THE BATTLE BETWEEN MOTION CONTROLLED VIDEO GAMES

BY JIMMY PIRAINO

PRIDE STAFF WRITER

photos courtesy of cdn.techni.com and eurogamer.net

As the holiday shopping season goes into full swing, there is an abundance of electronic gifts becoming available for the savvy consumer. Video games eat up a large portion of the holiday gift market, and it is important to know what exactly is out there.

The name of the game this season is motion control. The two biggest hitting gaming systems (Xbox 360, Playstation 3) have thrown their motion controlled systems into the ring. But which one is better? And more importantly, are either worth the money?

Both Playstation and Xbox have decided that motion control is the wave of the future in terms of games, and have taken two drastically different approaches to the so-called “future.”

The “Kinect,” for Xbox 360, is a modified webcam that requires no controller to use. A new program developed by Microsoft maps a person’s body, which translates that body’s movement onto the screen. This gives the player ultimate control over characters in a game.

Playstation’s iteration of motion-controlled gaming is called “Playstation Move.” Like its Xbox counterpart, the “Move” uses a webcam to track a player’s movement. However, the “Move” also requires a controller to use. Resembling a Wii controller, it looks very similar to a standard remote control, but with a glowing orb on top.

The first time using the “Kinect” was a surreal experience. Recognizing my hands, it then allowed me to switch screens and scroll through the Xbox home menu with a wave of my hand. It also allowed for voice commands that I considered more “icing on the cake” than a selling point.

During games, the “Kinect” gave me a high amount of accuracy when controlling my character, and I was amazed at how precise the motion tracking was.

Utilizing the “Move” was very similar to that of the “Kinect.” While I had to use a controller, a quick flick of my wrist let me scroll through the Playstation menus with ease and matched speed of the “Kinect.”

I found that during games, the “Move” had a slightly better motion tracking than the “Kinect.” I also felt less goofy using the controller than waving my arms around with the “Kinect.”

While neither motion-control system is perfect, both perform admirably in terms of accuracy and precision. The selling point really boils down to the audience. I found that the available games for the “Kinect” are focused more on party games, such as “Kinect Adventures,” which is full of mini games such as river rafting.

The Playstation “Move” has games that can give the player more depth, such as Resident Evil 5, where a controller is all but necessary to get the full experience.

“Kinect” or “Move,” you cannot go wrong this holiday season. Both offer a wide range of new features to already great gaming systems, but I believe the Playstation “Move” will prove itself more adaptable to a wider range of gaming genres.

The Playstation “Move” is available in stores for $99.99. The Xbox 360 “Kinect” is available in stores for $149.99.