Sony's Michael Denny
European exec talks Move and more.
There's no doubt that Sony has made the biggest splash of all the platform holders at this year's Game Developers Conference. First came the rumours that the new PlayStation 3 motion controller would be called Move. That name was confirmed during the official press conference, during which Sony also revealed the controller will cost under a hundred dollars.
Afterwards, Eurogamer got to go hands-on with a range of titles currently in development for Move. We also sat down for a chat with Michael Denny, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe. Read on to find out what he had to say about the new controller, the balance between core and casual gaming and going head-to-head with Natal.
It's just a very exciting time to show it off. The time felt right to announce something new at GDC. We've already released a lot of content this year, there's a lot to come, we've got a lot of announcements to come at E3 as well. With it launching later in the year we thought it was important to explain to people where we're going with it. The software's in a good state to put in people's hands.
In terms of announcements generally in relation to PlayStation platforms and particularly games that are coming later in the year, absolutely. Very exciting announcements, I'm sure.
Because we didn't announce price points today. We gave an indication of what the price will be under, in dollars. That wasn't the purpose of the event - the event was to explain more of what the system can do and for the first time, show the games we've been working on, which we're excited about, and get them into people's hands.
As I say, for me today's about the software we're showing here. I think people are having a good time and we're getting a great reaction.
You've asked that three times now...
We announced what we were announcing on price today in the conference. I think you probably saw that the main part of the presentation was about trying to talk about what the system can do and the games we're making for it.
It's a good question. It was planned from the beginning, and we've always wanted to target both a social and casual audience, but add something to core games as well.
When you look at a game like SOCOM, I'm sure you can extrapolate what other games we'd want to use the new system for. The sub controller clearly helps it integrate into those games and give a different experience.
As you say, it's not all about standing up waving your arms around, because of the precision that comes with the controller. Clearly, sitting there and having more twitch-based gaming and core gaming - it can add a lot to those experiences as well.