Video Demo of PS3 Motion Controller - with Playstation Eye

Video of Sony demonstrating its amazing PS3 motion controller with Playstation Eye at E3. This is just a prototype at the moment and is due to be released spring 2010. This new controller is just what PS3 owners were all waiting for. We were blown away with what this can controller will do, how precise movements are and what it will bring to the PS3 in terms of Wii type games. Just imagine playing Star Wars games with light sabers or games like Time Crisis, Call of Duty with guns etc....check it out!



Sony has released a few more PS3 Motion Controller details to developers and confirmed that staging its motion sensing assault “across all genres” with support from first-party and third-party content providers. It also revealed that the PS3 Motion Controller will have force feedback, something that rival Project Natal can’t achieve for obvious reasons.

The final design and even the name of the PS3 Motion Controller are both still up in the air. The quirky looking device shown off on stage at E3 was by no means the finished article.

Sony also stated that you’ll be able to play with up to four of them at the same time. Four is not an unusual number for a console, but it is interesting given that part of the E3 demo showed a pair of Motion Controllers being used together. Therefore it seems that the more complex games could be limited to two players only.

However, Sony also reveals that it’s “looking into the possibility” of combining the Motion Controller with the standard Sixaxis / DualShock 3 controllers to be used in tandem. The example given was of using the Motion Controller as a sword while the standard controller acted as a shield.

Still no word on prices or a fixed release date yet.

With this controller, PS3 owners have a PS3 and Wii in one console. Look forward to reporting more on this is the coming months. Stay tuned!

PS3 Wireless Keypad

In an incredible turn of events, Sony has announced that its wireless keypad for PS3 will be hitting stores on November the 28th priced at £24.99. Should come in handy for chatting during games and the like.
This handy piece of hardware, unleashed during the Leipzig Games Convention, clips into Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controllers and apparently looks a bit like a Blackberry keyboard.

It also includes a touch-pad, like a laptop, that handles mouse input - which should make using the PS3 web-browser much easier.

On top of that, there are shortcut buttons for quick access to Communication and Message Box, ensuring navigation is short and snappy. Cool!

PS3 Wiimote

Sony patents 'Wiimote for PS3' - Motion-sensing technology for the PlayStation? Rumours that Sony is preparing to take on Nintendo's motion-sensing Wii controller have been revived after the PlayStation 3 (PS3) maker filed a patent for a technology that uses ultrasonic waves to track a player in 3D space.

According to a patent filing, the technology includes a "game interface tracks the position of one or more game controllers in 3-dimensional space using hybrid video capture and ultrasonic tracking system".

"The captured video information is used to identify a horizontal and vertical position for each controller within a capture area," continues the report. "The ultrasonic tracking system analyses sound communications to determine the distances between the game system and each controller and to determine the distances among the controllers."

The controller also fits together in a variety of combinations, much like the Menacer light gun peripheral for the Sega Genesis in the early 1990s. The original break apart PS3 controller design was actually unveiled in a separate patent filing earlier this year.

The Xbox 360, for its part, also saw its share of motion control rumours swirl throughout 2008. As of today, however, Microsoft has continued to deny the existence of a motion controller for that console.

Several months ago, a variety of legitimate publications got word of a PS3 Wiimote-like device that could split in two. We dubbed it the "DualMotion."

Today the patent for the DualMotion has been uncovered and while it uses accelerometers and LED-based tracking (similar to the Wiimote), the DualMotion also deploys ultrasonic frequencies to determine absolute xyz position (based upon controller distance from other controllers and your television).

Oh, and two DualMotions can assemble to make one big DualMotion. Just check it out in what we believe is the craziest patent diagram ever:

What's so unique about the DualMotion doesn't appear to be that it splits, but that it joins. In the leaked shots of the patent app, we see two different joined configurations. One puts them side by side, like a dual-wielded pistol, and the other attaches them butt to butt, like a dog bone or Requiem for a Dream.

Here are some picture sketches of the proposed design of the wiimote.

Freedom Controller - PS3 Motion Controller

Gaming accessories company In2Games, developer of motion sensing gaming technology for the PS3 and Xbox 360, has released the first picture of its 360/PS3 motion controller.



In2Games' Gametrak Freedom is described as, "a remarkable ultrasonic 3D motion sensing technology which delivers performance, control and flexibility far in excess of that offered by existing technologies."

Gametrak Freedom can be used with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, featuring "proprietary and cutting-edge patent-pending ultrasonic technology to provide a true motion capture gaming experience. Unlike other motion sensing gaming systems, Gametrak Freedom accurately tracks the true 3D position and precise movements of up to four players, anywhere within a given environment, giving total control and unrivalled game play opportunities."

Wii heightens the experience

"Until now, gaming has been limited to the player interacting with the game although platforms such as the Wii have heightened this experience. Now, with the latest motion sensing technology created by In2Games, the game will interact with the player" says Chris Richards, president and CEO for the California-based PDP. "We are extremely excited to bring this unparalleled technology to first-party console manufacturers, as well as third-party publishers and developers to further heighten the level of game interaction with the player."

The first game to make use of Gametrak Freedom's latest controller is In2Games' own Squeeballs, which TechRadar told you about earlier this year.

"We are planning a coordinated launch with other titles from participating publishers and developers that will position PDP's Gametrak Freedom technology as the standard for the industry," said John Moore, vice president of marketing for PDP.

What is Squeeballs?

"It's always good to see other companies adding to the Xbox 360 experience, although with new peripherals like this the big question is what games actually use it," noted editor of Official Xbox 360 magazine, Jon Hicks.

"Music titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band justify their controllers, I've yet to hear a lot about Squeeballs. But if In2Games can add something new to existing games, that's great."

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