The PlayStation motion controller finally has a name and an official debut trailer.
Yep, we were right: It’s the “PlayStation Move”. The merits of the name are sure to be a topic of discussion and debate going forward. On the one hand, let’s start with the good: It’s simple, it communicates the idea clearly, and it neatly matches the “PlayStation Eye.”
On the other hand, it just isn’t that memorable – it’s not “Wait, what?” like “Wii,” and it’s not cool-sounding like Natal or Arc. Hell, even Gem would have been a bit more evocative (albeit outrageous). Plus, it’s going to make writing news posts seem potentially even more grammatically clunky.
The above trailer does show off what the Move can do, and it certainly bears mentioning that Sony’s Wii Sports equivalent looks a hell of a lot better than Nintendo’s (duh), but is that really a selling point for the casual gaming marketplace that this is designed to capture?
Sony needs to really stand up and make the case for itself that the Move is unique and different from the Wii + Motion Plus. That’s how the Move is going to succeed (if at all) – I’m just not sure that it’s done that yet.
The PlayStation Move is going to be out on shelves in Fall ’10 (that’s this year, in case you’d forgotten) and should really just have been named the PlayStation Kevin Butler.
