Hands on: PlayStation Move

Move uses controllers that look like high-tech icecream cones (right) – and gamers need to stand and be relatively active to win. Photos / Supplied

PlayStation is giving solid chase to Nintendo with its 'Move' motion control system.

A hands-on preview of the new controllers proved Move to be a Wii-beater - technically, at the least - with highly accurate tracking across all axes using PlayStation's Eye camera.

Move is slated for release later this year, when it will go up against Microsoft's bid in the motion control battle, called Project Natal.

Natal uses a row of cameras and a microphone and no controller at all - but many claim it will be less accurate than the competition. Full details of pricing and release date of Project Natal are expected to be revealed at the E3 games conference in Los Angeles, which starts on Tuesday.

The Wii and its motion control system games has already made a massive impact the marketplace, and as Sony and Microsoft jump on the bandwagon it is only going to unlock gaming for players outside the traditional 'gamer' markets. Sony has tried its hand in the space before, with the Eye Toy back in PlayStation2 days - but controls weren't particularly sharp and the games were very childish.

The real attraction for many is that rather than sitting on the couch to play, gamers need to stand and be relatively active to win.

Having briefly played a few 'in development' games using Sony's Move system, it is fair to say that this is significantly more accurate to use than the Wii's standard and Motion Plus controller.

It uses controllers that look like high-tech icecream cones - small sticks with glowing spheres on top that change colour based on the game you're playing or colour you're wearing, and a cut-down PS3 controller with a joystick that works in a similar fashion to the Wii 'nunchuk' peripheral.

Its accuracy comes down to the Move's combination of an accelerometer to track motion, a gyroscope to detect orientation and a magnetometer measures characteristics of magnetic fields.

The gyroscope detects orientation. The magnetometer measures the direction and strength of nearby magnetic fields.

"The PlayStation Move system uses three 'ometers' to follow the movement of the controller in three dimensional space whist the camera tracks the sphere for location," explains Sony's Mark D Green, "and the PS3 processes and puts it all on screen.

"So I can tell you that it is pinpoint, to the nearest millimetre, accurate in motion tracking, and likewise in seeing where the controllers are in 3D space. Its reaction time - from movement to delivering to the screen - is just 22 milliseconds. And on screen it is pixel precise. I did warn you but to put that in perspective the system is five times faster than that of a typical human's reflexes!"

Sony's Move demo included titles that were reasonably obvious picks - including a high-def sports grab-bag with a strikingly similar concept to Nintendo's Sports Resort.

Frisbee golf, archery and table tennis all proved extremely sharp and responsive and showed an easy learning curve for non-gamers, who will be the core market for Move.

Pulling arrows from a quiver involved simply reaching one Move controller behind my back, pushing the new 'action' button and then, while holding another controller ahead of me like a bow, drawing the first controller back and hitting a trigger. Firing an arrow was incredibly simple, hitting the target with one came after a few goes.

Current gamers will be attracted by action title Socom, the next iteration of Little Big Planet and an as-yet-unnamed hand-to-hand combat title where the controller was used in exactly the same fashion as the weapons chosen, with button pushes used for more complex actions like brutal kill shots.

At the kids' end of the spectrum there will also be plenty to chose from, like the tentatively-titled Move Party, combining a number of basic children's games.

Will Move topple Nintendo's Wii - yes, technically at least. But how will it go against Microsoft's Project Natal? I'll be playing that in the next day or two, and will reserve judgment until then.