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Kevin Butler shows us the epic side of PlayStation Move
Sony, here's an idea: just let Kevin Butler control your entire company. Seriously, Sir Howard Stringer is a great guy and all, don't get us wrong -- we've been up plenty of nights bawling our eyes out while he cradled us in his big, burly arms, assuring us that the PS3 would in fact be okay -- but Kevin Butler has proven in his latest ad that he's more than capable for the job. Just look at the image above and tell us the guy isn't CEO material. Heck, even better: watch the new PlayStation Move ad for yourself past the break and try to tell us it isn't the highlight of your day!
PlayStation Move review: The launch games
Once you get past that initial thrill of opening the packaging, setting it up and toying around with its settings, any platform is only as good – and as fun – as the games available for it. With the launch of PlayStation Move, the lineup of what's on offer is relatively limited and, as the hardware's all about getting people to, er move around, focuses on sports and party games, with a couple of notable exceptions. Those would be EyePet, Kung Fu Rider and Tumble, all from Sony, with Tumble being a PSN game. EyePet is a virtual pet "game" that's been available as a PS Eye title in Europe for some time and has been reworked to incorporate Move. While charming, it falls under the category of a kid's title (though I've no doubt some adults will find it fun) and it won't be subject to review here; instead I'll be focusing on the more "core" games in the following pages. As for Kung Fu Rider, it's an odd creation out of SCE Studios Japan. That leaves us with Sports Champions and Racquet Sports from Sony and Ubisoft, respectively. Sports Champions comes bundled with the $100 Move starter kit and the PS3 Move system bundle, but is also available separately ($40) for those who decide to buy their Move setups piecemeal. With that out of the way – and without any further ado – it's on with the reviews: Kung Fu Rider | Racquet Sports | Sports Champions Start the Party | Tumble
PlayStation Move review: Racquet Sports
Ubisoft's initial Move offering is, at its core, an HD Wii Sports Tennis play-alike, only with additional racquet sports (that's some title, huh?), online play, unlockable gear and a roster of characters that bear a disturbing resemblance to the puppets from Team America: World Police. I found the tennis portion on par with what Nintendo delivered in Wii Sports, but the unlocks and different venues are a nice plus. Like Wii Sports (which Ubisoft aped for the Wii version of Racquet Sports earlier this year), you don't have direct control over your player in tennis or any of the sports featured in the Move game, though you can hold the Move pad's T button to gain full control of your racquet, which makes the game both more realistic and more challenging. Beach tennis, squash and badminton are also a lot of fun -- not to mention varied -- but the table tennis feels really off after having played its Sports Champions equivalent. Although, even if I hadn't, I believe it still wouldn't feel right. If you're after a tennis fix with Move and can't hold out for Virtua Tennis 4, this $30 title is a lot of fun and has high production qualities. A word of warning though: The game runs in 1080p at 60fps, but there's noticeable screen tearing. This review is based on a pre-release version of Racquet Sports provided by Ubisoft. More PlayStation Move reviews: Kung Fu Rider | Sports Champions | Start the Party | Tumble
Ubisoft swatting Racquet Sports onto PS3 with Move support
Ubisoft's 5-in-1 paddle-centric title Racquet Sports will make the jump from the Wii to PS3 this fall in North America. The collection, which formerly invoked the power of the Wii MotionPlus dongle for more accurate swinging when playing tennis, ping-pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis, will now allow players to try their hands at the same five games using the PlayStation Move controller. Based on the Wii iteration's tepid reviews, we hope Ubisoft can add a bit more depth to the title during its transition. You know what would help a great deal in this respect? Throw some Pickleball up in the mix. Bam.
Ubisoft details first quarter 2010 releases; reveals Anno for iPhone
Ubisoft's latest sales report details the company's proposed fourth quarter fiscal year releases -- the period beginning January 1, 2010 until March 31, 2010. It's pretty much everything we expected, with profits for Ubisoft relying on four key titles, three of which are on the PC platform: Assassin's Creed II: Director's Cut, Red Steel 2, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom and Silent Hunter 5: Battle for the Atlantic. However, other notable titles will also release during this window, including Racquet Sports and the upcoming Assassin's Creed 2: Multiplayer on iPhone -- oh, and a bunch of new Imagine games, obviously. Outside of detailing these games, Ubisoft also announced that its popular Anno series is coming to the iPhone. Exact details on the game haven't been revealed, but it's a safe bet that city planning and real-time strategy will somehow be involved. Head past the break for the full list of releases. Source - Ubisoft Q3 sales report [PDF link]
Hands-free: Camera-controlled Racquet Sports
Call to mind Wii Sports' tennis, and you don't have to stretch your imagination too much further to arrive at Ubisoft's Racquet Sports. If you own a Wii, you already own this experience, to which Ubisoft has added some variety, including ping-pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis, and a more fleshed-out art direction than Nintendo's pack-in or even its sequel, Wii Sports Resort. There's no Mii support, but Racquet Sports offers its own dollish avatars, customized with unlockable trinkets. There's a derivative multicultural vibe, too, as the characters and playing courts span the globe in classic and fantastic scenarios. Grandma vs. dashiki-clad boy in an aquarium squash court? Yes. Of course, the experience you don't own is "tennis" played with a motion-tracking camera. No, not Natal -- not at all. Ubisoft's USB camera, first bundled with scarcely-reviewed Your Shape (featuring Jenny McCarthy), might be on the cutting edge of a revived and revamped gaming tech trend, but its implementation in Racquet Sports is painfully dull. %Gallery-79917%
Ubisoft gets into the Wii sports racket with Racquet Sports
Ubisoft's new Wii sports collection, Racquet Sports, is on the way to help you use some of the Wii peripherals you bought! Ubisoft is cleverly aiming not just at the Wii Sports Resort audience, thanks to MotionPlus compatibility, but also the people who bought Your Shape and would feel weird about having a camera that works with just one game. Racquet Sports includes tennis, ping-pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis (which totally counts as a separate sport). It features various single-player and multiplayer modes, including a Party Mode with randomized, "wacky rules." There's no word on how the camera peripheral will interact with the game, though our money's on "your face as an avatar" more than camera-based controls. Racquet Sports will be in stores by March 2010, though you may not see it behind the ten thousand other games also being released that month. %Gallery-79917%
