SCE Worldwide Studio’s Shuhei Yoshida recently sat down with CVG to discuss the current state of PS3, including the newly announced motion controller, and gave significant insight into the development of this innovative new hardware.
Though Sony is known for its prior behavior of building hardware in Japan and simply telling developers to make due, all this changed with the PS3, and the PS3 motion controller is no different.
“When we decided to continue [camera technology R&D] with a motion controller on PS3, we involved representatives from the game and software research teams. So it was really a collaborative effort. It’s not like we’re given some secret new technology from Tokyo and have to figure out what to do.”
Yoshida is aware of Natal and was able to watch its live and pre-recorded demonstrations, but cites Sony’s own experience in camera-only game development as looming problem for Natal.
“…we know from working with camera technology for a long time that just using the camera without precisely detecting what the consumer wants to do, with buttons and triggers, is quite difficult, especially when bringing it into the game context. So while it’s very interesting, what we’re providing with our technology is very different.”
What’s great is that the new motion controller can actually be used alongside the Dual Shock 3, an idea that is currently being worked out by the development group in Tokyo. The sub-millimeter precision is what makes Sony’s offering stand above what Natal, and even the Wii-mote, are able to provide.
[Source]
