Sony's Wand: Resigned To Failure?

It's all or bust for Sony's mo-con wand. And here's why... GDC is just around the corner and will mark the first time Sony has let the journalism world pick up and play the first clutch of titles available for its motion control device. But is the Japanese giant too late to the party? And do we need it?

The latter question will ultimately be the one which decides the fate of the device. Sony’s recent success with a string of exclusives, which encompass some of the best games we’ve played of late, pretty much cover all bases – we’re playing God Of War III right now and it rules like King Tits. What we mean by that is that with Uncharted 2, God Of War III, Heavy Rain and so on, we’ve already seen Sony’s biggest exclusive franchises manifest themselves in a way that is credible only on SixAxis. The notable exception of course, is Heavy Rain, which if David Cage is to be believed when I last spoke with him, has been hinting that motion-control compatibility will eventually ship with the game and will no doubt be available to current players via download. But what else?

The problem that Sony’s wand has, is not one shared by Natal (which has its own set of issues to deal with; more on that in this article). Natal will be a comparatively easy sell. The wand will benefit in the same way Natal will from their respective download services; small games which work exclusively for the mo-con devices. But when you start putting full-price games on shelves, things start to get a little sticky.

You see, the benefit of Natal will be its ability to allow extra functionality within games without the need to put down the pad and pick up something else. Initially, games will arrive bearing a small Natal logo somewhere on the box cover. Somewhere within the game, you’ll be able to reach out and touch things or use gestures in a way which enhances gameplay, but you won’t need Natal to still enjoy the game without it. It’s a misconception of the device that hordes of games will suddenly appear on the shelves which require you to invest in it. For this generation at least, it’s going to be ‘Enhanced Gameplay’ and download games all the way. This is the only way a device like this can succeed so late into the console’s life cycle.

Now think about Sony’s wand in logistical terms. Expect to see titles with ‘Additional Wand Compatibility’ emblazoned on the box cover? The wand requires the player to put down the pad. It’s one control method or the other. No happy medium. If Sony attempts to crowbar both control methods into a single game, it will inevitably suffer, just as Heavy Rain, to a certain extent, shows how the SixAxis is detrimental to its germinal concept.

Sony is stuck with making games which specifically have the wand in mind, and games which don’t. At this stage we can’t call whether anything will appear that will encourage us to invest extra money just to play game ‘X’, but it’s a big ask, whereas with Natal, the temptation to unlock that additional functionality with an inexpensive investment in a new gadget will be a regular and consistent temptation.

Dan Howdle - Games Editor, NowGamer.com