Sony secretly working on a PS3 motion controlling remote?

Considering how little attention the PS3's motion-sensing functionality currently receives, we're not inclined to think that Sony's making an even deeper push into the Wii's territory, but a site called Playstation Lifestyle says that Sony conducted focus-group testing on a controller similar to the Wiimote earlier this year. Apparently the device was mounted on a foot-tall mini-tripod, and was demoed with tennis, fencing, and paintball mini-games, as well as used to play Quake on a laptop. That's not to say that Sony's ever going to bring this stuff to market, but it would certainly be interesting if it did -- and coupled with those persistent Xbox 360 remote rumors, the gaming landscape could suddenly be overrun with people miming tennis.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

[Sora267 @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:41PM]

Final Fantasy Waggle Chronicles, anyone? =P

[Seth @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:58PM]

Can someone say using a bazooka in Grand Theft Auto 4 anyone? Anyone?

[Paul @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:42PM]

Nintendo, see what you have done? Their stupid gimmick is now going to ruin the next gen consoles

[Aguiluz @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:09PM]

I still can't see how the Wiimote has wrecked game consoles. Why? Because of a different design? My parents complained about my PS2 on how many buttons it has. They go play the NES.

It's just technology advancement. Naturally.

If you are an old fart, you're going to complain about the PSone's controller compared to an Atari 2600.

[Chuckles McGee @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:10PM]

Yeah, well their stupid gimmick just landed Nintendo with the best selling console.

[darkstar @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:36PM]

i have no idea what took ms and sony so long just to copy the wii!
it only took competitors 6 months or so to copy the EEE. geez

[dro @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:43PM]

not this shit again..
what's this gonna be called the Pii?

[tom @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:51PM]

and the Punchuk, PiiFit

LOL.

Good move Sony! Motion sensing and HD gaming, now we are talking!

[El Taco @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:11PM]

then...I would pii with my wiiwii.

That's more puns than I can take

[Aguiluz @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:54PM]

I'm going to take for a Piis. Back in a while...

[fanman @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:01AM]

It would be great to see someone actually doing something DECENT with this technology. I would much rather steer an enzo through a swiss alpine pass with this controller than push a pixelated block around the screen.

[Sudo @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:43PM]

I find it pretty dumb to try this almost two years after the console launched.

[Ridgecity @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:44PM]

lol what a bunch of ripoffs!!

hopefully they will keep their head high proudly and stick with their dualshock controller, didn't they all say the wiimote was just a gimmick what are they doing making their own??

[STNC @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:45PM]

The resemblance to the Wiimote is scary, I hope Nintendo sues their ass, or that this is just an elaborate photoshop

[Yevon @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:47PM]

No, its just an elaborate and funny photoshop. I saw it a long while ago.

[Jamesology @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:47PM]

Obviously it's photoshoped. Do you believe everything you see?

[Robert Barbieri @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:53PM]

I do believe the image shown above is just a photoshop of the wiimote and the ps3 controller... its not real.

Microsoft is working on one and sony is too? geez... the control schemes are fine. Hell we just barely got the Dualshock back and they wanna toss it for a Wiimote-clone?

thats it... I'm going back to my Amiga... Hell, my joyboard makes wii fit look like a joke ;) Nothing like a Guru Meditation error...

[Papa Midnight @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:25PM]

anyone ever heard the quote, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? The DualShock 3 is just fine and we just got that back.

[Matt @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:17PM]

photoshop? yes
elaborate? hardly

@Papa: I've heard this one "if you're in last place, maybe it does need fixing"

[Jamesology @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:34AM]

It wasn't the Dualshock that caused the poor sales in the PS3. It the system itself. Don't get me wrong, I love my PS3; but the bugs, price, and lack of Dualshock in the beginning made me wait.

[John @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:51PM]

I can't stand this sort of motion control. If you are interested in exercise, then actually EXERCISE. Buy a twenty pound weight. God knows you'll get a bit more out of than that your half pound wiimote. I've never played Legend of Zelda on my N64 (yes, I still bring it out when I get bored of FPS games) and thought, I really wish I could swing my sword by waving my controller instead of pressing B.

I don't understand why Sony wants to emulate this. They'd probably get more people interested if they made it so you could use a keyboard/mouse in lieu of your Dualshock.

[thatkidmattt @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:14PM]

People need to stop asking for keyboard/mouse for consoles... thats why they have games for PCs.

Furthermore, it would be stupid for companies to do it... Why would I buy a 50 dollar sony keyboard and a 30 dollar sony mouse when I can go out and get a cheapo one? I wouldn't... and suddenly the console maker isn't turning quite as much of a profit. In that same vein, there isn't really any new sort of technology you could license that would get you royalties from 3rd party video game controller providers.


Other then that, by making a console and its games compatible you make the system itself keyboard/mouse only - because they are much better forms of control then the standard console gamepad.

Essentially, it would cut into the bottom line.

[jimmyink @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:34PM]

Not sure if you realize yet but you can pair a keyboard and mouse to the PS3... I can do it with my DiNovo Edge, works a charm. I think its up to game developers to add those features to games.

Even if they do copy it, I'm sure someone cried foul once upon a time when more than one company chose to incorporate a mouse with a PC. Its called progression, some which a lot of people these days are afraid of because they are so caught up in their corporate loyalties.

[Jamesology @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:52PM]

I love my PS3 ( and Wii and 360) but I believe this is a total waste of time. Why not work on making it easier for devs to make "bug free" games. Or even an IR accessory should be an asset, to make this so called supercomputer compatible with my Univ. Remote.

[Arno @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:53PM]

"Oh oh, me too, me too!" (Sony this generation)

[Connor @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:10PM]

If you look at the web page and the email is **********@**** out well i clicked on it and Windows Mail said it was
[e-mail]

[finnith @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:46PM]

It's not very effective, is it.

[Motoken @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:43PM]

cant blame em, I'd want to do research too if i could, i don't see why people buy the wii, neither does sony.

[Fred @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:00PM]

THEY ALREADY DID THIS! IT'S CALLED THE SIXAXIS!

[Bellerophon @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:06PM]

With the SIXAXIS what's the point?

Here's an idea Sony: Instead of experimenting with this "concept" how about helping your devs to innovate with what you've already got? Encourage them to actually make it a core part of gameplay rather than a last minute add-on. I mean the last game where I used the SIXAXIS as the main form of control was for Super Rub-A-Dub, and had a lot of fun doing so.

To put things into perspective, my daughter hasn't touched the Wii the past few months, and yet every time I'm on the PlayStation 3 she ends up throwing me off it to play that instead.

[frank @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:11PM]

Both consoles use bluetooth, if developers wanted they can just make the playstation connect to an existing wiimote.

[Seth A @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:18PM]

I don't think the idea is to replace the DualShock Controller, I think the idea is a different kind of controller. I would love if something like WiiSports came out for PS3,with a Wiimote like controller. Then I would have no reason to get a Wii anymore, and the stuff in HD sure would be nice.

[holycow @ Jun 3rd 2008 1:24AM]

They had similar games that used the EyeToy. There was boxing, soccer juggling game and those types of fun games.

[Kyle Kersh @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:37PM]

Wii : 1
PS3 : 100

[emanuelle @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:46PM]

Oh wow, Sony I love you, but what works for some doesn't translate too well for others.
Plus if you are tryna get into the whole grandpa mom demographic I think you are gonna need to drop that price.
Well that's what I think they are tryna do.

[Christy McGrory @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:00AM]

Wooo now the Wii is going to crash and burn, what with the last string of half decent games that will ever come out for the Wii, Rare making their own version of the wii remote (which will probably be better I mean, come on it's rare!), and now this! Seriously, I hope the Wii just dies off. Hate the thing.

[J. Evans Turner @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:03PM]

You're saying that Rare has demonstrated hardware engineering talent in the past?

Furthermore, Rare has demonstrated that they lost it a long time ago when it comes to GAME DESIGN. Nintendo was right to get rid of them.

[Armoured @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:36AM]

What's the point? Are they expecting Wii style games to be released on PS3?

[ken @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:36AM]

faaaakkkkeeeeee. No accelerometer remember?

[CosterMonger @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:01AM]

light saber?

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:36AM]

Said it before and will say it again, "the Wii mote is an accessory not a platform, Period!" Once Xbox360 & PS3 finally has a similar ACCESSORY, Wii sales will slip and slide (unless Nintendo is hard at work on a TRUE next gen console)...

[wud_e @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:54AM]

Controler Layout? Check. Analog Stick? Check. Rumble Feature? Check. See where I'm going with this?

[jsin1276 @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:22PM]

Of course again Sony is copying Nintendo.

[omnitool @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:45PM]

Seriously?!?! Does nobody realize that this is photoshopped? It just happens to have the exact same button layout as the wiimote, and has the exact same generic ps3 background that's been everywhere.

Did you know gullible's not in the dictionary?

[MVR @ Jun 9th 2008 6:53PM]

If Sony really wanted to make an impact in the HTPC world, they will be fully supporting and funding the Xbox Media Center XBMC project to have it fully natively developed for the PS3. A PSMC device would be insanely cool and powerful. Imagine the ability to play two 1080p HD videos at full speed, store and manage huge media collections, etc.

Google is also helping this project. It would be wise for everyone to come together and release a free (or very low cost) PS3 Media Center platform that does what XBMC does. Since Microsoft won't let XBMC run on the 360, the PS3 is the place to go. There should be custom motion sensing remote controls, external storage array (or just NAS), etc.. all based on the PS3 geared for home media and server applications.