If you're a Nintendo Wii refugee like me who has made a new home in the world of the Sony PlayStation 3, then you might have some concern today after seeing the unveiling of the Wii remote-like PlayStation Move motion controller. We saw the casual-oriented motion-controlled shovelware junk overtake the Wii library, so it's only natural to fear the same thing happening on the PS3 thanks to the first batch of games demoed at the big Move showcase yesterday. Sports Champions? Move Party? I think we all see where this is going. Sony urges the core audience not to worry, however. Joystiq has an interview with Sony Worldwide Studios VP Scott Rohde in which he attempts to put those fears to rest.
It's obviously going to take internal resources to develop games for PlayStation Move. How can you guarantee that this won't take away from the resources devoted to traditional hardcore games?
The bottom line is, you know Worldwide Studios is a huge organization. I'm not sure exactly where it sits among other global publishers, but it's right up there. There's a lot of resources put into product development. I'm pretty proud of the roll that we've been on -- with Uncharted 2 kind of sweeping the awards recently.
There's plenty of resources to go around. It's our heritage: we're never going to compromise our core; great exclusive games. This is a new initiative to us. Some teams are looking into how they might incorporate motion control into some existing plans; others are totally focused on making the best sequels to the games we all love. It's not something I'm worried about.
Would you say there's a corporate mandate for teams to explore motion control implementation?
It's something that's interesting about Sony that's perhaps different from other publishers is that we really allow creativity to run its course. Everything from the way a studio is run, to the types of games that are developed. I don't think you'd see a game like Heavy Rain come out of too many places. Even a game like LittleBigPlanet when it was originally conceived -- it took some guts to really get it out there.
Same thing with the motion controller. There are certain groups within Worldwide Studios that are head over heels in love with the idea of creating new motion-controlled games and bringing new audiences in. Others are focused on: "Hey, we're focused on bringing you the next great sequel for the next great game." Corporate mandate? No. But a lot of people are jumping on board because they're excited about it.
I really hope that this holds true. I'm open to using the Move in games where it honestly belongs, but not where it's been shoehorned into something where it doesn't have any business. What really calms my fire over this worry has a lot to do with the success of pre-Move games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Killzone 2, and the imminent God of War III. These games have brought in untold revenue and dozens of awards. Would Sony really want to risk upsetting its audience and critics in favor of something like Move Party? Doubtful. Nintendo changed gears so drastically because it really had little left to lose and everything to gain by pursuing a new audience. Sony is in a good place right now. There's no need to completely chase trends and play me-too with competitors.
Obviously, Sony announced a lot of third party support, but there's no evidence. Why were there no third party games here today?
So you have seen EA's announcement recently about Tiger Woods. We researched this technology for a long time internally. It's something that I think we have a big advantage over some of our competition because Worldwide Studios is so broad. While we were finalizing our technology, we put a lot of games into development. When we finalized it, that's when we were able to give the SDKs and the controllers to the third parties, and what we're happy about is how engaged they were. They were very, very engaged and literally excited about what they could do with this controller. They're all on board, and they're all very excited.
I heard about that new Tiger Woods game. You use the Move wand to swing your golf club and the sub-controller to cheat on your wife.
