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Controller Comparison - PlayStation 3 vs. Wii
ZiakII writes "Engadet has an article comparing the PS3 Controller to the Wii's Controller. From the article: 'The motion control, however, was another story entirely. Whereas the Wiimote seemed to produce different experiences in different games and scenarios, the only title being shown with motion on the PS3 produced one experience: laggy control.'"
That's a PS3 controller? Looks just like a PS1 controller to me.
Thanks for the great design, Sony.
The fact that there is only one game that utilizes the motion control and the fact that Warhawk's development team only had a few weeks to put it into the game is very telling that this was a last minute addition to the console. If there's anyone out there that thinks that Sony isn't trying to copy the Wii they are in denial. I just hope that Sony's cheap rip-off doesn't cause people to overlook the Wii because they think it will be bad as well.
Of course sony didn't rip off Nintendo. Nintendo's controller features true position detection, as well as relative motion. Nintendo's controller is something that has never been done before in a consumer video game system.
Sony threw some components from a generic gyroscopic mouse in an old controller. That's not ripping off nintendo's genuinely innovative design. Comparing the MS, logitech, atari, or sony controllers to the nintendo one is pure idiocy - they have nowhere near the functionality of the Wii.
The real issue, of course, is Sony attempting to steal Nintendo's thunder, not their idea. So far all it's done is make them look like jackasses.
Something tells me that people will be even more scared if I try and tell them that I got all that exercise playing with my Wii... especially since I'm a girl.
I'm a Nintendo fangirl
Will you marry me?
The Wii's control scheme has a significant advantage over that of its rivals' with regard to ergonomics. Holding the Wii-mote and the nunchaku device in the opposing hand (doesn't seem to make a difference if you're a righty or a lefty, either) at an adequate distance can reduce the strain on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders of the player's arms, allowing for a much more relaxed, more natural positioning of limbs. The human hands weren't meant to be held so close together for extended periods of time, which is why gaming with a keyboard and mouse has always been more comfortable (though not completely) than gaming with just the keyboard or with a controller.
And I'm guessing many of the functions with the Wii-mote and the nunchaku won't have to be motion-centric per se, at least not on the level of play that is shown in demonstrations--I think this is more of a basic human reaction amidst adaptation to the control scheme. i.e. The brain thinks, "Hey, I'm moving!" and the body gradually reacts more naturally to the movement on the screen and its interface through the controller. For many veterans (and some newcomers), I'm sure great sweeping movements in repetition won't be necessary, which would further reinforce its ergonomic benefits.
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Well, I tried both Wii and PS3/Warhawk at E3, and while I was predisposed to like the Wii and skeptical of Sony's 'last minute' addition, I was disappointed with the Wii and impressed with the PS3 controller.
First off, I really like the PS2/Dual-Analog style controller, so that wasn't going to be a problem for me. I don't like the non-symmetrical layout of the Gamecube and I hated the first-party XBox controllers. The 360 controller is perhaps the best, with the 'bumpers' instead of the white/black buttons that are in different places on different controllers, and the triggers that actually allow for varying degrees of input (which is hard to get with Sony's buttons).
My friends and I were all excited to swordfight with the Wii controller. Problem was, it didn't actually let you control the sword in 3D space, it only let you determine when to swing. Not to say that the controller couldn't do it right, but it hasn't yet. Also, I really didn't like using the Wii controller for the FPS sections of the game, although I was told that Metroid worked much better.
The Wii controller was very sensitive and responsive, but the games just weren't using it to its potential yet. I'm hoping that if they're just afraid 'real' 3D control is too complicated, they'll have some 'advanced'/'arcade' options in there like you often see on console flight simulators. The best game I played in Nintendo's booth was the driving game, which could have been done just as well on PS3, and would have looked better. (Note that they said that 'something came up' and kicked everyone out of the booth before I got to try Zelda, Mario, or Metroid -- probably Paris Hilton showed up or something...)
Meanwhile, after seeing what appeared to be a laggy demo at the press conference, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Warhawk worked. I'm sorry, but anyone who says it's laggy was probably wearing their Nintendo-colored glasses. I found it very easy and natural to pilot my Warhawk, which is very promising given that they had apparently only added this control mode a few weeks before E3! Meanwhile, Nintendo's betting the whole farm on this gimmick, and they still don't have it down.
As a side note, we put in the original Warhawk when we got back, and we were amazed at how craptacular it looked. It must have been displaying like 100 polygons on screen! And at the time we thought it was awesome -- though even then we weren't fooled by the fmv...