Well I was lucky enough to be chosen by housepartyDOTcom to receive a pair of the new Playstation Move controllers a few weeks ago, along with the PSeye and a demo disc. Just to have a party with friends and family before the public release of them, to spread the word and my opinion. So I thought I'd use this opportunity to pass on some of my opinions about the new controllers and some of the included demos, to some fellow gamers.

The Demo Disc that is packaged with the Move controllers comes with 7 different games that need to be installed to the HD to play, along with a setup guide video explaining the how to use the controllers. The game included are Sports Champions, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, TV Superstars, Beat Sketcher, Start the Party, Kung Fu Rider, Tumble and The Shoot. First thing is first, the Beat Sketcher Demo did not work for some reason, wouldn't get past the start screen, so I reinstalled it, but no dice, didn't play that one as of yet. I haven't tried out TV Superstars, no good reason for that. But I can tell you about the others.

First, I feel these controllers are very similar to the Wii controllers, of course, right? But I feel the Playstation Move controller are much more accurate. The Move controllers also have the DualShock vibrators in them for active game feedback for the player. These controller don't seem to mind when they are not pointed directly at the sensor (PSeye). The use of the PSeye is nice too because on some games is actually project the player directly onto the tv screen/inside the game, which I must say, the kids really liked that aspect.

The only real draw back, is the required positioning of the camera, it needs to be at shoulder hieght of the players. Therefore you can not have a 3 foot player, play along with a 6 foot player in multi-player modes. Unless the taller player get down on their knees to accomidate the lower camera position for the smaller player. I noticed this when I tried to play table tennis against my youngest son.


The Shoot:
This is an old school style shooter game, the enemy target are just that, pop-out targets in the shape of western villans. In one player story mode you are playing as an actor playing a role in western movie. There is a director narrating and commenting on your game play as well as giving you pointers as this game goes on. You can play your role as this character in the one player story mode, or go head to head in multiplayer mode. There also props set up through out each are that can be shot and some of them will cause massive explosions, taking out targets. This is pretty fun game over all, it has a floating aim indicator to show you visually where you are aiming, this is a nice detail that makes it easy for younger players. Although this game was pretty fun overall, I don't see myself rushing out to buy it on release day, just because it is not a very good use of the PS Move controllers' capabilities.


Start the Party:
This has a variety of mini games available, but limited on the demo. This game actually uses the PSeye camera to project the player into the game (also uses PSeye microphone to record player names). What is very cool about this game is it shows you holding the controller, but it changes the controller light ball into the tool to be used for each game.The twist motion of the controller is picked up quite precisely, so you need to make sure you have the game prop oriented in the proper direction for it to work the best.

One of the games is bug swatting, so it changes the controller into a tennis racquet, and when you hit the bugs they go flying all over, even splattering against the screen. Hit the wrong ones and you break the racquet, and you have to wait a couple seconds for it to return to normal.

There is also a timed, shape painting...race, ghost shapes are displaed in front of the player and you must quickly paint them. When you finish your round, all the shapes you painted are used to make something like a snail, chicken or something else. So if you don't do to well in your game the final picture may not end up looking anything like it is supposed to, the end result can be very amuzing. In this game the Move controller is changed to a paint brush, but it is not a fixed image, it reacts to your movement, move it gently and it sways, shake it rapidly and it whips around and the move controller begins to vibrate.

There is a Whack-O-Mole style game, switches the Move controller into a mallet, and moles pop up out of holes in front of the player on the screen and they are wearing mining helmets so they can take more than one hit sometimes. Not much to this, but it's a fun game.

There is also a fruit slicing game where the controller changes to a big pirate style sword and watermelons, apples, tomatoes and such are tossed up in the air and you need to slice them while fling around. This is a fun game, but I think we had more fun pretending that we were sticking people with a sword, since the game senses the controller even when behind a person, showing just the blade coming out and you can not see the controller handle, a bit juvenile.... yes, but still worth a laugh.

There is a game that has a frog is hanging onto the Move controller and you need to make him eat as many bugs that are flying around as you can by using the trigger button. But you need to be sure it's pointing in the right direction to get them, because its tongue only goes straight from its mouth. Pretty fun, but a little more difficult for the youngest players

Finally there is a game that sets the player up with a racquet, but this time there is a basketball hoop on either side of the screen. The goal in this game is to hit the different kinds of balls that are randomly dropping out of the top of the screen and get them into the basket.

Overall this was a very fun family game, we've got boys from 3 yrs old up to 13 yrs old and we all had a really good time playing this one, it's probably on the 'Buy on Release Day' for us.


Kung Fu Rider:
This is pretty fun overall, you are a business man dress accordingly and you make your way through the street and obstacles trying to elude the mafia. Your getaway vehicles are a variety of office furniture and equipment, from a rolling chair to a service cart. Make your way through each level collecting as much money as you can. Dodging the mafia guys that are trying to hit you and knock you off of your 'vehicle' and catching you. You can jump ramps, hop over cars, slide along rails and throw in some stunt variations. The surprise in this game is when you finish your turn, it shows you highlight of your run, but it recorded the players reactions during it all, so when That guy comes out of nowhere any surprises you, you get to see the ridiculous reaction you made while at that part of the game.


Tumble:
To my knowledge, this is the first game that fully supports 3D, so if you have a new 3D tv it can probably be much more... visually I guess, but I don't have a 3D tv. This game is something like a reverse-jenga style game, where the object of the game is to stack various shapes made of wood, glass and plastic as high as possible. Some are more slippery than others so you need to be careful when placing them down on the tower you are creating. Once you pick up an object, a quick flick of the wrist and the object will rotate so you can hold it from any side. You can twist and tilt the objects and set them down anyway you want, even leaning them against another, this is a good addition for when you play against an opponent, it gives them less options on their next move to get their objects balanced on the tower. At times you find yourself stepping closer towards the tv to go pick up a certain object because they are just laying around the stacking area, then you would have to back up or pivot your viewing angle so you can place it on the tower, so it does a great job of being a 3D game IMO. This game got real fun in multi-player mode once we started with the adult beverages. Overall a very fun puzzle style game.


Sport Champions:
This has 6 different events games, but the demo only gave access to the disc golf (mini frisbee) and table tennis. The full game includes disc golf, gladiator duel, archery, beach volleyball, bocce and table tennis. The disc golf is a pretty fun game with the move controllers, giving you a very realistic feel when throwing the disc. The object of this game is pretty much the same as regular golf, you have a target on one end of each course, a predetermined amount of shots (par) to get your disc there, score is just like normal golf. The game does a great job at simulating an actual toss, tracking your throw and follow through. I was very impressed with the table tennis event, it picks up the orientation of the Move controller in your hand, so it is actually easy to get some spin on the ball when hitting it to get some english on it, to make it more difficult for your opponent to predict where is is going after the bounce. I was quite pleased to see the accuracy with this game being able to get the ball spinning in either direction depending on the the flick of your wrist.


Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11:
I am not getting to deep into this one because it's already out and I'm mainly talking about the Move controllers anyway. I am just going to get to the point on this one, precision is SPOT-ON. I say this because I really cant golf well in real life because I have a nasty left slice when driving the ball, well guess what. I can't play this game because it picks up my slight problem and every time I tried to drive the ball down the fairway, it sliced right out of bounds. So all I can say is this would be a good game to really get some practice of perfecting you swing, since it seemed to precisely pick up my horrible golfing skills.

Wrap-Up:
All in all, I think these controllers do a very good job. They are very precise and don't need a direct line of sight to the PSeye all of the time, game still functions properly if you happen to hold it behind yourself. Before I got these, the PS3 was mine i didn't really have many family/kid games. But now my kids are always trying to play this now, and now their Wii just sits there even longer without any playtime