Motion Control is here. Get Over it.

So following where the Wii led, motion control is about to become a three way battle for Nintendo, MIcrosoft and Sony.

First up comes the PlayStation Move, which from photographs looks like a jet black Wii controller with a brightly coloured ping pong ball sat on top. Sony claims it gives better more precise control, but initial reports claim for the camera and controller to work, you need to be a significant distant away from the screen, in some cases 8ft. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that space. There are other significant problems. They’ve forgotten to launch it will any “killer’ games for a start, any games that are available seem to be Wii clones and finally, and most significantly, it doesn’t come bundled with games as standard, just a demo disk. However I know that @dairyofaledger is purchasing next week. I trust his opinion so I’ll wait for his review.

For now Sony seem to be spending most of their time dismissing its main rivals offering launching in October; Xbox’s Kinect.

Kinect is Microsofts controllerless attempt at motion control. Announced last year under the name Project Natal it was quick to make all sorts of claims. Whilst a lot of these ideas won’t be available straight away you can see they’ve been working hard with developers to ensure games are available on launch. There are concerns, as with the Playstation Move, that there needs to be distance between player and camera, and whether you can play it without standing up. However with an eight year old in the house it does look fun, so come November I will be purchasing, you’ll just have to check back for my review.

The funniest thing is seeing the number of gamers already dismissing both concepts, claiming they are not for the hardcore gamer, before they’ve been released. But they are missing the point, since Microsoft and Sony must have looked with growing envy when a less powerful, less graphically capable machine stole their thunder and eclipsed there sales by huge margins. The Wii was taken up because it offered, for the first time, a chance for everyone to experience gaming, to jump up and behave in a natural(ish) way, to play short, satisfying burst of gaming that fitted in with their hectic, family orientated lives.

And so here comes Sony and Microsoft to offer their takings wanting a piece of that actio. Some claim its a flash in the pan but its clear than motion control is being considered seriously across the board. Already 3-D (without glasses) is becoming a reality, and development is well under way for holograms you can touch, as today’s Observer explains:

“Researchers at Tokyo University, meanwhile, are developing touchable holograms. Using ultrasonic waves to give the sensation of pressure, users are able to feel 3D holographic characters running about on their hands, or touch holographic rain drops as they fall. This still feels like the stuff of science fiction, but such technology will surely soon filter into the market.”

Gaming is changing. I’m excited by that.

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