POSTED 17/9/10


SPORTS CHAMPIONS

Sony
PS3/Move

It took approximately .0065 of a nanosecond after Sony announced they were entering the motion control fray for everybody to twig. There’d be a sports game at launch.

Sure enough, Sony’s spin on Wii Sports was available day one, taking a somewhat more alternative take on pursuits involving balls or pointy things by avoiding the bleeding obvious, but accessible enough that everybody from about 0 to 100 could grab a Move stick and go. There are six poisons on offer – table tennis, archery, ‘disc golf’ (‘Frisbee’ is copyrighted), beach volleyball, gladiator duel and the wanky way of saying what is essentially lawn bowls, ‘bocce’. Still, at least it’s not as wanky as ‘pétanque’.

Ping pong’s super fun, and as responsive as you’d demand. Move’s advantage over the Wii is that when you flick the thing off the side of the screen, it comes back where you expect it to. Archery’s our fave, reaching back into an imaginary quiver, yanking an arrow and FE-TOOOOONGing it target-wards proving decidedly satisfying. Frisbee golf’s a bit naff, though we liked it more after bagging a hole in one by complete arse.

Beach volleyball’s the most active of the lot – boombahs beware – whilst láwnbōctänqůe should get the oldies up. Gladiator duel’s a twist on fencing that’s actually several shades of ace.

All up, not bad. Where Sony’s really tripped over though is in a shortcoming of the PS3 world they’ve created – no in-game avatars. Never underestimate the power of Miis in the Wii’s popularity – playing as a little cartoony you personalises things. Playing as a Maori lump or impossibly thin bimbo doesn’t have the same pull.

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