Well I'm sure you all have seen or heard about the PS3's new product the PS Move. Well Jim Sterling's earlier post inspired me to write about how things like this are just silly gimmicks that hold no real water over anything.

To further explain my case is the definition of a gimmick which is "a quirky feature that distinguishes a product or service without adding any obvious function or value. Thus, a gimmick sells solely on the basis of distinctiveness and may not appeal to the more savvy or shrewd customer." I happen to think that this thought fits nicely with the product simply because it is Sony's attempt to gather an audience that it believes the Wii has captivated with their own motion controls.



note: captivated audience

Well the reason why the motion control concept worked so well(with the exception of the mountains of shovelware) for the Wii is simply because that it was its sole mechanic for the console. When the Wii was first released it only offered you the wiimote motion controller which is also the primary tool in playing the games. The caused many developers to, whether from being forced to or simply from the artistic drive, make their games use motion sensory technology as a staple for the gameplay. The only thing that keeps this gimmick going is just because its the central point of the console itself.




The PS Move, on the other hand, due to it being revealed years after the PS3 release gives it a major faltering point: it is optional. At best the PS Move is only going to bring minor gimmicky games to the PS3 library that will only really affect its boost in sales about as much as the PS Eyetoy had brought in the past.

In my opinion it is nothing revolutionary or game-changing for console competitiveness. Each console appeals to each of their own demographics and they have held onto them unwaveringly from the start and no silly peripheral is going to change that. You can't make families who play bowling games on the wii play bowling games on the PS3.

Also not to leave out Microsoft from this, I feel about the same way with Project Natal. I feel that its something derived from the use of a camera and taking it further. However it can only go so far to where it will hit the glass ceiling and just be an expensive piece of peripheral that only the most financially capable can have or just to sit there much like the Eyetoy did collecting dust on top of your television.

In the end gimmicks like the PS Move are just that, a quirky feature that distinguishes a product or service without adding any obvious function or value.