Nintendo selling 67 million Wii consoles to date is certainly a monumental accomplishment. This pace is unmatched by Nintendo’s competitors over at Sony and Microsoft. So naturally, the competition will follow the leader in attempt to reclaim a piece of the audience the Wii has captured.
Many industry analysts and consumers assumed that Sony and Microsoft would incorporate elements of motion control in their games next generation. Little did we know that they were not planning on waiting so long for their opportunity to compete for a piece of the casual gaming market.
Rumors swarmed in the months preceding E3 2009. This is to be expected, but codenamed projects from Sony and Microsoft led the speculation. Blogs and forums all over the web took shots at guessing what was coming down the pipes for the big three. Bizarre concepts of controllers and patents for new tech led fan’s imaginations sky high. No one could have guessed what was really coming last June.
Both Sony and Microsoft came out guns-a-blazing at E3 2009 showing new peripherals for their consoles. Obviously aimed at the casual market currently being monopolized by Nintendo, both companies had very different ideas on how to target this audience.
Sony’s take was to create a motion controller that resembles the Wii in function and basic design. Meanwhile, Microsoft showed off a camera peripheral named Project Natal that is comparable, albeit more advanced than, Sony’s PS Eye.
Sony’s controller will work in conjunction with their PS Eye to get players inside the motion-controlled experience. Different from Microsoft’s Project Natal, Sony says they’ve learned that “some experiences need buttons,” which is why they have kept a controller involved.
Without including their PS Eye into the formula Sony got dangerously close to looking as if they had shamelessly copied Nintendo’s control scheme for the Wii. Sony argues that their experience is more in depth due to their controller’s ability to do 1:1 tracking.
This claim of originality is immediately shot down by the fact that Nintendo released Wii Motion Plus in June of last year. Wii Motion Plus allowed their controller to perform 1:1 tracking.
“It looks fun, but the Wii is just cute and my family loves it,” said Tiffany Philips a senior in Psychology. This attitude shows how the Wii’s pop culture appeal may be too much for Sony to combat.
Although this strategy may look like a copycat, it could be very advantageous for Sony. With controls similar to the Wii’s, games could be easily ported to the PlayStation 3 from Nintendo’s console. This would sell more games for developers, so there is almost no doubt this will happen as programmers learn to make games for Sony’s new controls.
Microsoft introduced the public to controller free gaming with their Project Natal.
“If you’re thinking Natal is going to give you another version of an FPS, you’re just not thinking broadly enough,” said Peter Molyneux of Lion Head Studios “After all, it was the invention of the mouse that gave us computing as it is today – not the invention of the microprocessor.”
Microsoft is hoping this is true, and that gamers will use Natal to control all aspects of their gaming experience. Microsoft is tight lipped when asked about how Natal actually works. What we do know is that it attaches markers to the person’s body, but as to how it recognizes the parts of the body is still under wraps.
This attempt at expanding the audience of their Xbox360 is being compared to the old PS Eye, but has been shown to do much more. Natal can recognize spoken commands, gestures, and presented objects. It was also shown to do full body tracking during demos shown at E3 2009.
“If Natal can do everything they’re promising, then sign me up to get one for my 360,” said Jack Taylor a freshman in Plant Biology.
Big expectations for Natal could pay off if Microsoft delivers, or seriously hinder the Xbox brand name if it can’t live up to the hype.
The console war may have already been won by Nintendo’s Wii, but the war for second place is just heating up. Both peripherals are planned to be released this holiday season and will either breathe new life into the consoles or prove to be unworthy investments. The price and launch titles of the new devices may decide the ultimate winner.
As a gaming community, we can only hope they both prevail for the benefit of our gaming experiences. Although that is a good sentiment, Sony and Microsoft are no doubt gearing up for the next round of the console war. 2010 is shaping up to be the year that decides weather the PlayStation or Xbox brand reigns supreme.
