Kinect vs. PlayStation Move

In 2006, Nintendo revolutionised the gaming industry with their Wii console. They managed to produce a system that got gamers off their sofas and trying their hands at a more immersive style of play, and – their greatest achievement – managed to cause an unexpected surge in casual gamers. The Wii is still a favourite for families everywhere, and that means brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and even grandparents are getting involved.

The key feature of the Wii is – of course – the motion control, and it’s this golden selling point with which Sony and Microsoft are hoping to have similar levels of success, with PlayStation Move and Kinect respectively.

PlayStation Move has often been touted as a Wii clone, but while it has obvious similarities, it’s much more than that. What it does share with the Wii (i.e. the stick-like primary controller and the secondary navigation controller) it vastly improves upon. This is no criticism of the initial performance of the Wii, which is, after all, now four years old (arguably ancient, technologically-speaking); however, the PlayStation Move has brought to the table what many are saying the Wii should have had. Move has proper one-to-one motion tracking, which opens up the possibility of the kind of games a lot of more serious gamers would’ve liked to see on the Wii.

Additional to these features that are somewhat similar to what the Wii already had, the Move works with the PlayStation Eye, a camera for the console that has been on the market since 2007 but will now be in a far better position to reach its full potential. The combination of camera and controller brings the possibility of putting the player in the game, instead of a cartoon representation (a la Mii), you can now (in some games at least) see your actual self on the screen with a sword or gun (or hair dryer) in hand.

Kinect is the biggest leap forward from the starting point the Wii has provided for the industry. Like Sony’s PlayStation Move, it uses a camera to track your body and put you in the game, but that’s where the similarities end. For Kinect, the camera is all you need: there are no controllers beyond you and your limbs. The motion-tracking here is a lot more intelligent than that of the PlayStation Eye – Kinect picks up on things like the positions of your elbows and knees and how far away you are from the camera, to allow for a whole-body representation of yourself within a game, without the need for sticks with glowing balls on the end. The accuracy of this, when you first experience it, is truly amazing.

Both of these systems have their selling points, and both have possible downfalls. PlayStation Move, when directly compared to Kinect, is in danger of looking outdated before it has even had a chance to shine. While it is definitely an improvement on the Wii, one might be inclined to say that it does not bring enough in the way of innovation: the camera does allow for a slightly different kind of gaming experience, but at the end of the day, playing a game still involves similar experiences to those involved in playing a game on the Wii. However, one might also point out that the Wii was a huge success, and all Sony have done in creating PlayStation Move is taken a popular gaming concept and built upon it. Sony is able to provide those added factors that can make a Wii-type experience that much better – the PlayStation 3 is a far more powerful machine, and its capabilities (the use of the camera, the high-end graphics) hopefully mean we’ll be seeing some really exciting games being brought out for Move in the future.

For Kinect, the major downfall might seem to be the price. At the time of writing, Kinect is being sold on Amazon for £130 with a copy of _Kinect Adventures_, which is steep when you consider that the currently limited range of games means that Kinect is mostly going to appeal to casual gamers, who will not be used to spending that much on their occasional hobby. A PlayStation Move starter pack will set you back only £50, and a lot of people seem to have been swayed by this substantial difference in cost. However, an argument can definitely be made for the relative value of Kinect when considering what you get for your money. The Move starter pack contains a PlayStation Eye, one Move controller and a demo disc, but there are other things needed to round out the experience. The Kinect only comes with the camera and a copy of Kinect Adventures, and it already has more than the Move starter pack – for one thing, it comes with a game. Kinect also allows you to play with a friend without having to purchase anything extra (although you may need to buy a bigger house – more on that later), whereas to do the same with Move you then need to buy another Move controller (RRP £30). Move also has the secondary controllers mentioned earlier, two of which will set you back a further £50. Lastly, the demo disc that comes in the starter pack is not a full game. It turns out, then, that the difference in price is not so vast.

Another issue that becomes obvious soon after purchasing Kinect is the space requirements. While Move needs only as much playing space as the Wii, Kinect recommends having six feet of clear floor space between it and the player, which either requires the owner to designate a huge area for use of Kinect alone (and be able to afford to do that) or to spend a lot of time moving furniture around. There is little chance of having the fun, shared experience Kinect has to offer in a student room – in fact, I had to move my television, console etc. into the kitchen of my accommodation and push the table against the wall to be able to use Kinect properly.

A final consideration which affects both of these motion-controlled efforts is the lack of games currently available. Both systems have a current library consisting mostly of sports games, racing games, dance games and mini-games. While some of these are great for what they are, I’m patiently waiting for Kinect and Move to bring out some ‘real’ games, and hoping that it won’t take them too long to deliver; the opportunities for innovation with these new systems is truly exciting.

A lot of people want to know which of these two gaming systems is better to invest in, but there is no easy answer. Comparisons can be made on the basis of all the things mentioned above, but the fact of the matter is that the two systems are good for totally different things. Kinect is innovative, sometimes truly amazing in the things it can do, and shows great promise for the future, but for those who are keen on realistic golf or tennis games, or want to hold something and pretend it’s a gun, Move is the one with the precision to pull that off. Deciding to buy either Kinect or Move would be a major financial commitment, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend getting both (at least not yet). The best thing that people can do is to sit tight and wait for developers to come out with some really awesome games for both systems, and make a decision then.