Playstation Move – A Brief History

Originally known by several names, the PlayStation Move was originally unveiled in June of 2009. There was a huge debate within Sony Entertainment as to what to call the motionless controller. The press had continued to incorrectly refer to it as the Magic Wand or the Wand. Sony eventually called it “The Motion Controller” and on September 2009 the name, “Move” was coined and used as the proper term for the controller.

The controller was in the works by Sony Entertainment as early as 2001. Early prototype versions of the Move were in circulation such as the Eye Toy but these motionless controllers failed to capture people’s attentions. By 2008 Sony had finished work on the Move and was ready to launch it to the public.

With the public and media giving the PS3 Move rave reviews, the Move was being applied to all Sony PlayStation wireless games. The first game to utilize this was Dual Shock 3, which enabled a player to use the analog stick of the Move for the use of the sword in game. Rumors also at the time speculated that Sony had developed the Move in retaliation against Nintendo Wii’s wireless Nunchuck remote, but Sony denied any of those allegations.

The Move was finally released in January of 2010, being just a bit too late for the Christmas rush but right in time for all those viable game players to spend their Christmas money on this new remote. The logo probably has to be the most innovative thing with the PlayStation Move, a blue squiggly shape which is supposed to be a representation of the light trail left by the Move as you move it about with the lighted sensor sphere within.

The Move was an automatic success which also incorporated a large selection of third party video game support, something very rare for new out-of-the-box designs such as the Move. Even today the Move sells almost a hundred thousand units.

One in three PS3 games is designed specifically to be used with the PlayStation Move in mind. There are a good variety of PS3 Move Games available that are not too shabby as most of the games are quite entertaining and fun. Unlike controller specific games of the past for older game consoles, PS3 Move games don’t leave you wanting more. It is no wonder the PlayStation Move is so popular, and has made the PS3 into much more than it was on release. Whether or not the PS3 Move was designed in retaliation to the Wii, it certainly was a brilliant move (no pun intended).

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