From a blogger's perspective, having to go, "PS3 motion controller this, PS3 motion controller that" over and over can get pretty tiresome. I've wanted a name for this thing for quite some time now, and if the new rumors have it right, I'm about to get my wish.
According to this rumor, the name is short, single-syllable, and points to the color-changing
orb topping the wand. The new name for the PS3 motion controller might be "Sphere."
Rumor has it that
Sony developers use "Sphere" to refer to the motion controller, makes much sense, considering that the sphere on top of the wand draws a lot of attention. In an interview at TGS 09,
Sega producer Yasuhito Baba and his translator both name-dropped "Sphere." And when Joystiq quizzed
Kazunori Yamauchi about Gran Turismo supporting Sphere, the developer seemed to know what Sphere referred to and what it was capable of.
Joystiq went and asked a few Sony reps, but the replied that they are unfamiliar with the "Sphere" name.
Richard Marks and
Anton Mikhailov, the duo behind the PS3 motion controller, have yet to be heard calling it by that name.
So far, it seems that it's just a development nickname so that everyone would be saved the trouble of having to pronounce all eight syllables of "PS3 motion controller" over and over. Whether or not Sphere will catch on as the controller's official name is still in the air.