not as much as it is killing me and FF-Fanatic. we have had a taste of the future and we cannot wait to get some more. The future is bright and the future is friggin SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET :p

I was fortunate enough to get invited to the awesome-packed PlayStation Beta Rooms event for the press preview in Birmingham last night. It wasn’t a hard decision making the hundred mile plus journey down south considering I’d be getting my hands on the likes of Sony’s new motion controller, Move and a slew of upcoming titles such as Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5 and MotorStorm: Apocalypse. This is part one of my coverage of the event that begins with the PlayStation Move.

Kung Fu Rider

This was one of the most surprising games of the show. I didn’t think it would be worth more than a casual look but it proved to be really entertaining. Your on-screen avatar, today represented by the Japanese detective, Toby, who uses an office chair to roll downhill performing tricks and Kung-Fu moves for points. Let’s not think about why, just how.

A few brief tutorials fill you in on the basics and special moves and then you’re able to try a race and immediately have some fun. Tap the controller forward a few times to accelerate by pushing with your feet, or stab it forwards to perform a power dash that can take out enemies or crates blocking your way, or flick the controller upwards to perform a jump. Steering is controlled by moving the controller across in an arc and sidesteps and left/right kung-Fu moves are performed with the face buttons and further sideways lashes of the controller. If you press the Move button (the squiggly line one on the front) while jumping over a railing or car, you can grind along it Tony Hawk-style and holding the trigger will enable you to lean back in your chair to duck under fences or avoid gangsters with sticks.

Combo together tricks, collect icons and smash gangsters out of your way to get to the end of a course and get a rating. After spending a few minutes with the controls it felt easy to dive into, the first race I did I only got an average C grade, but trying again, knowing the course a bit more I managed an S (as in S, A, B, C not S for stupid, suck, s**t, etc). 

The final game will have more characters to play as and even some extra, er, vehicles. Such as baby prams and shopping trolleys. There’ll be dozens of courses too. Kung Fu Rider is set to be a launch title for the PlayStation Move on November 17th.

The Fight

After finally getting the camera set up properly I had quite a bit of fun with this. If you punch ‘into’ the camera it responds with a headshot, so try and position it as close to head height as you can. You will need two motion controllers to play this, or four if you want a two player brawl. The two-player scrapping was unfortunately unavailable today. But I was able to get a good workout from the single player demo, hell it even breaks down how much KJ energy you’ve used per fight. Jabbing, body shots and uppercuts all work well, with the trigger button being used as a power-modifier to really put some meat into attacks. Special moves like a spinning-backfist, and two-handed smashes were available but my personal favourites so far are the vicious elbows. The AI opponent will try and put you on your ass, so it’s a good job you can guard your face and body in realistic style. You can sway side-to-side too. It’s important to remember to allow some of the punch animations to finish before you start frantically swinging. It can seem a little sluggish at times as every punch wasn’t represented on-screen, but this isn’t the final version. The graphical style is a bit too grim and bleak for its own good as it’s just so dark and dingy. Yes it’s aimed at an older audience but jeez.

It really is important to adjust the camera so when you’re calibrating the controllers your head is central. Otherwise, say when you play after a taller person, you’ll find your fighter ducking down like Quasimodo and swatting upwards.

Heavy Rain: Move Edition

This is a title I think will be well suited to the new controller. However, as I thought when I played an early version of the original at Eurogamer Leeds, it’s once again something that is going to be much easier to get to grips with in the comfort of your own home. Especially if you’re going to do the level towelling off Madison.

I went for Shelby’s one instead which ended with the fight against the bald biker early on in the game. The fight did not go well though, poor Shelby ended up getting bottled in the face, not exactly a repeat of my gallant ‘save the day’ performance with the pad a few months back. Early impressions were that it was a little overly-complicated, as actions like getting some money out of your pocket by holding a button and making a similar motion with the controller, required a few attempts. It’s the actions requiring quarter-circle turns and filling up action boxes that were most problematic. Character movement is controlled by the extra navigation controller, which performed well enough. You can also use a PS3 pad one-handed, but it’ll be pretty pap really won’t it? There will be two difficulty levels, I think this was the tougher one, so the easier one will probably ease you in more gently and require less fidgeting. However, after a little bit more time with it, I’m sure it will be fine as things did get easier once I knew exactly what an on-screen prompt wanted from me.

Heavy Rain: Move edition will get its own release (date TBC), but owners of the awesome original will be able to download a patch to implement the new controls. Hopefully the Move Edition will also feature a PS3 pad version (just in-case), and the patch for the old game will be free.

Sports Champions

I was well up for a bit of archery or gladiatorial battles with swords and shields using a dual controller setup. However, I was ultimately denied as the only two games from this compilation on offer were Disc Golf and Table Tennis. Well, enough sulking.

Disc Golf: It’s golf with a frisbee, as you chuck a disk around a course and then into a basket at the end. I was having a disaster at first, but then I remembered this wasn’t a Wii game that didn’t care how I was holding the controller, it was the Move with its fancy tech registering every degree of rotation. I was really impressed to see the angle the frisbee was being held at change depending on how I held the controller. I realised my first few throws had been chucking the disc vertically and that’s why they were spazzing all over the place. Hold it right, and sweep your hand out and release the trigger button and enjoy the majestic glide. It also reads how hard you throw it too which is essential for the bits where you’re almost at the basket (like a putt in golf). After one poor throw I found a low tree branch blocking my way (I’d gone off course into the woods a bit), brilliantly, I ducked to throw it and the avatar performed the action too as the camera kept tracking me despite my positional change.  The more you play, the more you’ll be able to get flashy and add swerve to your throws, meaning it’ll still be fun for a while hopefully. A surprisingly enjoyable title that will be a lot of fun come launch day.

Table Tennis: Usually I’m all up for knocking the Wii’s constant crapola collection of plastic add-ons, but I’m going to have to eat my own words and actually suggest a tennis paddle could be really helpful here. The rotation detection is so good in this game, as you can hold your bat at any angle on-screen. If there was a plastic one at the end of the controller it might actually help you keep it the way you want on-screen as I had to keep turning it around. Or I could ignore the plastic route and you know, just get better at it. Two-player matches split the screen so both of you play at the bottom to keep you both feeling immersed. You can aim with ease at either side of the table and power-shots and little dinks all work just as they should. It works much better than the random tennis games on the Wii and along with Disc Golf sets a high standard of playability and fun for the rest of Sports Champions to live up to. Archery is going to be immense.

Sports Champions is released for the Move’s launch, September 17th.

Final Thoughts

The motion controllers themselves have been very comfortable to hold as they’re very light, despite featuring a rumble motor. Plus the rounded curves mean it’s considerably more comfortable to hold than a blocky Wiimote. I found the face buttons either side of the move button a tad small, but they’re well-spaced and should be fine once I’ve had the controller for a while. The navigational controller was only required for the Heavy Rain demo out of everything I played, so you won’t have to grab one at launch really. You might as well put the money towards another motion controller and wait until games like Socom arrive that will warrant picking one up. All demos were played standing between three and five feet away, which means you probably won’t have to renovate your living room to play, same distance as a Wii really.

So that’s everything PlayStation Move related wrapped up from the PlayStation Beta Rooms in Birmingham. Thinking back on the events of last night, I can see it becoming a hit for local multiplayer, although I’ll be keeping a keen eye on it and my fingers crossed for the more hardcore gaming releases. Oh, and don’t forget to warm up a little before you have a proper session unless you want to feel like you’ve been hit by a car the next day.

http://www.dealspwn.com/playstation-beta-rooms-move-handson/

http://www.dealspwn.com/playstation-move-handson-preview-part-2/

yet more positive feedback for move from dealspwn!!