And here are the wands unpacked, lit up and synchronized with the game.
Before getting into the review, let me give a little background information. I've owned a Wii almost since launch (about 3-1/2 years now). I only have the original remotes, I've never purchased the Wii Motion Plus addons or Wii Sports Resort so I can't compare Playstation Move to the latest Wii tech. That said, PS Move blows the Wii away. The fidelity and accuracy of the remotes is far superior to standard Wii-motes.
There is no noticeable lag, gestures translated smoothly in to the game. To some extent, the Move controllers were too precise--I couldn't get the archery crosshair to stay still because it moved with every little tremor of my hand. I was especially impressed with the accuracy of the table tennis game which picked up every rotation of my paddle and could easily translate smashes, lobs and normal returns.
Some gestures are not recognized. It didn't cause a problem on the easier levels of the game, but I forsee more difficult times ahead if more moves are not picked up. To some extent, the failure of movement to register may be because my movements were too big or too far out of the camera's range. It is easy to get too involved in the game because you have to use "full-size" movements. There's no waggling here.
Another possible problem with the remotes may be my room setup. I was worried because, as I'm standing in front of the camera, there are two windows behind me creating large bright spots. Perhaps if I covered those windows with blackout blinds it would increase the ability of the camera to pick up remote movement; however, there's little enough problem even with those hotspots so I don't think I have to change anything right away to enjoy using Move.
The biggest problem I have with the Move controllers is the placement of the four standard PS buttons. As you hold the wand, they are arranged in a square rather than the more familiar diamond pattern from the Dualshock controllers. If you are used to using Dualshocks regularly, you almost have to look at the buttons before pressing one. This could cause problems in more hardcore, twitch style games.
Sports Champions itself is just a good game, not a great game. It does show off the Playstation Move to full effect. I haven't tried Beach Volleyball or Bocce yet, but the other minigames are a great deal of fun. My favorite thus far is Dueling, but there isn't a weak game here. The graphics are not fantastic, but they look a lot better on a big screen HDTV than anything the Wii pushes out. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, Wii graphics just don't look good on a newer TV.
Playstation Move is not yet a reason to buy a Playstation 3, though it may be an impetus to invest in a system once more games--especially hardcore games like Killzone 3, SOCOM 4 and InFamous 2--are released. If you already have a PS3, the Move is a must-buy. Yes, it's just turning your PS3 into a Wii HD and if you also have a Wii you may be asking yourself, what's the point? Well, the point is a Wii HD is an awesome thing. The PS3 is now what Nintendo should have built four years ago.
