Difference between Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move
The gaming world has always been the stage for numerous wonderful technological innovations, and it seems that no sooner has one system been introduced that another is already waiting in the wings ready to unleash a whole new flurry of added features and enhanced capabilities. Either that or you are looking at a redesign that promises to take your gaming to another level of fun and innovation. Two such devices are the Xbox Kinect and the PlayStation Move, both of which are the subject of this comparison.
Hardware Requirements
The Xbox Kinect requires only a web cam, as opposed to the PlayStation Move, which requires a wand or control stick. In fact, the PlayStation Move requires one or more wands depending on the game (in addition to a web cam of course), and some games may require a secondary controller besides.
In Use
At this point, one of the biggest hindrances to extensive testing of the Xbox Kinect is the fact that there are so few games that support it. Nevertheless, some testing has been done on a 3D demo app, which involves a Breakout-style handball game play. Almost immediately, it became apparent that the player’s depth perception is affected by the 2D rendering of the movements in what is otherwise a 3D playing field. This makes it a lot more challenging to judge the movements of fast moving objects. The PlayStation Move is a lot more elegant on the other hand, and we got similar performance as that you could get from the Nintendo Wii. In fact, we have to say that the PlayStation Move is just a little bit more precise and less jittery than the Wii Motion Plus.
Work In Progress
While both devices are quite impressive and do hold tremendous promise for the future, one can't help but feel that a little more work needs to be done in order to get them up to modern gaming standards. The Xbox Kinect’s issues with depth perception is one that clearly need improvement, and it will probably take a few revisions before Xbox gets it just right. The PlayStation Move is a bit more promising, and has been tested extensively in a lot more games, but like the Xbox Kinect, it too gives off the feel of being a work in progress. The performance of the controller is stable as a whole, but a few ore tweaks are necessary in order to get it up to the level of say, Nintendo, which is undoubtedly the king of the motion-controlled gaming hill.
Summary
Xbox Kinect
- A camera-only motion control system
- Utilizes only a webcam with no wand or control stick needed
- Onscreen animation locks onto physical in real-time
- Depth perception is a bit hampered
PlayStation Move
- Utilizes a wand-and-cam system
- Requires the PlayStation Eye Web cam and one or more Move wands
- Some games may require a "subcontroller"
- Offers similar performance to the Nintendo Wii
- Even more precise than the Wii Motion Plus
- Less jittery cursor action than the Wii
