Gamers may have already cast aside the PlayStation Move since in the two years since Sony launched the motion peripheral it really hasn’t gone anywhere. A few interesting games may have surfaced here and there, but so far the Move has yet to find it’s killer app, even after the many attempts made by Sony’s internal studios before it was pushed aside.
Time may not have been that kind to the Move, but the peripheral may have one last shot at greatness from none other than a new indie developer. Unveiled via iWaggle3D, developer Playhouse Entertainment is currently crafting a new Move title aimed at core gamers. I know that such news may come as a shock or like it’s merely a futile attempt after hearing such promises in the past, but I think Playhouse may be on to something based on the tech demo video that was released.
Details on the as yet untitled Move project are somewhat scarce since the Playhouse Entertainment staff currently consists of Brett Gale, the founder and President of the company. What has been revealed so far is that the project is striving to provide complete 1:1 control and character movement akin to the much lauded virtual reality experience gamers and developers have been trying to achieve since the mid-1990s.
The tech demo, which was done merely to showcase physics and the control capabilities, is rather impressive in how fluid everything looks. Certain aspects such as picking up objects and placing them into things isn’t groundbreaking in the world of Move titles, but the action section (jump to the four minute mark) is where things get interesting.
Exactly what Move control scheme that Brett will utilize in the game wasn’t revealed, but whatever he’s doing seems to be working since switching between a riot shield and a gun looked extremely natural and didn’t seem to have any of the immediate awkwardness, animation quibbles aside, that some Move titles have had in the past.
Playhouse hasn’t outlined the nature of this new Move title, but Brett is planning to appear at GDC next March to show off a more advanced tech demo. Beyond that the game will reportedly be self-published once things finally gain some steam.
The PlayStation Move may have had a tough lifecycle but I still think there’s some juice still left in it - at least on the PS3. So far the 1st party Move titles haven’t been that great despite having good concepts, though to see something from an indie developer that may have a more direct vision could result in a title that could at long last give gamers a reason to dust off their Move controllers and dual wield like crazy.
