Sony Outlines New Motion Control Details to Developers

Sony dedicated a large chunk of their E3 press conference to their new motion controller, but many questions remain to be answered. As Kotaku reports, Sony has now begun filling developers in on at least a few additional details in a document sent to many of their partners.

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The document reportedly described the new controller as being suitable to “any games across all genres from casual to core.” It also confirmed that the controller will have rumble functionality built in, and that up to four controllers can be independently tracked by the PlayStation Eye at the same time.

Also mentioned in the document is that Sony is currently “looking into the possibility” of combining the new wand with the motion controls already built into the Sixaxis/DualShock 3, such as using “the motion controller as a sword and [the] DualShock 3 as a shield.” One tech demo Sony showed at E3 was using two new wand controllers as a sword and a shield, but this would at least open up more motion control possibilities without forcing PS3 owners to buy two new controllers (and it also sounds like it could become a combination somewhat similar to a Wii remote with a Nunchuk).

More broadly, Sony assures that when the new controller launches in spring of 2010, it’ll come with a “range of first-party and third-party content.” They also reaffirm that the “face-tracking and head-tracking capability already in the PS3 SDK” will be able to be combined with the motion controller, offering “powerful tools for new types of user interaction.”

Now let’s just hope that by the time it comes out, it’ll actually have a name — and preferably one that doesn’t use the word “wand” in it.