Sony: You Really Don't Want "Hyper-accurate" Games

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Sony has been more than willing to talk about the PlayStation Move over the past week, and we're getting a lot of different and intriguing comments.

If you're a Move fan - or a prospective Move buyer - you should check out a Wired interview with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president, Shuhei Yoshida. He talks about a number of topics related to Sony's new motion sensing technology, but we find the most interesting bit right at the start: Yoshida says if gamers really thought about it, they wouldn't want a "hyper-accurate" experience. He said that Sony has "devised a way to make you feel that everything you do is accurately tracked," but there's a lot of assisting going on so "you won't miserably fail."

When asked if more complex motion-sensing games - those that the Move is capable of - would be attractive to consumers, Yoshida replied:

"We never intended to use the accuracy as-is, because that makes games totally unplayable…. But people love one-to-one, they really enjoy seeing on the screen what you are doing, actually tracked. Our teams have devised a way to make you feel that everything you do is accurately tracked...

It’s taking the intent of the player by looking exactly at what he or she is doing, but assisting, filtering it a little bit, and still giving a little bit of what he or she has done. You feel like, “This is what I intended.” It makes you feel like a good player, but still allows people to progress from entry level to advanced.

You remove the assistance bit by bit. Games become more challenging, but at the same time you understand completely that if you fail it’s your fault, and if you succeed it’s your achievement."

Well, yes, straight-up simulation is not a good idea. It isn't a good idea in non-Move games, either. Take Gran Turismo 5, for instance; if that was a true simulator from top to bottom, someone would have to sit there for a few years to train, as professional racers sorta have to do. But as Yoshida said, it's in removing the assistance "bit by bit," so it still feels semi-realistic, and still feels as if we're accomplishing something.

As I've said before, Move really does force you to do something; mimicking real-life actions will indeed equate to success (usually). Have you tried it yet?

Tags: move, playstation move, sony, ps3 move

9/24/2010 8:53:37 PM John Shepard

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