The camera isn't super quality, I agree, but what sometimes can make it much worse is that it will calibrate the contrast/brightness of the picture to create optimal conditions for whatever it is tracking. If it is only tracking the light, then that's all it really seems to care about and the rest will show up worse than usual. If it wants to see more then it can crank up the sensitivity to light quite a bit, although the picture will never be great, and a 640x480 (resolution dictated not only by costs, but by USB 2.0 limitations) picture full screen on an HD together with pin-sharp CGI makes for quite the contrast sometimes.
It may be for this reason that Hustle Kings disables the video chat for online games when you are playing with the Move, which I thought was a little disappointing but understandable - I still hope that it would be possible to combine both, but I can imagine that the level of contrast . As the PS Eye also doesn't have a 'take photo at higher resolution' option, there is not much gain to be had from using that either.
I've been playing a few things with two Moves now - the Gladiator game is pretty difficult to get used to it initially. Same with Archery. I'm really impressed with the pointer smoothness of Flight Control HD by the way, that is one amazingly polished game. It's also fun to play with two Move controllers not just in co-op but by yourself, using one in each hand. The pointer in Flight Control is so smooth it somehow feels much nicer than even a mouse. I can't explain it, but perhaps it's the total lack of resistance against any surface combined with really precise input - not absolute precision, but relative precision, with really good mapping and accelleration. Like a perfectly configured mouse that hovers just above your table. It's a shame that Apple has an exclusivity deal with Firemint for Flight Control in the US, but clever people should be able to get it from the EU store if they really want it. Tumble also works well with two Move controllers. Neither Flight Control nor Tumble seem to care / handicap you in any way for using two Move controllers it seems. Not that it gives you a big advantage, but perhaps a small one in some cases.
I notice by the way when playing games that there are a lot of gripes in previews and early reviews of these games that are no longer applicable to the final product. For instance early impressions complained that you would need the DS3 for remote controlling and that you still needed pen and paper to draw, but in the version that I've played now that is no longer the case - you have a pointer option in the former, and a choice between drawing with the Move or a pencil for the latter.
Resident Evil 5 Move so far is a disappointment for me - that's not the Move controls necessarily though as right now the game is as boring to me as I feared it would be when the game was first shown. I still want to try it though, just for the sake of the Move controls and the co-op. Haven't tested yet if it supports two Move controllers.
Another random comment - since I have a PS3 in my study and it's hooked up to my 1650x1080 LCD which begrudgingly accepts a 1920x1080p signal and shows it very nicely (well, mapped to 16:10 of course) I've come to appreciate some games that support 1080p modes. I have to say that so far I am pleasantly surprised with 1080p support in general (more games I play support this than I expected, and I can always tell because I have to press a button to remove a warning selection each time I get a native 1080p signal). Most of the Move titles also happily support 1080p and some of these either partly native (surprisingly also including Sports Champions) or native all the time (Flight Control, Hustle Kings, etc.). Look forward to some more investigations later.
Yet another random comment: there are still a few XMB things you can't do with just the Move yet (like, say, the next page on your PSN profile or other stuff you'd use R1 or L1 for). Will be interesting to see if the next firmware update changes this. But at the same time for all the complaints about the 'simplistic' implementation of the Move controller for XMB navigation, it is still much faster for me most of the time than using the DS3. And overall, yes, the Move greatly enhances this game - only driving the car felt better with the DS3, and ok, drawing straight on paper is more fun too
, but for everything else the Move is a big improvement over the card.
Yet another random comment: some of the online stuff is typical Sony - something like Start-the-Party should have had online leaderboards for example. Not for the global stuff - you'll probably have a lot of people maxing out at the same scores - but definitely for the friends leaderboards it would have given the game much more longevity. It's a very barebones game right now - but still a lot of fun mind you, and absolutely perfect for kids. As a showcase, it's not just the augmented reality that is impressive, but the speed is awesome. I'm really good at puncturing the balloon-fish for instance and that can be played at a really high pace once you get the hang of it. Same for the 'whack-a-mole' game, which is really 'twitchy' but the responsiveness is really terrific.
Overall the Move remains amazing to me and it will be a little while before I'll happily pick up the DS3 for anything again. Most of my colleagues who have a PS3 will get it, and once the public gets more aware of it (I do think awareness is pretty low still right now) I think this thing will start selling really, really well. I think Sony made a really good decision to get it out now. It should have just the right amount of time for word-of-mouth to do its work before the important holiday sales spikes.
Haven't tried Planet Minigolf yet - right now it doesn't seem very appealing to me, but if I find some favorable impressions I might still go for it.
I think anyone who has a PS3 should get this pretty much by default. It's worth it just for trying all the free stuff out there alone, and then I think even this early there is a game for at least 80-90% of people out there that will really click. For many this will be Sports Champions or Tumble, but others are really happy with The Shoot, yet others love RUSE, yet others ... etc.
Even when I turn on the lights brighter, the quality seems worse. Must plug the old one in again and compare... maybe it's just damaged in the mail or I remember wrong.
