14 DAY TRIAL // The big showdown of the fall will happen between Project Natal from Microsoft and the PlayStation Move from Sony, the two motion tracking peripherals set to come out around the same date and then help the two companies take away some customers from the home console that already has those capabilities, the Nintendo Wii.
Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America and the one leading the charge against rival motion tracking systems, played out the decision making process going on in the head of a Wii user who hears about the PlayStation Move being released.
He told Industry Gamers that “I'm a consumer and I'm having a great experience with my Wii. And we know that's the case - we look at the software that's being purchased. Consumers love the Wii. What's going to motivate them to spend minimally $300 for a new system, plus minimally $100 for the Move motion bundle? So now I'm into this for $400 and I still have to spend money on software. What's going to motivate me to do that?”
The exact same case can be made against the Xbox 360 and Project Natal from Microsoft. After all, those who have bought a Wii are probably not interested in the extensive community features and multiplayer offered by the Xbox Live service or in the Blu-ray capabilities or the overall power of the PlayStation 3. They went for the Wii because of its being easy to use and the range of family-friendly titles Nintendo manages to put out, led by the likes of Mario, Zelda and Metroid.
Both Microsoft and Sony could succeed in drawing some players away from the Nintendo platform but they would need to offer some gaming experiences that are very different from those on the Wii. SOCOM 4 might have a shot at attracting those who are interested in tactical cover-based squad shooter, but Sports Champions is just too similar to Wii Sports to be appealing.