Sony: Move piggybacked Kinect hype

By Robert Purchese Published 20 September, 2010

"We're lucky MS made such a big deal of it."

PlayStation Move wouldn't have flourished in the public eye had Kinect not existed, Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, believes. The comparisons, he said, elevated Move.

"It's very interesting that you say that - because ever since we announced Move at E3 last year, I've always felt like we were lucky that Microsoft made such a big deal with Project Natal," Yoshida told GamesIndustry.biz. "In a broader sense, we are categorised as 'motion gaming' - if we were just doing Move, we wouldn't have had as much coverage and attention from media and consumers.

"Because you have Kinect versus Move, or Natal versus Motion Controller... I've always felt that that helps to convey our message in terms of what's unique about Move. In our mind, from the beginning, we clearly understood the difference between what Microsoft is trying to do and what we have been doing.

"I feel like it's a great thing," he added, "to have the Kinect versus Move versus Wii comparison."

However, Yoshida didn't flatter Kinect; technology, he said, Sony and many other companies had appraised and turned down.

"3D cameras, technology-wise, are not anything like a secret," he said. "There are lots of technologies being presented by tech companies. I have no doubt that all companies have tried it and evaluated it, and have come to their own decisions."

"Yes, including ourselves - we've been doing camera research from the PS2 days, and of course we looked at 3D cameras. If you remember, we once did a presentation during one of our industry events using an early prototype of a 3DV or Primesense camera - talking about new technology directions. So yes, we're very, very familiar with the technology."

Sony's PlayStation Move controller was released last Friday. Launch-weekend sales are unknown, but Sony has avoided putting the emphasis on strong upfront sales as Microsoft has with Kinect.

Kinect launches in the UK on 10th November for £130.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DAN.E.B #1 2 years ago

    Could,nt agree more Earl

    Im out!

    neg to -26 for agreeing with someone who,s +16?
    lol retards!!!
    Edited by DAN.E.B at 21/09/10 @ 10:06

  • rojjer #2 2 years ago

    Luck has nothing to do with it, you should thank the PSGroove guys, that's sure as shit gonna boost hardware sales.


    (I don't condone piracy, nor do I have a 'jailbroken' PS3)

  • Xardan #3 2 years ago

    Sony in copying Microsoft shocker.

    Go fanboys go go go!
    Edited by Xardan at 20/09/10 @ 14:00

  • FogHeart #4 2 years ago

    ^^Don't bite the bait, dude!

    Edit: Wow, EarlBassett goes from +3 to -2 in the space of a minute. I guess EG are providing a valuable public service with these stories, and people just want to shout out at every opportunity that they have made the superior purchasing decision. (sigh).

    Update: ...and now up to +7. Well! It seems all the negs took place between 12:30 and 1:30. Now, who is only able to surf the net between those times? Hmmmmm....
    Edited by FogHeart at 20/09/10 @ 14:03

  • Retro_ #5 2 years ago

    Really impressed with Move so far, it all seems to work very well indeed.

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #6 2 years ago

    I'm with @Retro_ on this.

    I'd just like to add that games need buttons - even motion controlled games.

  • schnide #7 2 years ago

    I love some of the honesty (or from what I can tell) that's coming out of the Sony camp these days.

  • swissorc #8 2 years ago

    Nintendo jumped on the motion controller bus. Sony, missed the bus and had to wait for a much later connection (probably due to road works). Where as Microsoft decided they didn't want to take the bus after all and set about making themselves a bicycle out of cheap plastic and double sided sticky tape!
    Edited by swissorc at 20/09/10 @ 12:47

  • Eraser #9 2 years ago

    The real reason they're lucky with MS going for Kinect is that now all the MS fanboys can't say "Sony copies Wii" because the Sony fanboys will slap them back in the face with Kinect.

  • telboy007 #10 2 years ago

    "because the Sony fanboys will slap them back in the face with Kinect."

    I hope they don't, £130 is quite a lot of money and I imagine Kinect will break on contact.

    I'll get me coat.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #11 2 years ago

    @retrend - I see your "Microsoft Kin32x" and raise you a Playstation Wiive ;o)

  • kangarootoo #12 2 years ago

    I did a lot of Move gaming this weekend. Sports Champions sword fighting with two controllers is ace fun, but also quite painful the day after. Archery is also very good. Tried the Heavy Rain demo (undecided, it is fun and well done, but I'm not sure it really adds much to the experience), Echochrome II demo (good fun, and really benefits from the Move) and The Shoot demo (good fun, but not sure it has huge longevity as a single player game - definitely a game to play 2 player).

    No technical probs, all the games just worked. I was in a space (sunlit room with skylight, though it wasn't super sunny outside) that meant I was about probably 4-6 feet from the camera when standing and maybe 7 feet when seated, and I never had any problems (despite several of the games recommending 6-8 feet).

    For balance, not tried Kinect at all.

  • el_pollo_diablo #13 2 years ago

    This article is hardly fanboy baiting. It's just a guy from Sony being honest. He correctly says that the Move / Kinect 'war' has raised the profile of both, and that Sony effectively prototyped the Kinect with the eyetoy back in the day.

    What's contentious about any of that?

    As an aside I bought a Move at the weekend (against my better judgement I might add, I knew it would be shitty) and I was wrong - it's a lovely piece of kit. Now I'm just hoping that it'll get the creme de la creme of Wii ports - Boomblox, Zack & Wiki etc.

  • kangarootoo #14 2 years ago

    "Boomblox"

    Ah, forgot. I also tried the Tumble demo. Reviews suggest its actually not hugely similar to Boom Blox, but it sort of shares some themes. The demo only had one game mode (build a tower, drop less pieces than your opponent) so its hard to get an idea of what else it offers. A lot of fun though, and very accurate.

  • jefranklin18 #15 2 years ago

    Sony's PlayStation Move controller was released last Friday. Launch-weekend sales are unknown, but Sony has avoided putting the emphasis on strong upfront sales as Microsoft has with Kinect.

    Given that the article prior to this has Sports Champion as no.2 in the charts, then I think it is fair to say that whatever the sales of that are, then at least that number of Move units would have been sold? It would have been possible to avoid the fan boy baiting that way.

    I bought Sports Champion and 2 controllers over the weekend (my excuse is that it was my birthday) and I had a great time with it. I do have concerns about the ability to take pictures of yourself after you have won a tournament and upload them to Facebook. Although not an issue yesterday, if I were playing it drunk, it would seem like such a good idea at the time...

    Edit: stupid, stupid typo.
    Edited by jefranklin18 at 20/09/10 @ 13:25

  • chubster2010 #16 2 years ago

    @Earl
    re 'Another day, another fanboy baiting story.'

    Good lord....'Gaming site in covering gaming news shocker'!!!

    I wonder if there are websites about soap-operas, where if a story is published about Eastenders, all the Coronation Street fans get all bent out of shape?

    Or handicraft sites where the knitters get pissed off about the amount of coverage crochet has been getting of late?


  • drxym #17 2 years ago

    I think both Move & Kinect could be all but forgotten gimmicks in a year from now. IMO the risk is far higher with Kinect though because Move is a fairly traditional controller with a regular API so it can be bolted onto a lot of games with fairly minimal effort. The key test is whether the motion controls are fit for purpose and there are games that make use of them.

    The specific danger for Kinect is that it's very design pigeonholes it into casual titles and the gimped implementation & features is a massive downgrade on some of the earlier claims. So far Kinect seems to be powered by hubris and I am really looking forward to reading the reviews.
    Edited by drxym at 20/09/10 @ 15:12

  • mAc062 #18 2 years ago

    I think ill only get either move or Kinect don't think I have room for two cameras in front of my TV. So far move is looking like the winner. I'm going to wait until the start of next year to see how it plays out though
    .

  • SEVQA #19 2 years ago

    I must say I to am very impressed with the Move, I'm yet to buy a game for it though with all the demos giving me a casual wii HD feel and my already owned games being patched I'm more than happy with the 30 quid I spent on it. The precision needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. Some of the games certainly hint at real augmented reality gaming - the Frisbee golf demo being a good example and was a hoot to play, hardcore or not. I'm looking forward to what get's developed for the device.

    My only negatives as far have been the lack of support for PlayTV which I use regularly and the not so accurate control when web browsing as the Move seems to mimic the d-pad when moving the cursor which is a shame. Though room for improvement. For 30 - 40 quid I highly recommend the Move as being a good buy indeed.
    Edited by SEVQA at 21/09/10 @ 11:53

  • woodyrulesok #20 2 years ago

    +1 for a boomblox port, wouldn't happen but it's a great game.

  • cw- #21 2 years ago

    Didn't even know move was out until I walked past GAME, and didn't believe the OUT NOW signs... until after a double take of the signs.

    Good advertising Sony :p
    Edited by cw- at 20/09/10 @ 14:44

  • chubster2010 #22 2 years ago

    @Earl
    But this story isn't the same as "BBC Boss says Coronation Street is shit"; it's more like the BBC saying "We thought about hiring the Coronation Street script writers, but found that they didn't have a firm enough grasp on what life is like in the East-end of London".
    Edited by chubster2010 at 20/09/10 @ 14:03

  • el_pollo_diablo #23 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett

    Have you actually read the article?

  • theonlyix #24 2 years ago

    Move...what is it good for, actually nothing......

    Im putting my money behind kinect (im not gonna move, ;) )

  • Spydy #25 2 years ago

    Move is a great piece of tech.

    Tumble. The demo gives a poor representation of the full game. The multiplayer is great fun and the later levels are just evil.
    Flight Control HD. Again....evil and suprisingly tough.
    Resi 5 Move. Works OK. The reticule could be smoother though. Probably a side effect of the stuttering frame-rate.
    Sports Champions. 10 minutes with table tennis will sell anyone on Move. Works like a charm.
    Start the party demo. I might have to buy this simply for the augmented reality. Pretty damn incredible.

    Negatives at the moment at least are reticules in flight control and The Shoot demos moving off on their own but are strangely fine in game. And if you have a game mode on your TV, it's best to use it. Reduces the already small amount of lag you may experience.

  • orangpelupa #26 2 years ago

    i LOVE this person. he Just talking a reality (albeit from SONY's perspective).

    He not bashing the competitor.
    Not bad mouthing the competitor.
    not saying any childish comments.

    we need PR people to act like this person :D
    this person make Sony's image get better.

  • des #27 2 years ago

    Dildo is out???hmmm,how did i miss that...if Sony thinks that Kinect will sell glowing dildos then lololol....but then again Sony said that PSPGo is a success sooo.....lolz

    "Sony's PlayStation Move controller was released last Friday. Launch-weekend sales are unknown, but Sony has avoided putting the emphasis on strong upfront sales as Microsoft has with Kinect. "

    That's because the weekend sales are like shit...nothing to brag about,otherwise they would brag about it like crazy...first rule of corporate fanboy wars


    "Another day, another fanboy baiting story."

    How else they could get some hits?...EG has gone to shit long time ago

  • berryl227 #28 2 years ago

    @des

    I point you towards jefranklin18's post no 17 and in particular this

    "Given that the article prior to this has Sports Champion as no.2 in the charts, then I think it is fair to say that whatever the sales of that are, then at least that number of Move units would have been sold?"

    total flop then eh?
    Edited by berryl227 at 20/09/10 @ 15:43

  • drumbaby #29 2 years ago

    Move is great. It works so well, and makes you feel part of the gaming experience...albeit lightwieght gaming experiences atm, because face it, there's not much in the way of stellar Move titles yet.

    Still, RE5 plays well on it. So much better than with the gamepad configuration.

  • des #30 2 years ago

    "I point you towards jefranklin18's post no 17 and in particular this

    "Given that the article prior to this has Sports Champion as no.2 in the charts, then I think it is fair to say that whatever the sales of that are, then at least that number of Move units would have been sold?"

    total flop then eh? "

    And how much is that?30-40k maybe???huge success...lol

  • ThePissartist #31 2 years ago

    Kin32x
    Mov32x

    Probably neither will be true - though I have a sneaking suspicion MS will sell more units.

    I also have a feeling Sony might play another 'If you want a Saturn, your head is in Uranus' marketing campaign.

  • nuanimal #32 2 years ago

    Nothing to do with the Wii popularising video games via motin control then?

  • kangarootoo #33 2 years ago

    @des

    Are you actually declaring something a flop based on a number of sales that you just guessed at?

  • Goodfella #34 2 years ago

    Oh God, you get rid of tigerstyle then des takes his place.

    Anyway you spin it, Sports Champions at no.2 isn't bad, in fact only a frothing at the mouth fanboy could attempt to put bad spin on that by guessing at actual sales figures. Move is totally new to the market and a Move game gets to number 2, beaten only by a massive long running franchise.

    That's pretty good in my book.
    Edited by Goodfella at 20/09/10 @ 16:22

  • 00.00.01 #35 2 years ago

    @des
    Don't know where you live but on mainland Europe there's more and more (game)shops putting ot the sign that says "Move controllers sold out!".
    Sony doesn't need a marketing campaign like MS do, they've just provided resellers with low volumes and now it looks like demand is ridiculously high as the items are sold out. Love the Moev though, one of the nicest preipherals I've used over the past 5 years. The Move-gun is also nice, works really well with Timecrisis4.

  • knightmt #36 2 years ago

    I think all parties involved will learn loads from this generation. Cannot wait to see what games come out for move and kinect. The basic two stick controller has been around for ages, I love it, but there must be alternatives.

  • des #37 2 years ago

    "Are you actually declaring something a flop based on a number of sales that you just guessed at?"

    I don't have to guess,sales for everything except No.1 are pathetic,just look at top 20...like going back in the past

    Not to mention that last week sales were the crappiest ever since the Wii release and that was a long time ago...

    [link url=http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40862/New-low-for-UK-games-market
    ]http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40862/New-low-...[/link]

    Edited by des at 20/09/10 @ 17:55

  • makeamazing #38 2 years ago

    Well my sub controller has turned up today finally... thanks Play, lucky i had the normal controller on Friday. So now i can give RE5 a spin. I think the tech is very nice. It has some teething problems (some users having issues with certain demos, whiles others dont). But overall to get a game in at No2 is not bad. So it got beat by a big game. Not sure what some people (e.g Des) expected.

    Seeing how Move has some initial user teething issues (e.g every persons house is different), its going to be a real challenge for Kinect imho to ensure it works flawlessly, as there tech is much more reliant on the camera/software.

  • Negotiator #39 2 years ago

    Look people, Move and the Wiimote are by and large the same thing, one is slightly better than the other. Kinect on the other hand is a generational leap over the other two motion controllers. In fact its not even a motion controller, its a full body, voice recognition device that will go beyond just gaming, and into mainstream entertainment. Mark my words sales will go through the roof on this one, there is no comparison between Move, Wiimote compared to Kinect, Kinect is a different animal all together and thats why it will be a success.
    Edited by Negotiator at 20/09/10 @ 18:34

  • man.the.king #40 2 years ago

    @theonlyix

    "Move...what is it good for, actually nothing......
    Im putting my money behind kinect (im not gonna move, ;) )"

    That's the only option you have anyway; if you wanted to put your money behind Move, you would have to buy a PS3 :)
    Edited by man.the.king at 20/09/10 @ 18:51

  • Vergis69 #41 2 years ago

    Kinect yes, £130 no

  • man.the.king #42 2 years ago

    @Goodfella

    "Anyway you spin it, Sports Champions at no.2 isn't bad, in fact only a frothing at the mouth fanboy could attempt to put bad spin on that by guessing at actual sales figures. Move is totally new to the market and a Move game gets to number 2, beaten only by a massive long running franchise.
    That's pretty good in my book. "

    I think Move may not have sold as poorly as 360 fanboys like des and tigerstyle wanted it to.

    Here in the US, Sports Champions leaderboards buckled under pressure and were unavailable for a while - I think it may have to do with too many people trying it, no? And it's not just a demo you can try out - you have to have purchased the tech first. That's why I think Move may have done better than MS representative des was hoping for.

    BTW, I bought the whole shebang - Sports Champions bundle (Eye, Move, Game), another Move, 2 Nav Cons and RE5 Gold, and am glad I did - when playing some of the sports, you have to get into the mindset of actually playing the game, rather than just learning the tricks of the controls, like with the Wii and Wii Sports (e.g. flick a wrist in tennis) - that's how good (and precise) the Move experience was for me.
    Edited by man.the.king at 20/09/10 @ 19:49

  • Rack #43 2 years ago

    Wouldn't say it's not an option at all, I'm putting my money behind Move and I have to buy a PS3 to do so. But with Disgaea 3, 4, Demon Souls, Heavy Rain, Wipeout HD, MGS4, Uncharted and Infamous it's not too difficult a purchase. Kinect on the other hand is looking like the Dance Central 360 adapter.

  • kearneybobs #44 2 years ago

    It's a shame you didnt make a big deal about it Sony.

  • thepiedpiper #45 2 years ago

    i'm too lethargic to jump around for a videogame

  • suhawk75 #46 2 years ago

    Move just arrived today for me. Results have been mixed so far. Table Tennis (which I was really looking forward to) seemed pretty hard but it might have been a calibration problem.

    Flight Control and Bocce however are brilliant with Move. Looking forward to getting some free time to mess around with the tech.

    So far - pretty damn good fun

  • el_pollo_diablo #47 2 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "Kinect is a generational leap over the other two motion controllers. In fact its not even a motion controller, its a full body, voice recognition device that will go beyond just gaming, and into mainstream entertainment. Mark my words..."

    Consider your words marked!

    You're talking with incredible conviction about something that you, me and everyone else know almost nothing about. I hope Kinect is amazing too, but so far what do we know about it? We know Peter Molyneux loves it. Well ok. But don't go overboard just yet.
    Edited by el_pollo_diablo at 20/09/10 @ 23:30

  • ATNR1 #48 2 years ago

    I would just like to say to those that claim the move isn't working properly, that you just calibrated it wrong. I did the same thing on Friday when I got my move. I couldn't wait to get the thing working and didn't make sure my eyetoy was set up properly and even though it said it was calibrated, I tried to play the Shoot and it well didn't have a crosshair and everything was pulling to the left. Then I tried the eyepet, and couldn't get it to work. So I kinda gave up on the demos and tried the Start the party I got for my son and made sure the eyetoy was set up correctly and calibrated it. And it works!
    Really a fun party game, and my son can now actually play and have fun. He’s only three. Yeah I know I’m an idiot, but many have written of the tech, because of the same problems I had. Just take your time and follow instructions.

    Later I tried the shoot again and it worked great and so did the eyepet. So great, that I went and got it for my son. Didn’t care much about the other demos, except maybe for tumble and Sport Champions, but it was way to short to make any sort of real judgement.

    The move is really fantastic. I cannot wait to try Resident Evil 5 and Heavy Rain.

    Kinda on the fence with Kinect now, the tech isn’t really what Microsoft hyped with
    Natal, but I haven’t written it off either.

  • kangarootoo #49 2 years ago

    @des

    Your link is broken.

    Unless you can link to sales figures of Sports Champions, you are guessing at sales figures for Sports Champions. That is just a fact, don't shoot the messenger.

  • kangarootoo #50 2 years ago

    @paddy29

    You do that before each event type after player selection, not before every round as suggested in the earlier post. If you play through all the gladiatorial combat cups in order for example, you will calibrate only once.

    And it takes about 5 seconds once you get used to the sequence (you don't have to wait for the onsreen avatar).

  • kangarootoo #51 2 years ago

    Well, horses for courses I guess. I found it to be pretty benign.

    I would also question whether it is crucial to repeat it for every person. I played SC with 4 people each taking turns and we didn't bother recalibrating between people. We are all roughly the same height, we have the same number of arms and so on, so it just wasn't necessary to recalibrate that often.

    If it drives you nuts then perhaps its not for you. I am pretty sure most people won't care at all.