A PlayStation Move Photo Shoot

While much of the community response I read here and in the official PlayStation Forums is to do with playing games and asking about new titles or features, there’s a fair amount of interest in how PlayStation products are marketed.

That used to surprise me but, the longer I work at SCEE, the more I realised how much passion our hardcore fans invest in the brand and how it is perceived in the wider gaming world.

I kept this in mind when I attended a photo shoot for the upcoming PlayStation Move advertising campaign. The idea was to film capture real gamers playing with PlayStation Move for the first time and in a genuine fun home environment, not a pristinen empty white box.

There, I spoke with SCEE’s Head of PR, Charlotte Panther, about her aims for the day.

One of our agencies discovered this building, she said, and it is actually someone’s real home. It’s a space with a great deal of personality and it’s very PlayStation.

We recruited many of the models appearing today through the PlayStation Facebook page, asking them to send a photo of themselves and tell us why they love PlayStation. We did it because we don’t want fake models feigning an interest in gaming; it looks so much more naturalbetter if you have real gamers, genuinely having funa good time.

It was certainly worth the participants’ time: not only were they among the first to try PlayStation Move games such as Sports Champions, TV Superstars and Motion The Fighter (working title), they each took home goodie bags that included a PSPgo and games, plus the super rare ModNation Racers press kit.

But before that, I spoke to a few of the models in-between sessions to get their first impressions of the PlayStation Move motion controller.

Move is a great step forward because of the way it senses depth and it knows when you are moving towards and away from the screen, said lucky participant, Fortunate Fapohunda. It feels tight and logical – all of the action movements, like slicing and stabbing, work perfectly so I think I think it would work brilliantly with a Star Wars game or God of War, something like that.

Teresa Garratty added: The graphics of the games here today are excellent and the Move controller itself is really accurate. I live in a big family and games like Buzz! already bring everyone together, so I can see this being a big hit. I’m a fan of Heavy Rain and that’s a game that I think would work well with Move – actions like brushing your teeth would be especially realistic with this controller.

Me and my flatmates used to play WipEout with a fan blowing in our faces to make it more immersive,” said Eliot Mannoia. It’s a weird comparison, but seeing yourself on the screen when you’re playing Move Party kind of makes you feel like you’re in the game too.

Stay glued to the PlayStation Blog around E3 when we’ll be providing more detail on PlayStation Move and the array of games accompanying it.