In2Games to unveil Wii-like PS2 peripherals
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Aug 17th 2007 at 9:25PM }
We've heard about wireless, motion-sensing PlayStation 2 peripherals before with Gametrak Fusion, a USB-based control system from In2Games (concept renders shown to the right). According to MCV, the same developer is planning to unveil similar technology, dubbed "Freedom", for the PS2 alongside matching games at the Leipzig Gaming Convention at the end of August. The peripherals will cooperate with a series of games under the Realplay banner: Realplay Tennis, Realplay Pool, Realplay Golf, Realplay Racing, Realplay Bowling and Realplay Puzzlesphere. The Wii-like experience will let you mimic real-life actions, such as returning a serve, swinging a club and presumably, escaping a terrifying sphere of puzzles. The developer hopes to have the games and their accompanying peripherals out by Christmas in Europe for £29.99 each. In2Games CEO Elliot Myers reckons Freedom will be the "best way of controlling games on what will be this Christmas' most popular mainstream console."
The best way of controlling those six games, anyway.
[Via NWF]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Exo @ Aug 17th 2007 9:43PM
I hope he has another job lined up, cause this smells of fail.
jontheninja @ Aug 17th 2007 9:46PM
Wow.
60 dollars for a friggin' tech demo.
Tahiri @ Aug 18th 2007 4:30AM
People are paying more for Wii and it's no better
Tom @ Aug 17th 2007 10:00PM
This could be potentially huge for the Ps2
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 17th 2007 10:08PM
This at all does not justify the rumors of Sony releasing a Wiimote enabled PS2 redesign.
RPGJock @ Aug 17th 2007 10:13PM
I have been saying that someone should do this for Sony months ago. This is almost better then having Sony doing it themselves. Sony can't be blame for copying the Wii. Now we will see if this will work or is there something really magical about a Wii. If this works in Europe, this will be in the states and Japan by next summer, if not sooner...
Exo @ Aug 17th 2007 10:17PM
they arnt really copying teh wii, each of those add osn are designd to play with just teh game they come with.
the wiimote works with all the games, and its also the systems standerd controller. add on controllers really dont catch on.
B Tizo @ Aug 17th 2007 10:24PM
@Exo
Yeah, because Guitar Hero has never sold well with there add on controllers.....
Exo @ Aug 17th 2007 10:40PM
but guitar hero is actually a good game, and you know that ther is going to be sequals.
theses are one shot turds made by a company that is more used to making control devices. Unless these games are super amazing and have any sort of hype, they will fail.
Jamesology @ Aug 18th 2007 3:13AM
WOW, you an idiot exo. Everyone already has a PS2 and this will be a very cheap investment for parent who cannot afford the Wii.
Also, have you played the games for this add-on? I'm pretty sure you have not. And also how would of known that Guitar Hero would be good before it came out?
Anam @ Aug 17th 2007 10:42PM
Okay, I see the names of six games, but only five controllers shown. Do two games use the same controller?
And looking at the controllers, only four of them make sense: the bowling ball, tennis racket, pool stick, and golf club. What's the baseball bat-looking controller for? Racing in a sphere of puzzles?
And why the hell would they bother with that many different controllers when you can make one that does all of it? (Except the bowling ball, that one I can understand.)
John @ Aug 17th 2007 11:00PM
Whoa. Really warped sensation, when coupled with that 'prototype' picture.
This has to be a joke. That stuff is disconnected, what am I gonna do, play cricket?
There's like a magnifying-tool device. And a very miniature golf club, on the end, in case I want to play "Nano Golf 2: The Adventures of Baal!"
There is a small viewing device for looking in people's ears, throat, nostrils, etc. complete with 'viewing light' and lastly, an electronic anal thermometer.
It wasn't enough to have rumble. It wasn't enough to have motion control. No. Now, we have to stick a rectal controller in our anus to experience full multi-dimensional 'next-generation' gameplay.
(display of body temperature available at all times while device is coupled)
Veko @ Aug 17th 2007 11:17PM
Survey says...
Lame. Just get a Wii instead.
Matt B @ Aug 17th 2007 11:44PM
Why when 100M+ people have a PS2?
DavidSanchez @ Aug 17th 2007 11:28PM
Why do people compare all motion sensing technology to the fucking Wii?! Nintendo wasn't the first to invent motion sensing technology and it sure as hell won't be the last.
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 17th 2007 11:30PM
Do you know of any other 10 million system selling motion sensing control gaming device?
Avatar @ Aug 17th 2007 11:59PM
Perhaps not, but Halo isn't the first sci-fi FPS, either. They didn't create anything new, they merely perfected the formula. (Not saying Halo is perfect, saying it's perfect for it's target audience)
sheppy @ Aug 18th 2007 12:02AM
I suppose it had has to be said... AGAIN.
Sales =/= Innovation. Otherwise, we'll be looking at Madden as a much more innovative game than Bioshock or Trauma Center. But we're not. So please, heavenlysoldier, next time you trot out sales figures as evidence of innovation, please keep in mind those two things are NOT related to each other. Never have been, never will be.
As for who's done it first, well, the first attempt by a massive company came from Microsoft in the form of the Sidewinder tilt sensing controller. Of course this is only from the bigger companies. Naturally smaller companies have been toying with the concept for years. Either through the use of peripherals that didn't work (U-Force) or Arcade technology (Dance Maniax). Or even the dedicated machinery like PlayTV from Radica. Hell, even turning it into a single console wasn't something Nintendo tried first as Xavix lies in ruins, having been officially raped of every single game and concept on the device, in favor of the Mii loaded variety.
So tell ya what, we can debate whether or not Nintendo is the first to bring it mainstream even though it's hardly a debate. PlayTV came the closest to what Wii has achieved. But just because Nintendo is the first to hit that 10 million sales figure with this idea doesn't mean they are the first one WITH this idea.
Best way to put it is this... Nintendo is not so much a chef as a cook. A chef takes new ideas, creates all new masterpieces of technology, and for the most part, is ignored unless hyped by some innane TV station. A cook grabs everything that's handy, dumps it all in, calls it their own special stew. Not a single thing is new in the Wii. But Nintendo's ability to mix it all together is what made the Nintendo DS and also the Wii runaway successes. I mean, it may be the most popular stew, but it's still a stew. And personally, I'm waiting for them to throw some meat into this stew. A guy can survive off carnival games and PS2 ports for only so long.
bm @ Aug 18th 2007 12:20AM
Sheppy, it's a first because this is the first time any of the big players have had the sheer balls to make an unconventional controller like that the standard controller for their games console.
When you're developing for the Wii, you're using the wii remote. No other motion sensitive controller has ever come anywhere close to receiving that kind of attention, because they were simply obscure add-ons.
It was a huge risk, and it paid off. Like the DS.
samfish @ Aug 18th 2007 12:24AM
Sheppy is right, sales and innovation don't go hand in hand, necessarily.
However, sales and innovation DO go hand in hand when it results in changing the industry over all.
See also: N64 and analog sticks/rumble.
You could argue that this is already the case with the Sixaxis and cash-in devices like this. I'd also bet my left hand that Sony and Microsoft are going to have Wiimote-like controllers in some way or another next time out.
Just because one does something first doesn't mean they get or deserve all the innovation credit.
Jake @ Aug 19th 2007 12:11AM
The Wiimote is very unique and innovative. It combines an IR pointer system, gyroscopes, rumble, an analog stick attachment with accelerometers, a speaker, and other various buttons into one input device for a game console.
I just can't see how people can argue that just because the individual components appeared in other obscure periphreals appeared previously that the combination of all the components into a two handed tethered default pad for a major console is not innovative.
It is innovative, as much as you may hate it.
CaptianTwig @ Sep 5th 2007 8:19AM
I think it was. It did it with the powerglove.
BNinjaC @ Aug 17th 2007 11:29PM
sad thing is with so many PS2's about this crap will probably sell tonnes :(
ThornedVenom @ Aug 17th 2007 11:39PM
This looks like a cheap way for companies to try to cash out on a copy of Wii Sports, but for a different public (PS2 gamers). I sense fail.
Matt B @ Aug 17th 2007 11:47PM
"A cheap way to cash in on motion sensing controls."
Isn't the wii trying to do the same thing?
Anam @ Aug 18th 2007 12:10AM
@Matt B
You do realize that he didn't say that, right?
Matt B @ Aug 18th 2007 12:16AM
Isn't the fun of wii sports about motion sensing controls?
ThornedVenom @ Aug 18th 2007 12:24AM
@Matt B: I didn't say that. I have nothing against the control scheme. I'm talking about trying to replicate a game on another system, but under a different name, presentation and control settings. In other words, a knockoff.
Matt B @ Aug 18th 2007 12:36AM
I didn't copy you verbatim, it was a generalization based on your comment I too wii sports as a basis for motion controls. Am I wrong? We are talking about devices that use motion controls for the bulk of the entertainment side of things.
ThornedVenom @ Aug 18th 2007 7:16AM
@ Matt B: Yes you are wrong because what you "quoted" from me implies different meanings. You can choose Wii Sports as a basis for motion controls if you wish, but don't consider them synonymous. Do I say that a game is synonymous to its control input? Does Halo = controller and shoulder buttons? When a game is to be considered as a Halo knockoff, is it to be considered as a controller knock off?
Guybrush Threepwood @ Aug 17th 2007 11:57PM
How are these "Wii-like?"
If anything, they're TV sports games that come with their own perhipherals-like.
And those have been around for years.
sheppy @ Aug 18th 2007 12:05AM
SILENCE MAN! Everyone knows there were no such thing as interactive sports video games with identical controls or even dedicated machinery to the concept (www.xavix.com) before Nintendo came along. To even suggest as such is blasphemy.
NintendoFanbot @ Aug 18th 2007 8:37AM
Oh good, someone is talking about Xavix as if it's any good. Good going Shep.
Besides there were peripherals like that before Xavix. It's all BS.
Slvrgun @ Aug 18th 2007 12:10AM
Release a PS2 with motion controls and slighty better capabilities and it will easily defeat the Wii at its own game.
samfish @ Aug 18th 2007 12:26AM
That's what the Zune said to the iPod.
Matt B @ Aug 18th 2007 12:42AM
But the Zune isn't $100 less than the ipod.
samfish @ Aug 18th 2007 12:52AM
Ask any of the cheaper iPod knockoffs if that makes a difference.
samfish @ Aug 18th 2007 12:53AM
Also, what makes you think it'd be $100 dollars cheaper than the Wii?
Anam @ Aug 18th 2007 1:01AM
You are underestimating the number of gamers who bought a Wii for the Nintendo first party games and the Virtual Console. Some of us actually like Nintendo games, regardless of the hardware behind them.
Personally, I'm not really impressed with motion sensing. Still waiting for a game that feels like it actually *needs* it.
samfish @ Aug 19th 2007 2:43AM
As far as games that *NEED* it go, I could never play a golf or bowling game again. Hell, I actually bought a golf game.
...and I hate REAL golf.
Also, Resident Evil 4.
If the rumor/wishful thinking that Capcom will down-port Resident Evil 5 for the Wii is true, I'd buy that over the 360 or PS3 version in a heartbeat. I can barely imagine going back to playing it with a conventional controller.
It was more than just more precise aiming. The feeling of whipping your gun around corners and stuff was just SO much more satisfying.
And supposedly, Metroid is about to turn FPS gaming on it's head, if the word on it's controls are true (although I don't like FPS games anyway).
Sure, those types games obviously don't NEED motion controls, as they've been done before without them. You could play those games using a giant trackball or a cellphone or with those air drum thingies if you're creative enough.
In that sense, though, nothing NEEDS motion controls. A car doesn't NEED a windshield. You don't NEED underwear. But why would you go without them?
Anam @ Aug 19th 2007 3:55PM
@samfish
First, I should clarify that I *am* impressed with the sensor bar/aiming mechanics of the Wii, but that's not the same as motion sensing. For example, Resident Evil 4 is at least twice as fun on the Wii compared to the Gamecube, but that's because of the aiming, not the motion sensing parts where you wave the controller to reload or slash with a knife. Those parts I think are no more intuitive than pressing a button, and sometimes worse.
I'll admit that maybe motion sensing is great for sports games, I wouldn't know because I barely play sports games. I tried out Wii Sports just because it was free, but I wasn't overly impressed. Tennis is kind of fun, but the controls feel inconsistent. Is it more fun than other tennis games? I wouldn't know.
I probably shouldn't have used the word "need," as you pointed out. But I mean that motion sensing seems to me to be less revolutionary than say, the analog stick, which dramatically changed the way we play games. Rather, motion controls feel more like rumble to me. Kind of cool in theory, but doesn't seem to make much of a difference 95% of the time.
I'm not against motion controls, and I'm still hoping to being blown away by a game that really uses them, but I just haven't seen that yet.
Cuja @ Aug 18th 2007 12:47AM
Isn't nice when people open their mouth and shove their whole leg down their throat. Finally realizing that the Wii isn't cheap (price wise). Or that its way overprice perhaps. This is very good for the PS2. It shows that it can be done and that maybe later something competive might reach the market.
Snukadaman @ Aug 18th 2007 1:30AM
Hey didnt they have some shitty add on pieces for the wii as well, like a golf club,tennis racket ect.
Curmeo @ Aug 18th 2007 5:17AM
this Realplay thing could go either way. but id bet my money on these Realplay games being more deep and challenging, yet still as accessible, than Wii Sports/Wii Play/the endless shallow minigames disguised as "innovative" market expansion software.
Anam @ Aug 19th 2007 4:02PM
You mean you think a game on a Playstation console is going to be better than a game on the Wii? I'm shocked.
syco @ Aug 18th 2007 7:15AM
What these guys fail to realize: The Wii is about more than accelerometers. The pointer is what makes the Wii special, not the motion sensing.
Curmeo @ Aug 18th 2007 8:50AM
Wii Sports doesnt even make use of the Wiimote pointer function. these 6 Realplayer games wouldnt need it either.
Veko @ Aug 18th 2007 10:54AM
Matt B said "Why when 100M+ people have a PS2?"
I might say I see your point if this game is even half as good as Wii Sports.
Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Aug 18th 2007 11:17AM
This could prove interesting. I do think that there are too many different peripherals.
With 120M+ PS2 owners out there, even if only 10% of the existing owners buy one, that is still as many as all the Wii's.
I would still like to see Sony unveil a motion controller of their own at Leipzig or TGS. Then we can see if it is the controller that lures Wii buyers or the games.
don_sf @ Aug 19th 2007 7:34AM
if sony relaunched ps2 with blutooth included it came with the normal ps2 controller and then a wireless remote pointer type thing. without getting sued of course.
there is obviously some demand out there for these things.
since the ps2 and wii are very similar is computing power, developers would jump as fast as they can onto it. especially with the ps2's very affordable price tag and its huge record breaking user base.
and of course, the slim ps2 is all the much sleek as the wii, if not more.
talk about taking a stab at the competition. ooh.