Rather than porting a computer game, We Farm has been designed exclusively for the iPhone and iPad. If you’ve played We Rule then you’re prepared to play We Farm and experience the nuances. We Farm is now available worldwide as a free download in the app store.

We Farm Hands On Little Preview

As soon as you start the We Farm game you’re introduced to the tutorial which will get you up to level six by the time you complete it which takes only about five minutes. Then your free to farm however you like earning xp and gold as you grow crops and raise animals. As you level up you unlock new buildings like coops, pastures, pens, dairies, fruit stands, silos, tractors, and more.

There are tons of decorative items and trees to place on your farm as you continually level up to expand your farm. We Farm is geared around social connectivity with the same friend set up as We Rule, and the same type of business transactions. You get to accept orders and place orders at your friend’s shops with the only real difference the type of businesses to place orders at.

The biggest addition is the raising of animals which act as businesses for others, but act similarly to crops for yourself. The animals mature in a certain period of time, and then they can be sent to fair to earn different colored ribbons. There are all types of animals all earning different amounts of gold and xp, and requiring different times to mature.

Now you can concentrate on crops and animals with the push notification system same as We Rule. The game is free, but there is a consumable in-app purchase again this time called ‘gro’ rather than mojo. The increments and prices of ‘gro’ are very similar to those of mojo in We Rule.

Watch out for our We Farm Tips… Work in progress…

We Farm plays very similarly to We Rule which is a good thing because that’s a quality game. It’s also a bad thing with no innovation giving you practically the same game engine with a different theme. Will you be downloading We Farm from the App Store today?

[source]

Microsoft had a lot to offer their audience at this year’s E3. They showed off some highly anticipated games like Gears of War 3, and Metal Gear Solid: Rising, but the real star of their show was Kinect, formerly known as the Project Natal.

Kinect will allow for full body motion control of Kinect-enabled games. It uses two different cameras to capture your image in 3D, and determine precisely what movement you’re making. Most of the games they showed for Kinect were simple minigame collections, similar to the type of things you would typically find on the Wii. Kinect sports lets you control a variety of different athletic activities with your arms and legs, while Kinect Adventures puts you in some more exciting scenarios, like what water rafting down a river. Lucas Arts is working on a Star Wars game that takes advantage of Kinect for some awesome lightsaber battles, but other than that, nothing they had to show looked terribly innovative. It was kind of neat to see how you could control the dashboard with hand gestures, but we’re having a hard time justifying a new peripheral just to control the 360 Minority Report style.

New Black xbox 360 Console

Microsoft also showed off the new black xbox 360 that hit store shelves just days after their press conference. The new black xbox 360 console features a 250 GB hard drive, more USB ports, built in wifi, and a sleek new form factor. Expect to see some steep discounts on current 360 models to coincide with the launch of the new SKU.

Core gamers weren’t ignored completely. Microsoft showed off some Gears of War 3 gameplay that showed off the game’s four player co-op, as well as some interesting new enemies. Microsoft also showed off an extended trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Rising in which protagonist Raiden chopped everything in his path in half. Pillars, cars, and watermelons alike met their demise at his hands.

Microsoft and Activision announced a deal whereby all new Activision DLC would hit the Xbox 360 first, much the same way the Modern Warfare 2 DLC did. To celebrate, they showed off some footage of Call of Duty: Black Ops. It looked like a pretty solid shooter up until the player got in a helicopter, and took off, at which point it started looking like an extremely awesome shooter.

Sports fans (in the US) are going to have good reason to love their 360. ESPN is bringing a wide variety of sporting events straight to the 360, and the best part is, XBL Gold subscribers won’t have to pay an additional fee.

Microsoft’s E3 press conference was very Kinect heavy, but aside from the focus on motion controls, they had a strong presentation. Wigh games like Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, and Metal Gear Solid: Rising on the way, gamers everywhere have a lot of good reasons to be excited about the new black Xbox 360.

On June 15th the doors to the LA Convention Center opened, allowing a massive swarm of gamers and journalists in to check out the future of gaming at the E3 convention, and we’re here to tell you that future looks bright. Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony all had a lot to show, and we’re going to bring you some of the highlights.

Ubisoft didn’t bring their A-game to the show this year. While they did show off Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Shaun White Skateboarding, both of which look good,  they also showed off a game all about destressing called Innergy, that teaches you to breathe evenly. Let’s not forget the part of the show where they unveiled their next big innovation in gaming: Laser Tag! Yes, that’s right, Ubisoft showed off a new version of Laser Tag where a piece of software keeps track of scoring, and provides challenges. If it had come out ten years ago, it probably would have been well received. Things being what they are, it was underwhelming.

EA showed off the upcoming titles you would expect. Dead Space 2 and Medal of Honor made appearances, as did the previously unannounced Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, which is being developed by Criterion, who you may remember from the wildly popular Burnout; Paradise. EA also announced a partnership with Sony. The PS3 versions of multiplatform titles will include bonuses, such as early beta access, and free games packed in with titles like Dead Space 2, and Medal of Honor.

Microsoft and Sony both showed off their motion controllers, and all of the games associated with them. Each had a sports title similar to Wii Sports, as well as a few fitness titles. MS showed off some causal games that take advantage of Kinect (formerly Project Natal), while Sony showed off some Playstation Move games that will appeal to a more hardcore audience.

Nintendo had a very strong showing at this years E3. They officially announced the 3DS, a new version of the DS with a top screen that displays stereoscopic 3D images without the need for goofy glasses. They also showed a gameplay demo of their upcoming Zelda game. The game had a few technical hiccups, but it was still a crowd pleaser.

This has just been a small taste of our upcoming post-E3 convention coverage. We’ll be bringing you more detailed looks at Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo’s E3 line ups, so be sure to check back over the next few days for more info on what the big three had to offer.

We Rule New Realms have now been added to We Rule Version 1.1 to enable you to add on new plots of land separate to your main kingdom. You can now spend just a little and add to your wealth – add land to each side of your kingdom simply by tapping the arrow on the side you want to add to.

Check out the 4 different We Rule new realms that you can purchase:

Realm	Level Unlocked	Cost
South Realm	15	Free
West Realm	20	150000
East Realm	25	150000
North Realm	30	150000

You can start off by buying a small realm and then upgrading as you go along. To upgrade the size of your new realm, just enter the new realm that you wish to upgrade to and click on the Upgrades tab in the shop screen. Your other realms won’t be affected by any upgrades you make – they will remain as they were before.

Upgrade Level	Cost	Realm Increase
1	3 000 coins	30%
2	15 000 coins	30%
3	30 000 coins	30%
4	50 000 coins	30%

Once you purchase a new realm, an arrow will appear on whichever side of your kingdom that you have added to allowing both you and visitors to enter the new realm. If there are any businesses that are operational and open, an open sign will appear to point it out to visitors.

There are also flags on the social map outside kingdoms that have added on realms. Each realm you add will earn you a new flag.

We Rule New Realms Downside

Only one thing to look out for though: you cannot transfer objects from your main kingdom to new realms. So for people like me stuck at level 30, it is a bit pointless. I was really looking forward to this update as I thought I was going to be able to make a veggie garden in one realm, build the village in another… I can buy new trees and the cottages are cheap but I still think no being able to transfer is a big disappointment.

As we like to know all the We Rule Tips we asked a top commentator on Jag’s iPhone site to tell us his thoughts about the latest updates on We Rule and here is what he has to say:

“You may wonder “Who the heck is this Player?” And, why should you bother to read this?…

I am Technerdogist. I’ve ground my way into the top 500 in We Rule XP (eXPerience points) Leaderboard, despite the developers blunders. I’ve wasted tons of time and coin gathering stats (so you don’t have to) and I consider the Human Factor of the game (yes people sleep and do other stuff). Take comfort that you are not alone in your frustration with the game.

Here’s how I see the latest update.

Another update and another disappointment…

Warning!: To any Experienced Gamer it is painfully obvious that this program is being maintained by different people than those that designed it!

Original developers made a game that – although buggy – was totally Free for everyone. When players were inconvenienced by infrequent downtime, players were given a few Mojo to compensate them for their patience (nice touch, made you sort of feel like recommending the game). The game was designed to allow players to quickly advance and unlock more objects. Players felt like they could “catch up” their kingdom development and keep the game interesting and fun.

With this “New” version, Players connect after frequent downtime, only to discover the objects that they have chosen for xp or coin purposes have been hobbled by developers (a desperate attempt to slow Players down?)! Costs have gone up, build times have risen dramatically, payouts have decreased and fill times are getting ridiculously long – specifically on the more popular objects that Friends typically order from. Now more and more objects are being added that can only be purchased with “Mojo” (= pay real cash for artificial currency, and oh just ignore the fact that the developers have just screwed your last couple weeks of effort). Embedded Ads, loosely disguised, promising free coins waste players time for a petty amount of coin. (Wow! the new developers want you to pay for this kind of treatment???). Still the remnants of the original game keep you playing in hopes that some day they’ll get back to the spirit of the Initial Game. (sigh!)

Anyway… Risking that the developers will butcher the following objects, here are a few we rule tips that remain viable with this version:

1) If you are a New We Ruler, (to twist a quote from The Matrix, “Guns! Lots of Guns!) Houses, lots of Houses! These are by far (if the developers leave them alone) the Best Purchase for your Coins (when you still have lots of land and not much coin). Pack them tight and collect taxes every 4 hours. And to repeat a previous post from Jag, “Don’t bother using Mojo” just be patient. This is not a 2-day of playtime game, think in terms of Weeks and Months!

2) If you are Advanced enough in the game “Ruby Groves” are your Guns! (despite the latest butchering)

3) If you haven’t figured it out yet… you are only allowed 35 orders, including placed and accepted. So don’t wonder why nobody orders from you if you use all “35″ placing orders with friends. Keep track of how many orders you have at your friends, (15-20) keeps your friends ordering from you! Some greedy players don’t get the “Social” part of this “Socially Based” game and only take orders (cause that pays a bit more).

Hope you find this info comforting and maybe even useful!? Want more tips? Got some proven tips? Post your opinion below Hey, why not it’s really”Free”.

Cheers!”

Thank you for the We Rule Tips… And he is right for the most part and yes the constant changes on We Rule can be quite frustrating.  While I totally disagree with the fact some of the new shops can only be bought with Mojos,  I still think the main reason behind it is to slow down players so that levels will last longer.

See, for someone who will start the game just now, it does not matter that ngmoco changed the amount of coins or xp earned on a tree because new players don’t know any better, they will think it is just how the game is played and that’s that.

But for us, the “advanced” players it is a bit frustrating because we know what is going on… But we are also stuck at level 30 hoping for new levels to satisfy our playtime!

Click here for more We Rule tips!

Direct2Drive, has put together a special package for those who pre-order. The APB pre-order bonus will include a Key to the City pre-launch demo event that will take place between June 10 and June 19.

There will be a APB VIP* that gets you into the action before the official launch date. APB Early access begins June 26th at 10AM PST, giving North Americans 3 days of APB early access, and 6 days early access for those in UK.

For the other bonuses, there will also be special emotes such as the Chicken emote and Strike A Pose Emote.  There will be some Preset clothing for both criminals and enforcers, as well as Exclusive cars such as Exclusive Cisco JX01 “Asylum” upgraded criminal car and Exclusive Moirai 631i upgraded Enforcer patrol car. There is also a special edition “Pioneer Decal” that is unique and not re-creatable with the editing tools in the game.

APB release date for PC is set on June 29 in North America, and July 2 in the UK  so they are quite decent incentives for those who intend to play the game from day one and play it before others with the APB Early Access…

*APB VIP access gets you into the action before the official launch date. Limited to 10 hours in action districts, unlimited social district gameplay.

As a Criminal your job is to run over pedestrians, mug them, break into their shops and steal their cars; basically, cause as much havoc as possible. As an Enforcer, your job is to stop the Criminals in their tracks. This is what APB is all about.

You’d think, then, that the Criminals and the Enforcers would hate each other. Not just any old hate – the kind that’s always overused and applied to everything – but spit in your face if I see you walking in the street hate. There’s probably an element of that, but such strong emotion betrays the dependency the two rival factions have on one another. APB’s Criminals and Enforcers are intrinsically linked. Without one another, APB would be nothing.

This, I discover during a hands-on session at EA’s recent spring showcase, is what’s most interesting about Realtime Worlds’ Grand Theft Auto MMO, as it’s so often been described. Sure, the character customisation, which we’ve seen at previous events, is incredible, and the game’s business model, which allows players to sell user created gubbins to other players for game time, is genuinely interesting. But APB will live or die on the quality of its combat; the simple act of shooting people in the face; the innovative, perhaps even revolutionary way Criminals and Enforcers depend on each other to have fun. As a Criminal, there is no fun in the mindless destruction of AI-controlled flesh and bone, the burning of virtual cars that belong to no-one, or the stealing of cash no-one wants to spend. The fun comes when someone not only cares that you’re acting like a tool, but clips you around the ear for it.

Each server will house 100,000 players. That should ensure each version of fictional city San Paro feels nice and busy.

I am in the Financial District of San Paro, one of two action districts that’ll be live in time for the game’s release. I am hanging out of the passenger window of a car, shooting pedestrians in the face for no reason other than I think it’s funny. Someone from Dundee, where Realtime Worlds is based, is driving. Another journalist is hanging out of the backseat window, also taking pot shots. We run over lots of people. Lots of them. They scream as they crumble under the force of our metal monstrosity. We are building up notoriety, which, hopefully, will drive the Enforcers crazy.

Our team leader accepts a mission, which then pops up on the top right hand corner of the screen. We are to drive to four cars and burn them. Their locations are clearly visible because APB’s objective marker, displayed on the HUD, is brilliant. It only takes a few minutes to get to the first car. I get out, using the classic W,A,S,D control scheme to move, and Shift to sprint, then press F to begin pouring petrol all over the vehicle. Once done, I light the fuel. The car erupts in a blaze of fire. I run back to our getaway car – inside my two companions are waiting patiently. Then we drive off towards the next car.

We can't wait to wind up our defeated opponents by forcing them to hear our composed death themes.

It’s not long before an APB – All Points Bulletin – is sent out to Enforcers who are in the vicinity. They will have seen the APB logo flash on their screen, an alert that the game has dynamically matched them as our opponents. There is no lobby. No server to select. No waiting. All this has been done in real time, which, given the name of the developer, is the least you would expect. I am also alerted. I know we are in trouble. The Enforcers are coming.

The engagement begins as a sort of urban vehicle-on-vehicle drive by. I am pumping as much lead from my assault rifle into the enemy car and its passengers as rapid presses of the left mouse button will allow, occasionally zooming in for increased accuracy with a click of the right mouse button. Eventually, our bonnet starts to wave the white flag – smoke is billowing out. “It’s going to explode,” says my team leader through the game’s team-based voice chat. “You’d better get out.” I heed his advice.

Weapons are swapped by scrolling the mouse wheel. Ammo is replenished from crates found throughout the city.

On foot, APB feels very much like Grand Theft Auto – that is, like GTA, APB is a third-person shooting game set in a contemporary fictional city. Mouse control makes aiming a breeze, but headshots are difficult. In classic online shooter fashion, most players strafe left and right as they try to keep their targeting reticule aimed, hopefully, at enemy heads. When you do die – and you will, often – you respawn nearby. I spend a lot of time sprinting back to the action. But then, I am an APB virgin.

The Financial District is a twisting, turning, vertical jungle of towering concrete and advertisements. Driving will only get you so far – but it does so quickly. More often than not you’ll get as close as possible to your objective marker, then get out and sprint the rest of the way. The F button is used to vault fences, smash open doors, climb up ladders to rooftops and activate all the context sensitive actions in the game, such as pouring petrol on cars. Much of my time is spent climbing and running about, trying to find sneaky routes back to areas I know Enforcers have assaulted. Remember, these are real people you’re shooting at. And real people shoot back good and proper.

Occasionally I hear player voices, and they’re not from my team mates. That’s because APB has what Realtime Worlds calls “locational-based VOIP”. If you talk through your headset, nearby players will hear your voice whether they’re in your team or not. So, when you scream a profanity after getting killed, be aware that you’re doing so in a public space.

In another mission, we’re charged with stealing four suitcases full of cash from four separate locations and returning them to a safe point. As in the burning cars mission, we drive toward the objectives in a stolen car. This time, though, I drive. APB’s cars seem hard to control at first. The drift-oriented driving model is grounded in reality, but it’s clearly been designed to lend the game a dramatic, action feel. It’s pretty much essential to use the space bar to handbrake around corners, for example. But you soon get used to it. Driving never gets easy – it always requires careful attention, particularly as a Criminal who’s trying to escape pursuing Enforcers – but it’s not frustrating. The potential is clear: bumper to bumper car chases and lots of shooting.

Soon enough, an APB is sent out, and a group of Enforcers is hot on our tail. With the suitcases stolen, the mission progresses to a second stage: to defend an area for three minutes. We drive towards the objective and hole up behind cover up on higher ground, waiting for the Enforcers to arrive. When they do, all hell breaks loose. There is a lot of shooting, a lot of dying, a lot of respawning, and more dying. Somewhat inevitably, we fail the mission. The Enforcers have won, and are rewarded with loads of cash. Bah.

You'll be able to sell items you've created on APB's auction house for Realtime Worlds Points, which can in turn be used to buy game time.

What’s great about APB, and indeed what sets it apart from most MMOs, is that progression is entirely skill based. Let’s be honest, if you put loads of time into most MMOs you’ll end up with a powerful character. If you go up against another player who’s of a lower level than you, 99 per cent of the time you’ll kick his arse, even if you’re using your nose to press the hotkeys. In APB, however, your chance to shoot someone in the face is determined by your skill with a mouse, not a dice roll. Really, if you’re good at shooters, you’ll probably be good at APB. Even though I’d only played the game for half an hour, I felt I had a chance against the schooled beta testing Enforcers. I felt I had a chance not because my gun did 330 more points of damage than my opponent’s, but because I know how to headshot.

What this means is that APB is not just another MMO. It’s not trying to dethrone World of Warcraft. It’s not got orks or elves or flaming swords. It’s not, even, a GTA MMO. APB is a massively multiplayer online game of cops and robbers that busts a gut to strip away all the boring stuff you normally find in MMOs. This is why APB has a chance of being something special, and this is why you should care.

[Source]

If the hype is to be believed, it could change the way we game, use computers, and possibly live our lives. Or it may end up in a discount bin as another in a long line of gimmicky pieces of gamer tech. It is still too early to tell which, but now we know when we will be able to decide.

Microsoft’s much discussed Project Natal has been given an unofficial release date of late October. GameIndustry.biz is reporting that Microsoft’s Sauid Arabian marketing manager, Syed Bilal Tariq, has claimed that the Natal will be released in Saudi Arabia in October to coincide with a planned worldwide launch. This supports earlier suggestions of a late fall release.

The statements are still unofficial, but the upcoming E3 in June should give us an exact date, and possibly a new name for the device. Since its announcement at last year’s E3, Microsoft officials have been quick to point out that the name “Project Natal” is simply a project codename, and was never intended to be the production name. That may change since the name has taken hold, but we wont know for sure until next month.

The Natal uses voice and facial recognition, as well movement and depth to register and react to the user’s movements. The technology also has numerous applications that could soon make their way beyond the gaming world and into the world of computer hardware.

A video of the interview was posted Monday to Gamertag. Syed Bilal Tariq, a marketing manager for Microsoft’s operations in Saudi Arabia, told TV station KSA 2 that the date will be confirmed after the Entertainment Electronics Expo (E3) next month.

Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski debuted the first cinematic trailer for Gears of War 3: Ashes to Ashes for the XBox 360 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The title is tentatively slated to arrive on consoles around April 8, 2011.

To quote: “Gears 3 is packing all sorts of new hotness, including those recently leaked tentacle-having, mutating Lambent Locusts, (you might remember the ending of Gears 2, and a certain Brumak…).

In the new game there’s an even greater threat called The Lambent, and it’s these kind of crazy tenticle monsters that can mutate while you’re fighting them.

Double barrelled shotguns, a beard-wearing (apparently) Dom Santiago, female COG soldiers… it’s looking a treat. Such a dreary, ash-filled world Sera has become. We should get a even better look at the game during E3 in June.”

[Source]

The PlayStation Move is being described as a “platform” and a “virtual console launch” by folks at Sony, and we think they mean it, so prepare for a motion-controlled ad war later this year, as Microsoft and Sony set themselves up for a real three-way fight with Nintendo for your physical living room activity of the gaming variety. While some of the high-level Wii-like functionalities might be obvious, follow us after the break as we walk through the nitty gritty of everything we know so far about Move.

The basics

If you’ve seen a Wii before, you’re already familiar with the most basic concept here. PlayStation Move is a motion controller system, with sensors to detect the player’s movements and translate them into gameplay. There’s a wrist strap, so you’re expected to make some exaggerated movements. Where Move departs from the Wii is that while the Wii has detection of movement (with its built-in accelerometers), pointing (with the sensor bar), or even exact orientation (with that addition of MotionPlus), Move can track its controller precisely within real 3D space, instead of just relative movement based on a previous position. For gameplay this means less of those cute little flicks Wii pros have come so fond of — most gameplay motions require a full and complete movement on Move — but it also means interesting things for augmented reality. Of course, for augmented reality you need a camera, and lucky for Sony it has the PlayStation Eye already on the market. In fact, the Move system is partly based on what the Eye can detect of those cute colored balls at the end of each Move controller, which lets the PlayStation know how far away from the camera the controller is, and map, say, a tennis racket exactly to a user’s hand.

This sounds all well and good, but it would be worthless if Sony hadn’t worked out the potential lag in such a CPU-heavy tracking process. Luckily, they say they’ve got the problem cracked, sending control data with a mere 1 fps delay — equal to that of the DualShock 3.

Move controller and sub-controller

The Move controller is a very odd-looking affair. It’s almost like if you took a wireless microphone, and then extended the mesh ball past the top of the mic until it was its own separate entity. Then you lit the mesh on fire and started waving the mic around wildly. Alright, analogy gone too far.

The black, matte plastic of the controller will be very familiar to anyone who’s held a DualShock 3 before, and the sense of weight and balance — not too heavy to be cumbersome, not too light as to feel cheap — is right on target as well. The controller is significantly lighter than a Wiimote, which seems like it’ll really help fight fatigue, and we’re guessing that’s mostly to do with the fact that instead of AA batteries the Move controller rocks a rechargeable battery. Of course, with a few of these laying around (the PS3 can support four at once), in addition to your existing DualShocks and maybe a sub-controller or two, we can imagine a burgeoning market for USB charging trees. Of course it’s wireless, based on Bluetooth, and the sub-controller is tether-free as well.

The controller is basically cylindrical, with a slight ergonomic taper in the middle, though thanks to the flattened face buttons area and the trigger notch, it’s easy to keep the controller in its correct orientation. At the end of the controller is the light-up ball, which is actually hollow, incredibly squishy, and built out of some very odd rubbery material. The upshot of the controller’s layout is that your hand should be covering all the hard plastic stuff when you’re playing, with just the squishy ball exposed, so potential injuries have already been slightly mitigated without having to resort to the shame of a Wiimote condom.

That ball serves quite a few purposes. Firstly, it’s tracked by the PlayStation Eye for its X, Y, and Z positioning in 3D space, based on its size and location in the camera field. One thing that helps it be tracked is the fact that it lights up from within, but those lights serve an additional purpose of conveying game info. None of the games we played last night used this feature (picking instead an arbitrary color), but most of them were planning on it. The ball can flash any RGB color, and has a really delightful glow to it. It’s easily the most distinctive bit of the whole setup visually, and expect your less-informed friends to be asking you about “that controller with the funny glowing ball at the end of it” as we near the launch.

Location in 3D space is of doubtless importance, but equally important in motion gaming are the angle, orientation, and acceleration of the controller, and PlayStation Move luckily has those in spades. The Move controller has a three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer and a “terrestrial magnetic field sensor.” We’re not sure what that last thing is, perhaps a compass, but it sounds pretty badass. The upshot of all this is that even if you take the light-up ball off camera, or it’s obscured somehow, the controller still does a good job of figuring out its orientation and movement. A couple of games even have preprogrammed gestures for spin attacks where you literally spin yourself around, or taunts where you place the controller behind your back. In addition to the feedback of the light-up ball there’s also built-in rumble. Poor SIXAXIS never stood a chance.

On the face of the controller are small versions of the standard square / circle / triangle / x face buttons, which are slightly more resistive and clicky than a regular PlayStation controller — they’re clearly designed more for occasionally activating a function than constant mashing. Your thumb primarily rests on a large button in the center with the Move logo inscribed on it. We heard this called the “plunger” by one developer, though that doesn’t seem to be an official title. In games it’s merely denoted by a grey icon in the pill shape of the button. The button has a nice feel to it, and its unique shape means it’s easy to hold down without fatigue — something we’ve had trouble with at times with the Wii‘s A button. Below the thumb button and recessed enough to be in no danger of an accidental press is the PlayStation button for bringing up the XMB and syncing the controller with the console. Around back is an analog trigger that is nicely notched and very comfy, and on the front sides are flattened Start and Select buttons.

The “sub-controller” (that’s the official, un-catchy name for it at the moment) is a much more limited affair, thought it’s easily more complicated than its Nunchuck competition on the Wii side when it comes to buttons. Up top there’s a nice, DualShock-style analog stick, below that is a d-pad flanked by replicas of the main controller’s X and O buttons (we’re guessing this will give people some flexibility in control schemes, otherwise it could cause some major headaches if each X or O does something different), and there’s also another PlayStation button. Around back is a second analog trigger more akin to the DualShock’s than the notched one on the main controller, and above that is an analog shoulder button. There are no motion sensors inside the sub-controller, and from what we can tell there’s no rumble either, though we couldn’t get a straight “no” on that.

Uses

Between the PlayStation Eye, up to four Move controllers, some unnamed quantity of sub-controllers, and your hooligan friends, the combinations and uses are pretty endless. Here are some configurations that are possible off the top of our heads: we’re sure there are others, but this should get your imagination going:

* Single Move controller: This is the most basic setup, and how the controller will be sold as a kit: PlayStation Eye, Move controller, and game.
* Dual Move controllers: We saw a ton of examples of this in videos and in actual games we tested, so prepare to spring for a second Move controller right away. Luckily, many of the dual-controller games seemed to have a mode where you can control them with a single controller, but that sounds pretty sub-optimal.
* Move controller + PlayStation Eye: Obviously everything uses the Eye for detecting motion, but we also saw some games like Move! Party (a working title) and EyePet that rely heavily on the Eye. Uses include capturing your face and mapping it to a character, giving you a 3D prop but otherwise displaying the full video feed, and voice commands (there’s built-in mic on the Eye).
* Move controller + sub-controller: We’ve only seen this demoed with SOCOM 4 so far, and we get the feeling that Sony is going to reserve this more complicated, optional controller for its core gamers. Since there’s no way to track the motion of the sub-controller, movement possibilities are also reduced compared to a dual Move controller setup.
* Move vs. Move, or Dual Move vs. Dual Move: This is where it should get really fun / dangerous. Two people swinging two Move controllers around wildly. We’re guessing four player games will be possible as well with one person holding one Move each, but we didn’t see any demoed.

Setup

Sony says that most games need configuration before each play. Luckily, it’s a pretty painless process, but it also depends on your setup and the game. For instance, some Move games require a “wingspan check” where you hold one controller out to the side with your arm fully extended, and then hold it near your belt. Some dual Move games have this sort of “magnetic” pairing setup, where you place both controllers side by side and point them at the screen, and they rumble as if attracted to one another. For a shooter like SOCOM there’s a screen that lights up one center edge of the screen at a time and asks you to point there. For all games you’re supposed to stand about two or three yards away from the screen and center yourself on the PlayStation Eye. We don’t know if the PlayStation Eye can be placed either above or below the screen, but in all the setups we saw it was placed right above the TV.

Games

In a way, Sony is only ready to show tech demos at this point, to let people know that Move works and how it works, so it’s understandable that the games were pretty scarce and rough around the edges. We’re promised much more to come, and some more blockbuster-style stuff for 2011. Below is a quick rundown of the games we’ve seen:

Move Party (working title): A minigame collection that uses a lot of augmented reality and bizarre situations to delight, entertain, and eventually bore you. Check out Joystiq’s impressions.

Sports Champions (working title): It’s like Wii Sports, but in HD! We didn’t see all the games, but we know that at least table tennis (single Move, multiplayer is possible) a gladiator game (dual or single Move) and archery (dual Move, probably single Move, it’s unclear). Check out Joystiq’s impressions.

SOCOM 4: It’s a FPS, much akin to a traditional Wii FPS control setup, though with a bit more sensitivity for pointing off screen for camera movement. Uses Move controller + sub-controller. Check out Joystiq’s impressions.

TV SuperStars: A terrifying minigame collection involving tons of facemapping that we’re avoiding at all costs. Steer clear of Joystiq’s gallery.

Slider: Some really bizarre, truly Japanese game where an office worker and a rolling deskchair slide improbably through a cityscape. We haven’t seen it in action yet, but we’re dying to. Joystiq has a gallery.

The Shoot: An on-rails shooter using a single Move controller, with a few motion gimmicks like a spin attack. Was not only unimpressive, but also relatively laggy. We’ll be avoiding. Check out Joystiq’s impressions.

Motion Fighter (working title): A very visceral, “gritty” underground boxing game that uses Dual Move controllers. We didn’t get to play this, but the demo we saw on stage was pretty impressive, including putting an opponent in a headlock and punching their face with the mere power of mime. Joystiq has a gallery.

EyePet: A PlayStation Eye game that’s already available in Europe, but will launch in the US with Move, replacing its card-tracking interface with a Move controller. Joystiq has more info.

Brunswick Pro Bowling: We didn’t see this in action, but we can guess how it goes down.

Most of these from what we can tell are slated to launch when PlayStation Move launches this fall. You can follow the rest of Joystiq’s coverage here, and check out our hands-on impressions with the games / controllers here.

Retail plans

So, now that you know what it is, when can you buy it? It’s slated for a “holidays” launch, which could mean any number of things, but we’re guessing Sony’s going to want this out not long after November. Unfortunately, Sony has a pretty bad track record with launching stuff on time; PlayStation Move was originally slated for Spring, for instance. Obviously they “have” to get it out for the holidays with Microsoft’s Natal launching in a similar time frame, but there’s always the danger of a last minute hiccup, and we’re not going to put too much stock in projected dates until it’s really out.

Pricing details are a little more firm, with a sub-$100 kit slated to bring people the core experience of a PlayStation Eye, Move controller and game (we’re guessing Move Party or Sports Champions, though there’s no confirmation of either). There will also be a PS3 bundle with all those elements, some high-profile games will be bundled with Move, and you can of course buy each element separately — perfect for someone who already owns a PlayStation Eye. There isn’t any word on prices for separate components, but that’s going to be a huge factor in this platform’s success — which we’re sure Sony knows as well as anybody. The beauty of Natal is that you buy it and you’re set, no extra peripherals needed, no matter how many players you add.

Last thoughts

In all, what we saw here at GDC is a very early incarnation of PlayStation Move. While we doubt the controller will change before launch, Sony even has disclaimers on its press images saying that “design and specifications are subject to change without notice,” so anything’s possible. All the software, meanwhile, was labeled “pre-alpha,” and we really think they mean it. Nothing was feature complete, most games had lag and frame rate hiccups, and we kept hearing “we might be adding that” when asking about specific features. It was a true tech demo, and we are sincerely impressed by the technology, despite the issues. However, at the end of the day Sony’s going to have to show up for its little battle with Natal with some serious gaming firepower, and tight, refined experiences. There’s a clear learning curve for developers when it comes to motion controlled gaming that was somewhat forgivable with the Wii at launch, but a few years in we’re frankly expecting perfection, no matter how “unfair” that might be. There aren’t enough pieces for our hearts to break into if this turns into another SIXAXIS debacle.

[Via Engadget]