Motion-sensing Controllers

4 Responses

1. 

   Bryant November 22, 2006 at 9:50 am ·

   I’d be interested in knowing why you think the PS3’s motiong-sensing technology trumps the Wii’s. Can’t the Wii detect all of the information the PS3 can plus the additional movements in 3D space? I thought that the cheap nunchuck attachment had the same sort of accelerometer that the PS3 has. Of course, NDAs make this conversation far less interesting, and you’re definitely right in saying that they’re both designed for different tasks. But you still couldn’t use the PS3 controller as a pointing device *and* a tilt sensor even if you wanted to, unlike the Wii.

2. 

   markdeloura November 22, 2006 at 10:21 am ·

   Hi Bryant,
   If you set the Wii remote on a flat surface and point it at the sensor bar, then rotate it clockwise and counter-clockwise, you will notice that it only detects that the remote is being rotated when it is pointing toward the sensor bar. The PS3 controller will detect rotation for 360 degrees. Comparing apples to apples, the PS3 controller is a little more capable in motion sensing. However, you won’t use the PS3 controller as a pointing device, and the Wii does have the nunchuk, which also has motion sensing built in. So you get two motion sensors with the Wii controllers.
   Of course, most times when you are playing a game and wanting to do a rotation like that, you will have the controller pointed at the TV, so it isn’t a huge deal. But it does create some challenges for people developing for it.

3. 

   Bryant November 25, 2006 at 7:24 pm ·

   Very interesting. Is the same true for the nunchuck, i.e. does the nunchuck detect that 360 degree rotation that the SIXAXIS detects? Thank you for the information.

4. 

   markdeloura November 27, 2006 at 7:49 am ·

   I think that it’s exactly the same but I’m not completely sure. It’s a good question…
   (unfortunately I’m out of the office so I can’t test it out…)