Posted November 15, 2011
Motion gaming is a difficult thing to develop for. Not out of any technical difficulty, but rather a creative aspect. I mean, what can you do with it besides rehashing "light gun" shooters, sports games, and the occasional "screen toy" (like a desktop toy, but on a TV screen since it's a console)?
I got Hydrophobia Prophecy for free from my Playstation Plus subscription, and it said it was Move compatible, and I thought, "well isn't it just a Tomb Raider clone/third-person action game? What do I need a motion controller for that I can do with conventional d-pads and buttons?". Anyway, it got me curious about the whole kit, and how much it might cost me.
Here's the breakdown. The Starter kit, which includes the camera and a basic Move controller and a bundled tech demo game, costs $100. I should mention that some of the games in the bundled game require TWO Move controllers, at $50 each, to function (one to hold a bow and another to draw and nock an arrow, or one for each fist in boxing, or one for a sword and one for a shield), since the Navigation controller ($40), which isn't even bundled in the Starter kit, isn't tracked by the camera and is only used to "supplement" character movement using the analog stick and d-pad. It's basically half a Dualshock controller (which can be used in place of the Navigation controller anyway) replete with only half the action buttons (i.e. it's only got the X an O buttons, and the L1 and L2 buttons).
Here's the bill so far.
Starter Kit - $100
Extra Move Control - $50
Navigation Control (optional, but let's count it anyway; and you have to have two since we now have two Move Controls) x2 - $80
______________________________
Subtotal - $230
Two hundred and thirty dollars American. That's as much as a new PS3 itself. But wait! There's more! Neither the Starter package nor the individual controls come with their own charging cables! And not only that, you need cables with one jack ending in a USB Mini-B. It's not exactly proprietary, but it's specific enough that you know you probably don't have any extras laying around in your "extra bits" drawer. The thing to do now is invest in a dedicated Charging Dock. Sony wants $20 for a station that charges one Move and one Navigation control, so we'll pass that up in favour of an equally priced, third party dock that charges two of each, and includes an extra two USB ports, freeing up the only two on the PS3 console itself for whatever.
Now, some games require a little extra precision, the sort you can only get with a "light gun" attachment. Sony pushes an "assault rifle" type for $40, but there's a $25 "pistol" type available from a third party manufacturer, and it's not like the game knows the difference as is going to limit me to semi-automatic fire.
Finally, the camera itself isn't the most stable thing in the world, especially placed on top of an HDTV. The solution is a mounting clip (I tried adhesive strips with the Wii Sensor Bar previously, and the heat from the TV melted the glue). These are cheap. Let's say $5.
That should be everything we need, right? So let's tally up the new total.
Previous Subtotal - $230
Charging utility - $20
Light Gun attachment - $25
Camera mount - $5
__________________________
Grand Total - $280
That's nearly three hundred dollars for a fad that's probably on it's way out the door specifically because it's so expensive to get into. Like 3DTV. I might be able to shave between $50-$75 off if I shopped around, but then I run the risk of exorbitant shipping prices, and even then a brand new console is still cheaper. If I want to play "lightsabers" with a friend, I could get two $99 Force FX sabers and still come out spending less.
I apologize, folks. This was originally a request for "convince me!" arguments, but as I went along the prices of each item I began to think more and more on how ridiculous prices are for luxuries in a down economy. I mean, does Sony really expect to push many +$300 Vitas with AT&T as the only 3G service available? Maybe if they were $199, which is a reasonable price for a handheld that's not carrying a 64-bit quadcore CPU.
I got Hydrophobia Prophecy for free from my Playstation Plus subscription, and it said it was Move compatible, and I thought, "well isn't it just a Tomb Raider clone/third-person action game? What do I need a motion controller for that I can do with conventional d-pads and buttons?". Anyway, it got me curious about the whole kit, and how much it might cost me.
Here's the breakdown. The Starter kit, which includes the camera and a basic Move controller and a bundled tech demo game, costs $100. I should mention that some of the games in the bundled game require TWO Move controllers, at $50 each, to function (one to hold a bow and another to draw and nock an arrow, or one for each fist in boxing, or one for a sword and one for a shield), since the Navigation controller ($40), which isn't even bundled in the Starter kit, isn't tracked by the camera and is only used to "supplement" character movement using the analog stick and d-pad. It's basically half a Dualshock controller (which can be used in place of the Navigation controller anyway) replete with only half the action buttons (i.e. it's only got the X an O buttons, and the L1 and L2 buttons).
Here's the bill so far.
Starter Kit - $100
Extra Move Control - $50
Navigation Control (optional, but let's count it anyway; and you have to have two since we now have two Move Controls) x2 - $80
______________________________
Subtotal - $230
Two hundred and thirty dollars American. That's as much as a new PS3 itself. But wait! There's more! Neither the Starter package nor the individual controls come with their own charging cables! And not only that, you need cables with one jack ending in a USB Mini-B. It's not exactly proprietary, but it's specific enough that you know you probably don't have any extras laying around in your "extra bits" drawer. The thing to do now is invest in a dedicated Charging Dock. Sony wants $20 for a station that charges one Move and one Navigation control, so we'll pass that up in favour of an equally priced, third party dock that charges two of each, and includes an extra two USB ports, freeing up the only two on the PS3 console itself for whatever.
Now, some games require a little extra precision, the sort you can only get with a "light gun" attachment. Sony pushes an "assault rifle" type for $40, but there's a $25 "pistol" type available from a third party manufacturer, and it's not like the game knows the difference as is going to limit me to semi-automatic fire.
Finally, the camera itself isn't the most stable thing in the world, especially placed on top of an HDTV. The solution is a mounting clip (I tried adhesive strips with the Wii Sensor Bar previously, and the heat from the TV melted the glue). These are cheap. Let's say $5.
That should be everything we need, right? So let's tally up the new total.
Previous Subtotal - $230
Charging utility - $20
Light Gun attachment - $25
Camera mount - $5
__________________________
Grand Total - $280
That's nearly three hundred dollars for a fad that's probably on it's way out the door specifically because it's so expensive to get into. Like 3DTV. I might be able to shave between $50-$75 off if I shopped around, but then I run the risk of exorbitant shipping prices, and even then a brand new console is still cheaper. If I want to play "lightsabers" with a friend, I could get two $99 Force FX sabers and still come out spending less.
I apologize, folks. This was originally a request for "convince me!" arguments, but as I went along the prices of each item I began to think more and more on how ridiculous prices are for luxuries in a down economy. I mean, does Sony really expect to push many +$300 Vitas with AT&T as the only 3G service available? Maybe if they were $199, which is a reasonable price for a handheld that's not carrying a 64-bit quadcore CPU.
