This year’s E3 was the first in a while where no one at Sony said “This is going to be the year of the Playstation”, and ironically, this is the first year in a long while where we would have agreed with that statement. Sony brought something to the show fer every type of gamer. They showed off Playstation Move, Playstation Plus, and a wide variety of new games, including one big surprise – Twisted Metal for the PS3.

Playstation Move might look like a Wiimote with a ball on the end, but Sony is packing some serious punch into the device. Playstation Move will support all of the mini games you’ve come to expect from a motion controller, but it’s also going to be used in some clever ways in more traditional games. One such game demoed at E3 was Sorcery, in which Move is used as a magic wand. By doing different gestures with Playstation Move, spells can be cast in different ways. Spells can also be stacked on top of one another to create different effects. The example shown during E3 was a flaming tornado created by first casting a wall of fire, and then sending a wind spell through it. Take it from us,  any game with a flaming tornado of doom is sure to be a hit.

Rumors had been swirling for a long time about a premium Playstation Network service, and Sony finally made the announcement at E3. Playstation Plus will cost $50 USD per year, or $18 USD for three months, and as a member you’ll get early access to demos, access to beta tests, full free PSN games, free Playstation Minis, and the ability to automatically download all Playstation Plus content.

Screenshot of Sorcery being played with Playstation Move from Sony's E3 press conference.

Hardcore gamers will be happy to hear that Gran Turismo 5 finally has an official release date: November 2nd. Killzone 3 also has a release date, though it’s a little more vague; that game is due to hit store shelves sometime in February 2011. The big surprise for hardcore Sony fans was the announcement of a new Twisted Metal game headed to the PS3. Very few details were given about the game, but we do know that it will feature a wide variety of new game modes and vehicles, including flying vehicles.

The PS3 is going to have a lot of big, successful, exclusive games over the course of the next year or so. Sony had a top-notch showing at E3, and we can’t wait to get our hands on Playstation Move later this year. We’ll be sure to bring you more information on all the games Sony had to show at E3 as it becomes available.

According to a highly-placed source, Sony will announce a large-scale monetizing scheme for PSN at the LA show, but we’re assured nothing planned will impact the service’s current free aspects.

A string of features will be revealed, apparently costing “less than £50 per year”.

Sony will confirm plans to give all subscribers one free PSN game per month, from a choice of “two to four” every month.

“If you work it out, PSN games cost an average of £6-9 each, so over a year you’re basically going to be breaking even,” said our source.

A streaming music application similar to Spotify will be announced in Sony’s press conference on June 15. It’s thought that this can run in the background while playing games.

Rumours that cross-game voice chat is being saved as a paid feature are apparently not true, we were told.

“I can tell you now, 100 percent, that that’s not the case,” our man continued.

“There’s nothing in the premium package which will gimp regular PSN users.”

The PSN premium services announcement is thought to be a major part of Sony’s E3 conference, which will also heavily feature Move.

It’s thought that a PSP2 announcement, for this reason, is unlikely, and will be saved for either gamescom or TGS later this year. Get more detail on that here.

On the last episode of the CheapAssGamer podcast, CheapyD stated that he knows that Sony will show a PS3 XMB redesign at E3.

He doesn’t delve into what changes will be implemented or if it’ll have new features like cross-game chat, but it’s certainly something forward to.

If true, they’ll likely release the firmware the same night of the announcement.

To quote CheapyD: “I’ve heard that the Sony PS3 is getting a completely redesigned XrossMediaBar. Like totally new, not just like new columns and stuff like – totally redone.”

Finally, below are some XMB redesign concept designs to compliment the previously released PSN Profile and Friend’s List pictures.

Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!

[source]

His reasoning is that both the Wii and Move controllers are so alike, and the fact that the PS3 will allow to play games in HD and the Wii doesnt, basically means that Playstation Move is the Nintendo Wii HD that many gamers have been waiting for. Well he isn’t entirely wrong is he?

Eurogamer: What happened with The Agent?

Michael Pachter: When Microsoft paid Take-Two to make GTA IV non-exclusive… In other words, GTA IV was going to be a PS3 exclusive, but Microsoft paid Rockstar and Take-Two to make it a non-exclusive, and they paid them a lot. The number I’ve heard, and I’m sure this is right, is $75m, and that probably includes the funding for the first DLC packs too. It’s more than the $50m that people talk about.

And Sony – I’m not sure if they had a firm agreement but they may have had a handshake – said to Take-Two, “You’ve got to give us something else.” And the “something else” was a zombie game that Rockstar wanted to work on. But while Rockstar was in the planning phase, Dead Rising came out and Left 4 Dead was announced. Rockstar realised they were up against a saturated market and Valve, and, “What can we possibly do that will be any better than what Valve’s done?” They started again and that’s when they came up with the idea of The Agent, which nobody actually knows what it is. That is the back story.

There’s stuff that’s in the pipeline now, of course, but a publisher would be foolish to sign an exclusive deal. A developer could do it. I’ve told the Insomniac guys repeatedly. They don’t own the Ratchet & Clank IP or the Resistance IP but they’re such good developers. I’m like, “Why aren’t you guys doing multi-platform? Your games would sell.” As if those guys couldn’t create something – of course they could. It’s not like Sony came up with the art and graphics on Ratchet & Clank. The Insomniac guys are nuts not to do multi-platform. But they like their deal with Sony, so they’ll keep doing exclusives. LittleBigPlanet guys, Media Molecule, I feel the same way. What were they thinking selling to Sony? They must be Liberal Democrats!

Eurogamer: Let’s talk about E3. Who would you rather be: Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony?

Michael Pachter: It really depends on this 3DS and how good it is, because I don’t think Nintendo has anything else. Nintendo is on the verge of – certainly not dropping into third place or anything – losing its dominance, because I really truly believe that Sony Move is the Wii HD. I really believe it. That’s been my quote: I told everyone a Wii HD was coming this year, it just happens to say PS3 on the box. It is the Wii HD.

That’s a very easy upsell for Sony to say, “If you have a Wii and you really want to play high-def games on your new big high-def TV, we’ve got ‘em.” Sony is a winner and Nintendo is a loser on the console side, because the Wii Vitality Sensor isn’t going to excite anybody. But the 3DS will. If you look at Nintendo’s line-up, everything we care about is either out or known by now.

People are going to like Microsoft more than we expect. Microsoft isn’t concerned about the gaming community with Natal, they’re concerned about the gaming community’s mothers and girlfriends. I really do think the gaming press has completely missed the mark on this one, that Natal is not intended for you to get up there and pretend you’re holding a rifle and playing Call of Duty. It’s intended for your mum to use the frickin’ 360 to download a movie or watch Netflix and to make it less intimidating. The cool thing about Natal is the voice command. “Xbox on.” I mean, that’s cool. People will really like it when they see it and they begin to appreciate what it is.

But I will say Sony up, Microsoft neutral and Nintendo down on the console side.

If the 3DS is anything like those little 3D point-and-click cameras, because that screen technology is pretty cool and I’m sure it is that, it will really get people excited. Question is: what does it cost? If they get $189 for a DSi XL, do they think they’re going to get $300 for a 3DS? I don’t know. Maybe they will, but that’s a tough purchase for me. The 3DS is coming along at a really good time for them. I don’t think it’s good for the DSi XL. If they launch the thing [the 3DS] prior to holiday, I can’t imagine why anybody would buy a DSi XL this holiday.
Longer term, Nintendo does really start to look bad as Apple really starts to push the iPod Touch as a gaming device, and that’s happening this holiday. Again, the gaming press hasn’t figured it out. The gaming press doesn’t really understand the 12-year-old customer, nor do you guys care. Who plays DS games? Them, not us. Nintendo’s got problems this year but the 3DS will make them look great at E3.

That’s the manufacturer side. On the publisher side: Microsoft looks really good, they have a lot of content this year. People get psyched about Halo and Alan Wake will have just come out… Fable III. They have good content. I’m not sure who else anybody cares about. It’s all sequels: this year’s Call of Duty, etc. We’ve had a front-end-loaded year. We might see the Call of Duty action-adventure game but I don’t think anybody is going to get excited about that.

This is more a hardware show than in the past.

Eurogamer: Is Microsoft going to unveil an Xbox 360 Slim?

Michael Pachter: I’m certain that that is happening, I’m just not certain when. They told me a year ago, when I got my private Natal demo – a week before E3… I said something like, “Is this going to cost a lot of money? The big problem is retro-fitting every 360 and how are you going to get people to buy it?”

They said, and they said with great confidence, “We are going to pack it in every single Xbox 360.” A bundle? They said, “No, we are going to force people to buy it with every single Xbox 360.” And I said, “Oh that’s brilliant. That’s a great idea. If you could do it at a competitive price then the first year you’ll have eight million of them, the second year 16 million and after a couple of years it’ll be so ubiquitous everybody will make software for it. That’s smart.”

I’ve never heard them say that since. They didn’t say it at E3, they’ve never said it since. I don’t know if they still plan to do that or not. If they plan to do that, it makes sense to have… A current 360 costs them about $250 to make and the Arcade probably costs them $210 and they sell it for $200, so they’re right at break-even on the Arcade and making money on other SKUs.
If they can knock another $20 or $30 off the cost by using smaller components and smaller fans and cooler running components, get that cost down to $200 or $210 and then the Natal camera probably cost them $50 to make – they can actually bundle that whole thing and sell it at $299. That’s a pretty compelling offering. A lot of 360 owners will – especially guys who have the original – consider buying a new one. It will help them sell 360s.

I am certain that they’re working on a thinner model just to save money. They’d like to bundle Natal if they have the guts to pull it off and announce it at E3.

Eurogamer: What’s Apple up to?

Michael Pachter: The iPad, even though it looks like a super-large iPhone, actually has a pretty powerful processor. So the iPad is a PC. The quality of games you could offer on that are pretty amazing. The problem is, I can play Tetris on my laptop now, so I don’t really need to go buy another dedicated device to do that. Apple is not quite as ambitious as others think; they don’t think they have to dominate gaming tomorrow. They’ll work handhelds first. And then as all the kids who get iPod Touches graduate to iPhones and then to iPads, then they’ll start trying to encourage game development.

Problem is, Steve Jobs – who is certainly one of the greatest geniuses of our lifetime – has this odd phobia of buttons. Great. Guess what? We’re not going to be able to play flight sim games with no buttons. You have to provide the gamer the tools he needs to play the game. Nintendo carries it to the extreme with the Wii zapper and steering wheel and all that stuff. The controls have to fit the game. And the iPad can’t do that.

Michael Pachter is an analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Do you agree with Pachter’s views or not?

[Source via Source]

What’s more, Sony reps said that it also plans to integrate the stereoscopic 3D technology directly into the PS3 beginning in 2011 or 2012. Now, Sony has thrown its full corporate weight behind its intent to integrate stereoscopic 3D into the PS3 as part of a presentation given to media and investors today.

As part of a slide titled “5 Key Advantages of PlayStation 3,”Sony said all PS3 units would eventually be given a 3D display mode as part of a future firmware update. The company also said that it will release a line of 3D games that make use of the technology. However, it did not indicate when the firmware update or the 3D-compatible games would come to market.

[UPDATE] Sony’s entrance into the stereoscopic 3D market will come sometime next year. Speaking alongside the aforementioned presentation, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed that the PlayStation group will begin enacting its 3D strategy in 2010.

“Next year, in tandem with the Sony 3D TV product launch, PS3 also plans to launch 3D game titles–not just first party, but we are actively supporting third-party software developers 3D game development,” Hirai said. “Finally, I’d like to announce here today that all PS3 sold since the 2006 launch will support 3D through firmware update.”

“HDMi enables high-quality output of 3D video, and the cell processor’s SPU performs video decoding which allow us to support new codecs through a software update,” Hirai continued. “As a result, through a network software update, our customers will be able to instantly enjoy 3D games without replacing their existing PS3 consoles.”

Aside from new games, Sony has previously indicated that the 3D tech could also work with existing software. At the aforementioned German exhibition, Sony set up the prototype unit with a PS3 showing off existing games, like WipeOut HD, being played in 3D. Company reps said the technology on display was built into the HDTV itself, meaning it would work with preexisting PS3 games and consoles.

[UPDATE] Japanese electronics giant says all consoles will benefit from stereoscopic depth-of-field technology after downloadable patch.

[Via GameSpot]

Sony’s first two sets, which are 40- and 46-inch models, will come bundled with two pairs of 3D glasses and will cost ¥290,000 (US$3,215) and ¥350,000 respectively. In July it will launch six further sets: 52- and 60-inch models that come with 3D glasses and four “3D-ready” models that have 3D circuitry inside the set but require the purchase of glasses and an infrared transmitter.

The cheapest of the sets, a 40-inch model that requires the additional glasses and transmitter, will carry an estimated retail price of ¥220,000. The glasses will cost ¥12,000 per pair and the transmitter, which sends out a signal to synchronize electronic shutters in the glasses, will cost ¥5,000. All prices are Sony estimates and products can typically be found online for less.

Included in each set will be a real-time 2D-to-3D convertor, which can take a conventional 2D television image and simulate a 3D image from it. The technology was demonstrated on Tuesday with footage of figure skating, where the skater was in focus and some distance from spectators in the background, and appeared to work well. Sony didn’t offer demonstrations on any other footage.

Tuesday’s announcement fills out Sony’s 3D launch plans, which began in September last year when it became the first major consumer electronics maker to disclose plans to launch 3D televisions in 2010. It has subsequently been followed by other big names including Panasonic, Samsung and LG.

Two of those companies will manage to beat Sony to market with 3D sets. On Wednesday Panasonic plans to start selling 3D televisions through Best Buy stores in the U.S. and some retailers are already advertising availability of the first 3D TV from Samsung.

Sony has high hopes for 3D and expects sales of 3D-compatible sets to be about 2.5 million this year. That represents a 10 percent slice of its total TV sales target.

The two companies have signed a “memorandum of understanding” to cross-promote 3D technology. The deal initially covers an agreement to sell LG’s 3D televisions alongside Xbox 360 games consoles in South Korea, although the agreement could be extended to other countries in future.

It seems likely that Microsoft will be issuing a firmware update to add 3D support to the Xbox 360, in much the same way as Sony did for the PlayStation 3, and more details are expected to emerge at E3 next month, the annual gaming expo in Los Angeles.

“There are already 3D games available today on Xbox 360, and this selection will continue to evolve,” said Microsoft in a statement. “Today, you can buy a 3DTV and wear glasses to play games such as Avatar and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The promotional partnership announced in South Korea today is specific to the South Korean market, but is further evidence that as 3D adoption grows, Xbox 360 will support 3D games and entertainment.”

3D is seen as the next key battleground for games companies. Sony has issued a firmware upgrade for that PlayStation 3 that allows it to play 3D games, such as the forthcoming Wipeout and MotorStorm, while Nintendo has revealed that it is launching a new hand-held games console, the Nintendo 3DS, that will allow people to play 3D games without the need for special glasses.

Both Sony and Microsoft will also be going head-to-head with Nintendo with their new motion-sensing gaming systems. Sony’s PlayStation Move is similar to the Nintendo Wii, and uses a wand-style remote to control on-screen movement. Microsoft’s Project Natal system entirely does away with the need for a controller, instead using a camera to capture the movement of players and translate that in to on-screen action.

The firm said that an update to be released on 1 April will prevent people using a function that allows them to install alternative operating systems.

Sony said it had made the decision to address “security concerns”.

The move comes after a US hacker released the first code that he claimed bypassed the PS3′s security systems.

The exploit, released by hacker Geohot, used a machine running a variant of the Linux operating system.

One gamer, commenting on Sony’s blog post, said: “The funny thing about this is that users that legally enjoy this feature will suffer its loss and the hackers will find some way to have the update plus the feature.”

Another said: “This is so stupid. I spent $500 on this system to be able to use whatever features it came with. Preventing hackers is one thing, but taking away a feature that I paid for is another.”

Geohot, also known as George Hotz, gained notoriety for unlocking Apple’s iPhone as a teenager.

He has said that he will work on a method to bypass the new update and allow gamers to retain the ability to install other operating systems.

“This is about more than this feature right now,” he wrote in his blog. “It’s about whether these companies have the right to take away advertised features from a product you purchased.

“Imagine if an exploit were found in Safari on the iPhone, but instead of fixing it, Apple decides to pull web browsing altogether.”

Playback problem

The “Other OS” feature on the PS3 allows gamers to install a version of Linux on their machines. The feature has been used by researchers who want to tap into the PS3′s processing power.

The latest update will be rolled out on 1 April, making many gamers think it was an April Fool’s joke.

Sony has said the update is optional, but those people that do not install it will no longer have access to features, such as its online games network and the ability to playback certain games or Blu-ray DVDs that require the most up-to-date firmware.

A Sony spokesperson said that gamers would have to “accept” the update before it begins to install.

The update only affects older machines. The newer “slim” models of the PS3 do not have the “other OS” feature.

Sony will not say how many people it believes will be affected by the update, although the figure is thought to be relatively small.

The firm advised people using a machine running another operating system who want to install the update to back up any data on their machine.

The firm has sold more than 33 million consoles worldwide.

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]

The geek meltdown that began last night continues unabated this evening as Sony plods through its PlayStation quagmire, largely due to 2010 being mislabeled as a leap year. The ordeal started when clocks rolled over to March 1st and older (non-PS3 Slim) PlayStation owners began experiencing a myriad of bizarre and unfixable problems, including blocked access to the PlayStation Network, corrupted trophy data, and an inability to launch certain games and videos.

How to Handle the PS3 Situation:
While the official source of the fiasco remains a mystery, Sony believes “that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system,” which may be linked to faulty leap year programming. The company also contends that the problem is isolated to older models, though apparently not all, and has recommended that owners of anything other than the slim consoles keep their PS3s turned off.

Millions of frenzied gamers are undoubtedly fiending for some online action right now, but Sony said that it does hope to have everything resolved within 24-hours. (That’s little consolation to the devoted consumers who spent hundreds of dollars for their consoles and routinely pay more than $50 for individual games. Some free swag from the PSN store as recompense, maybe?)

End in Sight?
Despite Sony’s 24-hour claim, the problem may actually fix itself at midnight GMT tonight, so to at least help pass the time (if you appreciate intense geek-freakouts), the PS3 message boards are abundant with quality tech meme humor, including the obvious Skynet and late-Y2K jokes.

Update: No official word from Sony yet, but we’re seeing reports from Joystiq (and on Twitter and Facebook) that PS3s are back up and running. Stay tuned for more. [From: Engadget]

Update: PlayStation Network Service Restored