Nintendo kickstarted the current motion control fad with the Wii, but Sony and Microsoft are claiming to have perfected it, with the Xbox 360’s Project Natal and PS3’s Wiimote. Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime has downplayed the efforts of rivals by saying that products like Natal is “not news” to the company that siezed upon motion control, and that Nintendo will need to “move on” before Microsoft’s new gimmick takes hold.
“My take on it is that they are now seeing the opportunity that we saw,” claims the kosher Nintendo boss. “What they have shown and discussed inherently is not new news to us.
“We have been in this business for over 25 years. We have worked with a range of input approaches. We’ve worked with the range of mechanisms to drive immersion into the gaming experience. So for us what we see is two competitors who are looking over their shoulder at what we’ve been able to do, and are trying to participate.
“I’m not sure when their products will come to the market, but I can tell you by the time that happens, we will have to continue to move on, to drive more and more immersion on the part of the consumer.”
You gotta love that classic Nintendo arrogance. Still though, Reggie is right. Sony and Microsoft simply look like worried children who are copying another classmate’s homework and hoping the teacher doesn’t notice. By this point in time, I think the audience for each of the three consoles have been well and truly established, and I don’t think Microsoft or Sony will impress their audience with these Wii knock-offs.
It’s kind of pitiful that they’re even trying, really, instead of focusing on the audience they have and making sure they stick around for future generations.
