This holiday season, both Microsoft and Sony are pushing the “next generation” of motion-controlled devices. For the last few years, Nintendo had that market cornered, but there will soon be a change in the guard. Its replacement will be decided by the swipe of a card, the writing of a check or the handing over of cash. I assessed both systems, trying them both out extensively, and I have come to a rather mixed conclusion.

The Kinect uses a motion bar that requires no other controllers or attachments in order to work, assuming you have the space requirement and a good place to put it. The system uses multiple cameras and mapping technologies in order to create a 3-D field of your living room. Once you stand in front of it, it recognizes you apart from the furniture and lighting. You simply wave, and it knows you want access to Kinect.

It takes a few milliseconds to read your movements, so a small delay is present. Once you time this delay up, however, it is fairly unnoticeable. The system also boasts voice-recognition software. This allows you to control menus, Zune movies and certain games with your voice. This works incredibly well, and recognized my voice over loudly played music.

The games for the system are the real drawback. So far, many of the games are aimed at families and children. This doesn’t do much for the core gamers that Microsoft has typically been faithful to. There is talk of a Star Wars game for next year that may be Kinect compatible, but the available selection still falls short. For Star Wars, the player would use his or her hands for things like Force Push or Force Lightning. Pretty cool, but the overall lack of games is a major minus in the overall grade.

The Playstation Move, on the other hand, claims that its games are more core-gamer friendly, and that a few games that have already been released are Move compatible. I played the game “Heavy Rain,” and I have to agree that it was leaps and bounds above anything Microsoft has released. The Move works in a much simpler way. It requires a lighted controller and an eye toy (Sony’s camera). When using these two things, the system can track the light from the controller. This is usually accurate, but certain complications can arise. If your hand escapes the view of the camera (which is fairly easy to do) then you have to recalibrate the controller for pinpoint accuracy. This gets very annoying.

The worst thing about Move is its need for multiple expensive accessories. In order to play a multiplayer fighting game for the system, you are required to purchase the Move bundle (An eye toy, a motion controller, and a sports game) for $100. You then have to purchase three extra motion controllers for $50 each. Also, if you want to play certain types of games like Heavy Rain, you are required to buy a navigational controller for $30. Bottom line, Move is expensive.

So, which is better? The games for the Move are better than those for Kinect. The technology and price ($150 total for Kinect, no other accessories required) are better for the Kinect than for Move. It basically comes down to what you want to pay for. Personally, I enjoy the Kinect more, due to its Star Trek like technology, but I also have very few games for it. It’s a toss-up, but hopeful this information will help you find what system best suits you.

Patrick St. Pierre is a senior psychology and English major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].