Rumor: PlayStation Motion Controller codenamed 'Sphere'

by Andrew Yoon on Oct 5th 2009 11:25AM

Neither Microsoft nor Sony have "official" names for their respective motion projects. At the very least, Microsoft has donned a far more attractive (and marketable) codename for its tech: "Project Natal," versus the clunky-but-aptly titled "PlayStation Motion Controller."

One name Sony may be using with developers is "Sphere," a word that highlights the glowing, colored orb central to the motion controller's technology. Sega producer Yasuhito Baba and his translator both referred to the controller as "Sphere" during an interview at Tokyo Game Show last month. Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi also talked about the PlayStation Motion Controller when we asked him if Gran Turismo would support the "Sphere" peripheral.

Sony representatives we chatted with admitted they were unfamiliar with the "Sphere" name, meaning it may be strictly a development codename for now.

Tags: playstation-motion-controller, sega, sphere, yasuhito-baba

Reader Comments (92)

dumb comment system and is there away to change your password to a non random automatic one

REPLY FAIL haha

Yup, comment system sucks as usual.

Not sure what you mean by non random automatic password though. You can certainly register and set your own password. Why on earth the "Remember me" button never works is beyond me though. I would love to just stay logged in instead of having to type my e-mail and pass every single time...

They make it really unintuitive. You have to click on your name to get to your profile, and from there you can log in with the random password they gave you. After that there should be an option to change it.

Also, if you use Firefox or another browser with password support, then it works wonders by auto-filling the email/password in for you, which saves tons of time on a site like joystiq where you might comment 2-3 times an article.

thanx sonicspike thats what i wanted to know

I will not be purchasing this.

I will also not be purchasing Natal.

Not only are both are a waste of accessory space in my place. But until they're actually proven to be a positive step on either platform supported by many AAA titles, what's the point?

Plus, I assume the Sphere will have some device much like Project Natals "bar" that sits infront of the TV - right now that space is taken by my Wii's sensor bar as well as my speakers, I don't have any additional space for motion junk.

Bottom line, I'm passing on both products and I hope consumers also pass, so we can get these solid developers focusing on what they're good at rather than trying to steal Nintendo's motion thunder.

the "sphere" will have the PlayStation Eye atop of your TV

Yeah, the PSM will use the playstation eye instead of a sensor bar.

You need it for RE5 though, at least.

I'm not sure how holding the ps3's analog controller in one hand's going to work. They almost need to release the PMC along with half of an analog controller that somebody mocked up in a picture, to keep this whole package usable.

I'm a bit confused at getting downvoted.

People are actually looking forward to more accessories from Sony and Microsoft?

People are looking forward to holding a "sphere" in one hand and a PS3 controller in the other (RE5)... how comfortable will that be?

People are looking forward to more garbage clogging up the TV area? (Whether it be a sensor bar below like Natal or the Playstation Eye above) and who knows if the Playstation Eye will attach to all LCD bezels.

Maybe you mistake me for being a Nintendo fanboy and not being confident in MS and Sony's ability to come up with solid motion control games. I own all 3 consoles, and they all have a use. But Sony has already tried motion control with it's sixaxis, and other than the sweet "boob" trick on Ninja Gaiden 2, the uses have been limited and usually lame. And Microsoft has an existing camera that it rarely ever utilizes... what makes Natal anymore special than that? Sure it's more capable, but that doesn't translate into more and better games.

The fanboy thing is what convinced me.

what fanboy thing?

Man, you guys are idiots to support this shit. Thanks for contributing to the shitty side of this industry, useless add-on's and accessories that bring nothing to positive to gaming.

Every Joystiq reader who down voted my earlier comments is a retard.

*from

comment system= 2

zefur= 0

sony is making roll-on deodorants

I still need to see some new games for this

someone at sony needs to learn their geometry. a sphere is a hollow ball.

although calling it the "playstation ball" would be the butt-end of many wiinis-envy jokes. o wait.

that wand just looks so gay, makes me think that i should put a dress to use them...blah =[

Project: Glowball

WandyGlobe™

MS can name Natal SkyNet as the damn thing will always be on....always watching

"How do you defend yourself from a man with two dildos?"

You can't.

Too many help yourself jokes.

Just stick with the PLAYSTATION ACCESSORIE style of naming. Personally I vote for PLAYSTATION VIBRATOR. Just sayin.

Good thing you capitalised, there was a danger of people mistakenly thinking you were funny/clever for a moment.

Nicely averted.

You are the idiot Top Cat. SONY capatalizes everything, IE, PLAYSTATION NETWORK, PLAYSTATION 3 etc.

Unfortunately, Christian, you're a little outdated on your info. The PLAYSTATION 3 is now officially just PlayStation 3. It's been called the PlayStation Network for a while now, too. Let's not rush to call other people idiots, okay?

That just looks wrong, or maybe they are trying to reach a different demographic?

Sony should just call the actual controller "natal" just to confuse the hell out of everyone.

Why is that nerd holding up Tampax?

how bout the name "Fail?" oh shit here it comes!

Wasn't it the "Waggle" back when it was a rumor?

Mmm, I'd like to see him get to work on those wands.

I was gonna make a sex joke, but all of them have been voted down so far.

I know it's a video grab but it totally looks intentionally blurred b/c it's NSFW.

They can't call it GameSphere. They'll get sued by Okama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towelie

Sphere?
I'm guessing square and triangle were already taken............

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didnt i hear somewhere it was supposed to be called the wand,maybe not,decent name though,although NaeemTHM won name of the years with DICS

Previous 50 Comments

Rumor: PlayStation Motion Controller codenamed 'Sphere'

Reader Comments (92)

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 11:58AM zefur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 11:59AM s ls said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:00PM Warlock said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:10PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 1:12PM zefur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 11:57AM Axcalibur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:00PM Marius said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:11PM Desigos said

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Posted: Oct 5th 2009 1:28PM Axcalibur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 7:13PM Fane1024 said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 11:39PM Axcalibur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 11:59AM zefur said

Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:02PM Jacksy said

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Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:01PM Marius said

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Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:27PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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Posted: Oct 5th 2009 12:47PM kentuckyfried said

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Posted: Oct 5th 2009 6:07PM Andrew Yoon said

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