the release of Microsoft's motion-sensitive videogame control system, code-named Project Natal, later this year. Maybe investors should be doing the same.

That's the underlying message in an analysis of Project Natal issued this morning by Sarah Friar and Derek Bingham of Goldman Sachs. The analysts make a series of assumptions—including an $85 retail price for the camera-based system—and estimate that Natal will boost Microsoft's revenue by $1.7 billion in its 2011 fiscal year (which begins in July 2010) and $2.3 billion in its 2012 fiscal year.

It's a bullish position, to say the least, and it will no doubt be greeted with some skepticism. For a bit of context, Microsoft's entire Online Services Business posted only $3 billion in revenue in the 2009 fiscal year, out of $58.4 billion in companywide revenue.

The Goldman Sachs analysts obviously believe consumer demand for the motion-sensitive Project Natal device will be big. In a note to clients, they say they expect Natal to reach a 56 percent "attach rate" less than two years after its launch, meaning that more than half of new and existing Xbox 360 owners will buy Natal for their consoles. By comparison, they say, Nintendo's Wii Fit achieved a 41 percent attach rate over a similar time period.

It is almost certainly guaranteed to fail now. Usually the opposite of what these so called analysts predict becomes true.

 

[patsu]

I (informally) surveyed my new year visitors on Natal and ran some simple PSEye experiments on their kids. One or two families have Wii, but most are non-gamers.

I think if Sony and MS spend smart marketing dollars, they should do just fine in this area. The interest is high, but it really depends on whether they can deliver something convincing and usable.

For Sony, it looks like they may pitch a different angle, but we shall see.

 

[AzBat]

There's plenty of fun to extract from the camera in Uno, late at night, or so I hear.

Yes, yes there is. Been a big UNO fan since I got the Vision camera in March 2007. Made quite a few friends there. Though lately I've leveled off playing greatly. I still get a yearning for it every once in awhile to meet friends. The camera definitely helps in that. But don't get one in hopes to find peep shows, you will be totally disappointed. It's not as prolific as you might think. You will have more luck on the web using your PC.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

My anecdotal evidence amongst friends & family is that they are mostly casual gamers who are more interested in the Wii than 360 or PS3. A few even own a Wii. These same people are more stoked about the Natal tech when I've talked or shown them the tech videos. Depending on the price I think a few will even buy one for Christmas. Though most will just wait to see if it becomes the most talked about fad/toy of the season. I think that if MS has 12 or so titles with launch, then they'll get a lot of attention this Christmas from their target audience & probably have a successful season.

Tommy McClain