Not perfect…but not bad Rating:4 out of 5 stars A little overpriced, but overall not a bad package. The only thing I found unusable is the bow. It completely distorts your position and is practically unusable. Everything else works fine…and the kids love using them for toys even when not using the PS3.
A. Dent
Posted December 8, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Fun Plus Rating:4 out of 5 stars The ‘Pack’ was specifically designed for the Sports Champions game but there is no reason why the sword and the shield wouldn’t work with any other game where you do pretend sword fights such as Aragorn’s Quest – well… the sword because you need to hold the Nav in the other hand. You could also use the Ping Pong paddle with any racket game. I am quite happy with what I got and so are my kids who use the sword/shield a lot. But, let’s discuss it.
CONTENTS, SETUP
As the Amazon picture shows, you get 4 props to be used in 3 of the Champs games: Ping-Pong, Gladiator Arena and Archery.
The only assembly required is for the bow which comes in 3 pieces that take a ONE TIME, snap-in assembly – they will probably break if you try to take them apart once you put them together.
The Move controller itself snaps in and out your prop and, as far as I can tell, it does not get bruised or scratched. All buttons are available while the Move is attached.
OPERATION
I personally use the Ping Pong attachment the most. It’s a bit smaller than the real thing but it doesn’t matter. It adds some needed balance and it makes the play a lot more real. I won’t be playing the Ping Pong event without the attachment, now that I have it.
The Sword and Shield can be a lot of fun. The sword’s blade is some foamy-rubbery material so there’s little danger that anyone gets hurt. Like I said, my kids love them. Can’t see any downside.
The Bow… can only be used with TWO move controllers and it can be a little confusing as of which controller goes into the bow and which one is the arrow but I don’t play archery too much. This is the prop least likely to be used.
As far as calibration goes, I did experience calibration failures ONCE, the first time I tried this out. I had to take the controllers off, calibrate and then reattach them and play my game but there was no repeat failure ever since. I am not sure why calibration failed at that particular time.
EVALUATION
Of course, the good thing about these props is that they add realism to your game and, in the case of the Ping Pong paddle, it’s not just in your mind but the extra weight and balance can actually improve your game. Their use seems to be ‘safe’ – it’s not likely for the controller to separate from the prop while in use, with pieces flying around the room. The plastic seems to be of good quality but, of course, it will crack or break if mistreated. Other than that… for the price you pay, this is good fun.
I will take off one star for the occasional calibration troubles and for the bow thing assembly being a little risky – you CAN break it if you don’t pay attention but, overall, I like it, therefore the 4 stars.
Ryan
Posted December 21, 2010 at 12:00 AM
I should have known Rating:2 out of 5 stars Table Tennis Paddle – has the best quality build of any of the items in the champions pack. Using the tabble tennis paddle, it can be more difficult to calibrate at times. Instead of positioning the move controller + paddle at my waste line, I have to hold it in the middle of my stomach. This is no big deal when it calibrates the first time, but thats not always the case. The problem arises when the game detects the paddle at the incorrect angle. You could blame the game for this but the accessories were made for the game. When you hold the move controller to make a serve without the paddle attachment you hold the move controller either to your right or your left. You position the trigger on the move controller to face the ground in order to get the proper angle of your paddle on screen that is so the face of the paddle makes contact with the ball. This may not feel awkward without the paddle attachment but when you add the attachment to the equation you are swinging with the edge of the paddle and not the face. Basically it is off by 90 degrees. If you try and hit the paddle attachment like you would in real life (face of the paddle towards your TV), your on screen action will be trying to hit the ball with the edge of the paddle.
Bow – You snap three plastic peices together to make the bow. Two peices snapped together fine but the third peice would not attach. It broke when I forced pressure. Before I broke it I used it without the peice fully attached but enough to get a feel for the bow. The move controllers calibrated fine but in game bow placement was not accurate enough at all to use the bow as any type of guide for my shot. Holding the bow felt akward and cheap.
Sword and Sheild – The best and only two items which calibrate and work flawlessly. The shield is very small but it does give you the feel like you really used something to block the attack. The sword is made of foam for protection which takes away the “cool” factor. It does work and feel a bit more realistic than the bare move controller. You can easily tell it was made with safety first.
Overall most people would need two sets but I would reccomend not even buying the first set. I really wish the table tennis paddle would work correctly because it has a really nice feel to it. I really dont need the bow as its my least favorite game anyway.
Not perfect…but not bad
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A little overpriced, but overall not a bad package. The only thing I found unusable is the bow. It completely distorts your position and is practically unusable. Everything else works fine…and the kids love using them for toys even when not using the PS3.
Fun Plus
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The ‘Pack’ was specifically designed for the Sports Champions game but there is no reason why the sword and the shield wouldn’t work with any other game where you do pretend sword fights such as Aragorn’s Quest – well… the sword because you need to hold the Nav in the other hand. You could also use the Ping Pong paddle with any racket game. I am quite happy with what I got and so are my kids who use the sword/shield a lot. But, let’s discuss it.
CONTENTS, SETUP
As the Amazon picture shows, you get 4 props to be used in 3 of the Champs games: Ping-Pong, Gladiator Arena and Archery.
The only assembly required is for the bow which comes in 3 pieces that take a ONE TIME, snap-in assembly – they will probably break if you try to take them apart once you put them together.
The Move controller itself snaps in and out your prop and, as far as I can tell, it does not get bruised or scratched. All buttons are available while the Move is attached.
OPERATION
I personally use the Ping Pong attachment the most. It’s a bit smaller than the real thing but it doesn’t matter. It adds some needed balance and it makes the play a lot more real. I won’t be playing the Ping Pong event without the attachment, now that I have it.
The Sword and Shield can be a lot of fun. The sword’s blade is some foamy-rubbery material so there’s little danger that anyone gets hurt. Like I said, my kids love them. Can’t see any downside.
The Bow… can only be used with TWO move controllers and it can be a little confusing as of which controller goes into the bow and which one is the arrow but I don’t play archery too much. This is the prop least likely to be used.
As far as calibration goes, I did experience calibration failures ONCE, the first time I tried this out. I had to take the controllers off, calibrate and then reattach them and play my game but there was no repeat failure ever since. I am not sure why calibration failed at that particular time.
EVALUATION
Of course, the good thing about these props is that they add realism to your game and, in the case of the Ping Pong paddle, it’s not just in your mind but the extra weight and balance can actually improve your game. Their use seems to be ‘safe’ – it’s not likely for the controller to separate from the prop while in use, with pieces flying around the room. The plastic seems to be of good quality but, of course, it will crack or break if mistreated. Other than that… for the price you pay, this is good fun.
I will take off one star for the occasional calibration troubles and for the bow thing assembly being a little risky – you CAN break it if you don’t pay attention but, overall, I like it, therefore the 4 stars.
I should have known
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Table Tennis Paddle – has the best quality build of any of the items in the champions pack. Using the tabble tennis paddle, it can be more difficult to calibrate at times. Instead of positioning the move controller + paddle at my waste line, I have to hold it in the middle of my stomach. This is no big deal when it calibrates the first time, but thats not always the case. The problem arises when the game detects the paddle at the incorrect angle. You could blame the game for this but the accessories were made for the game. When you hold the move controller to make a serve without the paddle attachment you hold the move controller either to your right or your left. You position the trigger on the move controller to face the ground in order to get the proper angle of your paddle on screen that is so the face of the paddle makes contact with the ball. This may not feel awkward without the paddle attachment but when you add the attachment to the equation you are swinging with the edge of the paddle and not the face. Basically it is off by 90 degrees. If you try and hit the paddle attachment like you would in real life (face of the paddle towards your TV), your on screen action will be trying to hit the ball with the edge of the paddle.
Bow – You snap three plastic peices together to make the bow. Two peices snapped together fine but the third peice would not attach. It broke when I forced pressure. Before I broke it I used it without the peice fully attached but enough to get a feel for the bow. The move controllers calibrated fine but in game bow placement was not accurate enough at all to use the bow as any type of guide for my shot. Holding the bow felt akward and cheap.
Sword and Sheild – The best and only two items which calibrate and work flawlessly. The shield is very small but it does give you the feel like you really used something to block the attack. The sword is made of foam for protection which takes away the “cool” factor. It does work and feel a bit more realistic than the bare move controller. You can easily tell it was made with safety first.
Overall most people would need two sets but I would reccomend not even buying the first set. I really wish the table tennis paddle would work correctly because it has a really nice feel to it. I really dont need the bow as its my least favorite game anyway.