History of Sony
My approach on finding out a company’s history is to look for information given by the company themselves and then cross-referencing them to outside sources. Some information I gathered from Sony’s website http://www.sony.co.uk/article/id/1060176719725 are as follows; The company is based in Japan and was originally called TTK (Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo) and later renamed Sony due to the name already being used by other company. From different sites such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony and documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J1E700qe8&feature=related, I learnt that Its earliest products dates back to 1950s and consisting of various electronic devices from radios, tape recorders, televisions and many of them were the first of its kind, for example; world’s 1st Portable TV and CD Player just to name a few. Sony later on started branching out to the rest of the world, most notably in the United States and United Kingdom. The company also started to extend their products to cameras, phones, computers, videos, music and established a number of Sony groups to major industries such as Sony Pictures, Sony Music and of course Sony Computer Entertainment, inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment
This is the part of the company that focuses on video game industry and it’s biggest markets includes; North America, Europe and Asia. One of the biggest key moment of this company was definitely when its very 1st home console was produced; on 1994 (Japan) & 1995 (North America) Sony PlayStation/ PSX/ PSOne was launched, which was originally intended to be a CD-ROM drive add-on for Super Nintendo/ Super Famicom. Following its success PS2/PSX2 (PlayStation 2) was released 5 years after that and became the first video game console that allows DVD playability and had sold up to 150 Million units world wide today. Not long after that, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) was released, followed by PSP GO, both of which are portable gaming consoles that uses UMD and Flash Memory for the latter product. Then along came the PS3 (PlayStation 3) which sums up all the technology gathered all those years and more, it provides online capabilities; which includes games, videos, music and of course the birth of PS Move (PlayStation Move). To explain what PS Move is, I have to backtrack again slightly to discuss more about controllers from older to current generation of gaming.
Controllers
http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/art-controller.htm This is a site that list the history of video game controllers. To sum up the evolution of controllers for home consoles; it is apparent that it started out mostly in forms of joysticks and then eventually morphed into D-pad controller that seems to be everywhere currently. As mentioned on the website, these “Joysticks allows 8 directional movements (up/down/left/right/angles) with a single action button. They were bulky with a heavy base, and a long protruding handle/ stick that could be gripped in a fist.” I believe this is really just the reality of bringing home a compressed portable arcade machine into our home at the time, hence the similar design. The transition began during the early 1980s when “a Japanese inventor, Gunpei Yokoi, would create a controller interface that would later become known as a D-Pad (Digital-Pad). This D-Pad used a ‘cross-shaped’ directional digital control interface that could be manipulated with the thumb” as stated on the site and popularized by Nintendo and would be better known as Joypads. Along the way, many additional features were added to the design such as turbo, slow motion, longer design or flexible, more buttons, etc. Some of the earlier games that utilize this Joypads are SEGA Genesis, SuperNES and later on the Sony PSX. Sony took the design into a new level by adding Dual Shock capability, which allows switch between analog and digital game play and also vibrations later during the PS2 era among many other additions. Not long after, the wireless controllers reigns internationally, however, as much as wireless capability appears to be a novelty, it had actually been around for much longer before. “Atari experimented with wireless technology in the early 1980s.” as quoted from the site. Using RF (Radio Frequency), same one used to open garage doors, walkie-talkies or radio, Atari created a wireless controller, but it was rather bulky, receiver had to be plugged in to AC wall outlet and they experience lag and obviously it will occasional interfere with other RF waves at the same area causing complaints on garage doors opening randomly. Many different companies tried approaching the concept in different ways but technologies at the time didn’t seem to be doing it any justice. Then came along the PS3 that introduces the SIXAXIS that features motion controls which opens up doors to wide range of new game plays.
Competitions
Not too far apart from PS3’s SIXAXIS technology, Nintendo released Wii, which uses the Wii-Mote that also features motion sensor, and more, “Nintendo added a PixArt optical sensor at the tip, allowing it to determine the direction you are pointing at the controller.” Also its in a shape of a TV remote that was designed to be held by a single hand. Soon enough jumping to the band wagon of interactive era, Sony also came up with similar design; the PS Move controllers in 2010 and the PlayStation Eye that applies same concept of motion controls by having ‘orb’ on the tip of microphone-shaped controller that is then tracked by the PlayStation Eye for movements. Both the Wii-Mote and PS-Move controllers features a separate ‘Nunchuck’ controller that acts as a navigational function in the interaction. Soon after, Kinect was released for Xbox 360, which only uses a camera, but instead of having a controller, uses a “3D motion capture, facial recognition and advanced gesture recognition.”
These 3 current ‘Advanced Motion Gaming Controllers’ might sound brilliant, and for the most part they are; gameplays that involves 1st person cutting motion, sporty moves, gestures or even visual therapy sessions are all now ‘do-able’, however are they really advanced new game play experience? Or are they just advanced new technology used as gimmicks to lure casual users into buying them?
Reception and potentials
Out of the three consoles Nintendo Wii is the one that had been consistently leading in sales. With over 70 Million units sold worldwide to date, this automatically makes the Wii-mote the most well received motion controller. In terms of sales 360 and PS3 might be both inferior, however the reception and sales for the controllers on they’re own are not a bad one, the Move sold 8.8 million units since its release while the Xbox Kinect had 10 million units sold. So by numbers, they’re all doing pretty well, but obviously there’s a reason why the Kinect and Move controllers are inferior to Wii-mote.
Firstly, during the lecture from Sumo Digital’s Art Director Sean Millard, he made it clear that investing on Move or Kinect is not worth it, simply because only less than 50% (maybe even lesser) of gamers that owns the consoles ALSO owns the controllers, therefore it means that he will be making a game that only appeals and ultimately profits from less than 50% of the industry, (which will never happen for the wii, but that’s besides the point); so at the end of the day, it’s a funny trend of gamers not getting the controllers due to the unexciting amount of games it posses and developers can’t invest on them because there is simply not enough audience to sell to. Secondly, in my opinion, the Wii outsold the 2 other consoles by a country mile because it made itself clear; to be mainstream, casual and most importantly, family oriented party game. The Wii can target everybody from different age groups and obviously Nintendo targeted parents as their main audience, to make them feel that they could be involved with their kids and families, be in touch with today’s technology with a valid reason. If you look at the console from a proper gamer perspective however, it is nothing more than a ‘fast-food’, 5 minutes games that can also be experienced by playing the Ipad/ Iphone, which also had a similar sales concept as the Wii (which I will get into more later), most of them are really fun engaging party games, yes, but real gamers and games are the ones that takes long hours to beat/play and takes long hours in each sittings as well, therefore motion controls will unlikely be the top ‘proper’ gaming controllers as gamers; by nature; are extremely lazy and that is the truth. Another crucial flaw for the motion sensor technology is that they require plenty of space, and not everyone’s living room or bedroom are that spacious, even lightings can affect outcomes, often times these problems results in glitchy and unpredictable functions. Well, various technologies may come and go, but the controller that rest on gamer’s palms will never disappear, not in a long time at least. Nothing is wrong with Wii’s situation, Nintendo did a brilliant job marketing it, its not a good or bad thing, but it is a shame, because real potentials hidden in the motion sensor controllers are buried and shoved down a place where nobody can see them. For example Echochrome 2, a game that utilizes the PS-Move like a flashlight and plays with the idea of shadows behind shapes to create pathways and solve unique puzzles. Here is an example below.
This is I think one of the finest and creative usage of the motion controller, compared to the usually overused 1st person shooter/ hack and slash/ rail adventure/ sports motion control games and again it is a shame because these are the kind of games that don’t profit very well to large mass of party game/ ‘fast-food’ audience.
Move.Me
Similar to what I mentioned about Apple’s and Wii’s ‘fast-food’ games, seems like Sony finally did its ‘move’ too. To elaborate; Like I explained before, Wii consist of many casual and family friendly short hours games, while similarly Apple consist of many 5 minutes games that are truly revolutionary, many of them are downright simple, creative, extremely addictive and most of all; could be made by players themselves. Some of the examples includes; Temple Run, Shift, Cut The Rope, or even Infinity Blade just to name a few.
These games are indie and creative enough for a ‘fast-food’ game but will never make any money on the console. However, if we look at Media Molecule’s LBP (Little Big Planet 1 & 2) or Xbox Indie Market place section, it would have made a perfect sense. LBP similarly to Apple, lets the users create their own games, the difference is that LBP is already a game itself, but the point is, it is alive, the same reason why there are DLCs (Downloadable contents) on the online stores, to make more money, yes, but more importantly to keep the content alive and running; the game and players themselves will be the game. So in relation to this, I think Move.Me is going in the same direction, slow start but I think it might be the break Sony needed for PS-Move to unlock its potential.
Ideas for application
To come up with a new concept for Move.Me, I looked back on existing games and also demonstrations videos of Move.Me. There are already plenty of hack and slash and 1st person shooter games such as Red Steel and House of The Dead, Child of Eden and Killzone 3, party games such as Dance Central, Kinectimals, Mario Party 8, beat Sketchers, moving on to sports themed games such as Super Mario Sports, Sports Champion, Wii Sports and last but not least, the more narrative and concept orientated ones such as Heavy Rain and Echochrome 2. The following video shows the demonstration of the Move.Me possible capabilities.
Some of the possible new applications could utilize the idea from Echochrome 2 and create a game that for example a horror adventure that only uses torchlight/lantern/flashlight as a weapon, this could create the sense of helplessness that horror games are suppose to have, for example Amnesia. It can also be made to create a PS Home (Playstation Home) sort of game, but where you can meet other online players in first person instead and then interact with digital everyday objects like opening door knobs, playing instruments, holding a can of coke, a book, etc (and not necessarily use them as weapon) and even interact with only players themselves with the motion sensor; for example shaking hands, pat on the shoulder, punching, slapping, waving. It is of course much more complicated than it sounds, there are variables to consider such as how movements are executed, how to choose between open palm and fist, but I believe this could be done and will bring out some of the more innovative ways of using the controller.
Conclusion
I believe that it will take sometime for users to digest this new direction Sony is taking, but just like LBP and Xbox Indie Market Place or even Apple Store,it will just keep flowing once the public started coming out with games and applications.
Bibliography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXy2f3s9Y-s&feature=fvst
http://webassetsh.scea.com/pscomauth/groups/public/documents/webasset/moveme-userguide_0223.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJjLpPikLKE
http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/art-controller.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J1E700qe8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTMUttcDhI&feature=related
http://www.sony.co.uk/article/id/1060176719725
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J1E700qe8&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment
http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/gb/?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Sony%7CGB%7CB%7CBrand%7CBroad&utm_term=entertainment%20sony&utm_content=sX0XSOCZF&pcrid=14903973690
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