Report – Annual shipment of PC hardware is twice that of consoles

The PC Gaming Alliance has released its Horizons Hardware research report, and it found the annual shipment volumes PC gaming hardware market in 2009 were two times larger than shipments of PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 combined for the same period.

The report states revenues from consumer gaming capable PCs with a discrete GPU (excludes Netbooks and integrated graphics-based PCs) totaled approximately $54.6 billion in 2009 and are forecasted to grow to $61.3 billion by 2014.

The figures are based on an estimated 61.5 million PCs (Desktop and Laptops) shipped in 2009.

“This trend for the PC Gaming hardware market to outpace all console shipments combined is expected to continue through the forecasted period of the research,” read the report. ”

It also estimates worldwide consumers gaming with discrete graphics on their PCs to be 212.6 million for 2009 and expects this to grow to about 322 million by 2014.

“One of the biggest trends I’m seeing in the 2009 Horizon’s hardware report indicates a strong demand for more capable mobile based systems by PC Gamers,” said Matt Ployhar PCGA research committee chairman. “PC Gamers are playing a central role in fueling healthier margins, and driving innovation in this space worldwide.”

“PC gaming is the highest profile and most mature example of a new era of computing systems based on usage,” added  Richard Shim, research manager at IDC. “These new usage-based systems are hardware configurations optimized for an improved user experience. Consumers are often willing to pay more for such an experience. In the case of gaming PCs, up to 25 percent more as compared to a mainstream system.”

According to the report, the Asia Pacific region is still the world’s largest hardware gaming market with approximately 33 percent of the market share. Western Europe and the United States are at 24 percent and 22 percent, respectively, while the rest of the world follows with 21.5 percent.

ShopTo lists Kinect for £130, November 19 launch

UK online retailer ShopTo’s mentioned a £129.99 price point for Kinect when it launches in the UK. November 19 is the magic date, according to them.

It comes as American retail, including Microsoft’s own online shop, had given the motion-tech a $150 price point, something which has not been confirmed as yet by the firm.

Full details on the European launch are expected to be confirmed at gamescom in August.

Also mentioned by ShopTo and other retailer Play.com is that Kinect will come packaged with the tech itself, power supply cable, manual, Wi-Fi cable and a title that supports the camera. It isn’t specified what game, though.

UK retailers have said in the past that it would like to see it go on sale for “sub-£100″.

Microsoft confirmed at E3 that Kinect would launch in the US on November 4, as well as having 15 launch titles to boot.

It hasn’t launched yet and the price keeps lowering..eheh

Rumour – PlayStation Plus needed for Hulu Plus PS3

Technologizer’s discovered that PlayStation Plus might be required for the recently announced Hulu Plus for PS3.

The source code from the Hulu site reads: “The instructions below will help you install Hulu Plus on your PS3. Note: you must be a subscriber of the PlayStation Plus Network.”

The source code from the website also shows a “PlayStation 3 Activation Procedure”, where users are asked to redeem a code onto the PlayStation Store to use the service.

Not to mention that when you put a year-long sub of PS Plus and how much Hulu costs per month together, it would come to $170 a year, as mentioned by Kotaku.

SCEA hasn’t formally revealed anything on how the service would work on PS3, nor has Hulu, but it did tell VG247 last night that details were coming “shortly.”

Well, seems the “free” services of PS3 will come to an end :p but hey it is obvious that seeing how much MS wins with the Live Gold that they would want to win some too, and they need to put something in PS+ that will atract people.

Hulu Plus comes to PS3 next month, with a 2011 release for Xbox 360.

Reeves: New consoles coming in 2-3 years

Capcom Europe boss David Reeves believes that the big three will release new consoles within two to three years.

Speaking with GI.biz, Reeves stated that Kinect and Move will “revive and pique interest” in games until there’s another “clash of the titans in two years time”.

“Two to three years, I reckon so,” he said when asked for an approximate time-frame.

“I don’t have any inside information. All the first-parties have got to be working on something. The tricky thing is when do you put a stake in the ground on technology? That’s the problem.

“You can be waiting a few extra months to implement something, but you’ve got to set a date to go with a certain chip at a certain point otherwise you’re going to miss the key milestones.”

As for Xbox 360, European Microsoft executive Chris Lewis told VG247 during E3 that the redesigned 360 along with Kinect would extend the machine’s life-cycle by five years.

“It is, in many ways for us, mid-lifecycle,” he said. “With this new, sleek design and Kinect for Xbox 360 we’ve got at least another five years of this generation, where we continue to offer great experiences for people.”

Meanwhile, Sony has said time and time again that PS3 has a 10-year life-span, with SCEA’s Peter Dille going so far as to say that it will beat out Xbox 360 in lifetime sales.

“I don’t think [360 will] be around in 10 years so I’m very confident we’ll pass them within that time-frame,” said the exec, speaking in an IGN interview.

“I mean, we’ve got 31 million [units sold] worldwide right now — they’ve got 39 million [units sold]. I don’t even need to go out 10 years.”

Nintendo has remained quiet on when to expect a new console let alone and upgraded version of Wii, but NOA’s Reggie Fils-Aime has said that the company is not ready for Wii 2 yet.

Microsoft’s Greenberg: Milo “absolutely” still in development

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has confirmed that Milo & Kate is still in development and is merely a product not slated for release this Holiday, despite earlier reports claiming the Kinect title would never ship.

According to Greenberg, the game is definitely still coming.

“Project Milo absolutely continues in development at Lionhead Studios,” he told Kotaku. “It is just not a product we plan to bring to market this holiday. The team at Lionhead has always been a center of innovation and will continue to deliver against that charter.”

Earlier, a report from ABC TV’s Good Game quoted Greenberg as saying Molyneux’s mildly creepy virtual son would never be released.

“Milo; he’s safe and sound back in England. No… the Milo Project is something that Lionhead Studios in their labs had developed. Last year we unveiled the Project Natal technology, we showed a bunch of technology demos as part of that,” he apparently explained.

“And obviously [Milo] is a technology demo that continues to exist, but right now it’s not a game that we’re planning to bring to market.”

Molyneux told VG247 that we’ll be seeing more of Milo and his gal pal Kate next month.

Hulu Plus for PS3 next month, 360 next year

Hulu Plus has been confirmed for PS3 and Xbox 360 via Hulu’s official site. Looks as though Sony got its claws in first.

The service will run you $10 per month, and is already available for iPhone and iPad, with PS3 getting it in July.

Internet-enabled televisions and Blu-ray will get the service in the fall, and it’s coming to Xbox 360 in early 2011.

Microsoft said the reason for the 360 delay was due to a “customized experience” being created for the service via Xbox Live.

“We are taking the time to ensure that the Hulu Plus experience for Xbox 360 is the best on TV,” said Major Nelson in a statement, “and like our other entertainment experiences, it will not be a port, but rather a custom experience that leverages the Xbox Live community features”.

An official response from Microsoft added that Hulu Plus works with Kinect for a controller-free experience, and it will incorporate Xbox Live Parties so you can watch shows with friends “no matter where they are”, with more details to be announced at a later time.

Hulu Plus will be available for US Xbox Live Gold Members only.

Meanwhile, Sony has confirmed to VG247 that Hulu Plus will be coming soon to PS3, and that more specific information would be announced “shortly”.

Hulu was rumored for Xbox 360 earlier in the month, while word that the service was to be added to PS3 hit last week.

Molyneux’s Milo & Kate TED talk detailed

Details for Peter Molyneux’s TEDGlobal seminar, which will feature a re-reveal of Kinect oddity Milo & Kate, have been confirmed.

The talk, entitled “Human Systems,” will see the Lionhead boss lecturing alongside the likes of singer Annie Lennox, and will take place between 4.45-6.30pm on July 13.

Get full details here.

Molyneux told VG247 at E3 that he intends to show off the mysterious Kinect game, which Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said this week is not planned for retail release, at the event in Oxford next month.

Milo & Kate was shown for the first time at E3 last year alongside Project Natal’s announcement. Lionhead staffers were seen talking and interacting with Milo, a young boy, through the motion sensor.

Molyneux’s said in the past that Milo plays a major part “in a more dramatic story”.

iPhone 4 sells 1.7 million in first week

Apple’s announced that 1.7 million units of the fourth generation iPhone have been sold since its worldwide release last week.

CEO Steve Jobs has said the launch of the tech has been “the most successful” in the company’s history.

That’s despite recent reports of issues such as bugs and the “grip of death,” with signal being affected by the way the device is held.

“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. Even so, we apologise to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply,” said Jobs.

*overated product* there are better, cheaper and more wicked technologies and small too around.

MS: Hardcore will buy Kinect first

Worldwide product marketing manager of Xbox, Ryan Moore, has told CVG that hardcore gamers, and not the casual massive, will be the first to buy Kinect this November.

“I think we know that hardcore gamers will be the first to go out and buy it, as they are with any product,” Moore told the site at E3.

He went on to add: “We know we have to have a wide range of experiences, from things like the animals game you saw today to… games that are more geared towards the core.

“I would expect a wide range of products to be released this holiday.”

No European release date has been given for the motion camera, nor has the price for either Europe or the US. Speculation is pointing at a $150 RRP.

Expect pricing to be announced in Cologne during gamescom in August.

Kinect launches in the US on November 4.

Molyneux would “love” to make Kinect-centric Black & White

Kinectimals is great and all, but we’re tough, manly gamers’ gamers at heart. Why cuddle with and giggle at the antics of  normal-sized animals when you can have fuzzy friends the size of skyscrapers?

Hey wait, didn’t Peter Molyneux basically invent the tickle-giant-animals-with-a-floating-hand genre years ago? And isn’t Kinect in dire need of a killer app? Do you get where we’re going with this yet?

“The Black & White series is really interesting,” Molyneux told UGO during E3. “Maybe it is something I should re-visit, but that’s just me thinking, here now.”

“The original Black & White – with the hand, reaching in and touching and stroking, you can really factor that with Kinect, and it could be really super cool,” he said. “It’s purely me just thinking about it, and thinking about what Black & White means. I love the idea of that connection the hand gave you into the world, the feeling of power, the feeling of nurturing.”

It makes perfect sense and Molyneux loves the idea, so why wasn’t this thing the cherry atop Microsoft’s beginning-to-melt sundae of an E3 conference?

“The trouble with being a designer now is that there are way too many ideas than there is time to develop those ideas,” Molyneux explained. “I would love to do something like a Black & White again. I would love to do a Fable 4. I would love to carry on doing Milo, but there is only a certain amount of resources and a certain amount of time.”

God I would love to see this, I love the Black & White series, LOVE IT!

Sony: No plans for 3D in next PSP

Scott Rohde has said Sony doesn’t plan on including 3D in a future version of PSP.

Speaking with IndustryGamers during E3, the worldwide studios VP said there are no plans for the tech, and that PSP2 is not something Sony’s talking about at the moment.

“No, no plans for that,” he said when we asked about 3D for a future PSP, adding that PSP2 was “not something we’re announcing right now. It’s just as simple as that. It’s all I can tell you.”

Kaz Hirai doesn’t seem too impressed with the idea of 3D on handhelds either, telling Sankei Biz earlier in the week that there were limitations with “naked-eye 3D for portables” and claimed systems incorporating it lacked “high precision”.

So, no PSP2 for now let alone one with 3D.

SEGA: More sophisticated Kinect games within a year

SEGA West president Mike Hayes believes Kinect will receive more sophisticated games as the year goes on.

Speaking with CVG, Hayes said people complaining about Kinect letting the hardcore down at E3 are being a “little harsh”, and that by this time next year  everyone will see what the device is really capable of.

“My guess is when we’re at E3 next year, more of the features of Kinect will be in use by developers,” he said. “I think you’ll find more clever and sophisticated applications then.

“We’re not going to be able to develop something [for the hardcore] in under a year, which is frankly what we’ve had”.

In this regard, Sega is planning to focus on new and original games for the device as time goes on.

“We want to do more clever things on it – create original ways of using it, rather than just taking existing ideas and not just doing the same thing,” said Hayes.

“Having said that, of course, with the success that we’ve had with Wii, there are a lot of motion games we would like to reinvent for Move and Kinect.

“We’ve got one good idea and hopefully something will be out the back end of next year, perhaps early 2012, which we think will use the aspects of Kinect a lot more originally and in a more sophisticated way.”

True, true.

Iwata: 3DS video chat is possible

Satoru Iwata has said that Nintendo’s 3DS is capable of 3D video chat.

Speaking in an interview with Forbes, Iwata confirmed that it would be technically possible to include such a feature, although he stopped short of actually confirming it.

“Technologically speaking, a variety of different things are possible with the 3DS, for example, 3D video chat,” he said.

As well as being capable of playing 3D games, 3DS also supports 3D movies and can take 3D pictures.

Nintendo revealed the new handheld at E3 last week, although no price or date has yet been set.

Now that’s awesome.

Microsoft has “vested interest” in using PC as a first party platform

An internal Q&A document from Microsoft has surfaced, and in it the company asks itself whether or not it has fulfilled its promise of releasing first-party PC titles to the consumer.

The short answer? No. Not really. However, the Q&A leads one to believe that Microsoft’s well aware of its sketchy past and is looking to remedy the situation.

“Does ‘Fable III’ on Windows signal a larger reinvestment by Microsoft in PC gaming? How is this different from the previous times you’ve announced a reinvestment in PC gaming and not quite come through with a robust offering?,” reads the document obtained by Kotaku.

“In terms of revenue, Windows is far and away the largest gaming platform in the world, so it’s an incredibly important part of Microsoft’s business, reads the statement. “From core games like ‘Fable III’ to casual, social and Facebook titles, more gaming happens on Windows than anywhere else.

“Windows 7 is a world-class gaming platform, and you can bet Microsoft has a vested interest in using it as a platform for amazing first party content. ‘Fable III’ on Windows as well as Xbox 360 this holiday is a great first step, and we’ll have more news for you later this summer.”

Looks like MS is finally going to start supporting its “other” platform in the future, then. Hopefully it’ll keep its promise this time around.

Fable III is slated or release on October 26.

This may be good, this may be bad since there is a little thing called piracy, on the other hand there’s a good thing about Microsoft PC gaming, a lot of people think it is bad but it isn’t, Games for Windows Live, it XBL but free, because you can even use your gamercard from XBL, it has everything you need, and if they do invest in PC gaming they may win something because they’ve got half of the gaming market, there is Wii, PS3, Xbox360 and the PC, and they’ve got HALF, that’s a lot, if they invest right they could win a lot, yes because in Microsoft its all about the monehh :p but there is always the bad thing…piracy.

Peter Moore: “We need be selective” with motion control experiences

Peter Moore has said that lessons learned with Wii will be the key to enabling EA Sports to reach new audiences with Kinect and Move.

Speaking in an interview with Gamasutra, the EA Sports head said the company will think carefully about how it chooses to support the new devices from Microsoft and Sony.

“We had all of our franchises, at first, on the Wii. We found that we’re better off looking at very innovative… selected experiences,” he said.

“The one thing we’ve learned is not to throw [in] everything [but] the kitchen sink. We need be selective with the experience. Things like golf and tennis work particularly well with something in the hand — but we have a tougher time with things like soccer.”

Moore added that the goal with the new devices is to make sure it adds to the experience, rather than takes away from it.

“We want a presence on all of the new motion control platforms, but with selective titles,” he said. “We’re going to be very prescriptive in what we’re doing and making for the experience.”

The EA Sports boss finished by saying that the company are to focus more on sports titles to begin with, before moving on to different experiences.

“That’s exactly what we’re doing in these early days,” said Moore. “And then, we’re going to find — in particular with Kinect — innovative experiences outside of fitness that allow us to use the body in some way. It may be we’re looking at games that don’t currently exist right now.

“We’re pretty leery of simply porting a game experience to a new technology without really thinking about what the consumer experience is going to be.

“We’re doing it tactfully, tactically and in a very prescriptive manner. We’re going to continue to invest in these where they make sense.”

The first EA game to support Move is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, which will receive a patch closer to the controller’s release.

EA also has plans to support both devices with the release of EA Sports Active 2.

Disney and PDP to release Tron and Mickey inspired controllers

Disney and peripheral maker PDP have teamed up to release some rather unique looking controllers based on Epic Mickey and Tron.

The Wii controller for Epic Mickey is shaped like a paint brush, obviously, as the whole point of the game is to go around painting the world.

Those who purchase the paint brush controller will also get a statue/charger, featuring the nasty Ink Blot that Mickey battles in the game.

Controllers for Tron are rather unique, and sport a blue neon light making sure you’ll never lose your Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3 peripheral should you decide to play the game in the dark.

We aren’t sure if these controllers are to be released anywhere other than the US at the moment, but you could always import if you are quite taken with one.

You can see the controllers for yourself below.

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Kinect costs $149.99, says Microsoft Store

Seems as though everyone thinks Kinect’s going to cost $150. Including Microsoft.

To put it simply, too much.

The Microsoft Store is now listing the motion sensor at $149.99 for pre-order.

Apparently, the following comes in the box:

• Kinect sensor for Xbox 360
• Power supply cable
• User’s manual
• Wi-Fi extension cable

There’s been intense speculation around Kinect’s price since Microsoft shied away from dropping the information at E3 last week, with rumours ranging from a $150 cost price to $189 at retail.

Kinect releases before the end of the year.

Interview – Nintendo’s Laurent Fischer

Laurent Fischer, Nintendo Europe’s MD of marketing, had a good E3. 3DS was the talk of the show and Nintendo’s press conference couldn’t have gone better. He was in a chipper mood, then, when VG247 caught up with him in LA last week to ask him when we can expect a price point for 3DS, how Nintendo feels about Sony and Microsoft’s “rush to motion” and whether or not we’re going to see any price-cutting from Nintendo this year.

VG247: First of all, your press conference was amazingly good. I think it surprised a lot of people. How important was it for you to impress everyone this year?

Laurent Fischer: I think it comes down to, “What’s your proposal?” The common comments I get from everyone is that once we announced we were about to show new hardware, everyone has a certain level of expectation. And “everyone” includes us, the Nintendo team. What’s important for us is that this product actually delivers more than anyone expected.

Impressing people isn’t specifically the aim. It’s important for us to be able to explain our purpose. We knew from the Nintendo DS and Wii hardware that we have a concept that is either innovative or difficult to explain, so having the experience from these two previous launches that we believe we have a proposal that’s strong and innovative for the consumer.

But it’s difficult for us to explain it to the consumer. Seeing is believing. It’s important for us to deliver that message, and it’s not very easy to do that in the media briefing format. We’re happy in the end that everyone can enjoy themselves and make up their own mind about the new experience Nintendo 3DS is supposed to deliver.

When I saw the screen in action, I was absolutely blown away. I can’t believe how well it works. Are you seeing generally the same reaction from others?

Laurent Fischer: Yeah. I think everyone is pretty much aware of the latest improvements and evolutions from a technological point of view with regards to 3D. I think what 3DS achieves is something that’ very easy to handle. It’s a handheld, and so kyou can really easily adjust how you handle the screen itself.

We also have something that I believe is very important; we have this opportunity as a player to adjust the strength of the 3D effect. It means everyone can find out how to combine handling the screen and the 3D effect. Once you find the combination, then you have true enjoyment of the graphics ability of the console, and you can feel the 3D and get a sense of a new feature developers will be able to get behind.

I guess the developers themselves already see the potential, and they’re very supportive to us, which I believe is the greatest news among all the positive things, that all the major publishers are getting behind the Nintendo 3DS with their teams and their best franchises.

We have very rich experiences for any kind of gamer. Whatever kind of game you love, we’re confident that the publisher will be behind us, and they’re very supportive of the platform itself. That’s very important to us.

It wasn’t just 3DS, obviously. There was an awful lot of service to Wii in there, and an awful lot of fan service. Some big franchises coming back, such as GoldenEye and Kirby, and you got an amazing reaction from the crowd. How important is it for you now to ensure Wii has a continued lifespan? How important is it for you to not release a new machine at this point?

Laurent Fischer: Wii’s been on the market since 2006. We’ve made a lot of steps within the Wii lifecycle. From the motion point of view, we’ve enhanced the consumer experience. Since the setting of a base with the Wii Sports experience, we moved in a new direction with the Balance Board and the Wii Fit experience. The next steps were with Wii MotionPlus and the Wii Sports Resorts experience. Wii is a living platform. It’s always going further and better, to a certain extent.

What we have as a platform holder, as a key challenge on the Wii side, is that we have to surprise the consumer. I think the key point is that we have opportunities to have a lot of different kinds of entertainment. At the end of the day, this is the Nintendo philosophy. As long as you can surprise people and give them new experiences and, ultimately, fun, they will come to your platform and purchase your software.

In recent years we’ve convinced more and more people to come on board. The key drivers for that were the Wii Sports experience on one side and the Wii Fit experience on the other side, but it’s also important to bear in mind that we also had a lot of people come in through the Mario Kart experience, or last year, the big seller, New Super Mario Brox. Wii.

These are “bridge games,” which are very important. We put together the people that play a lot, for a long time, and the people that have just started to play. As long as we’re able to follow that path, we’ll still make the people that we know are looking forward to our software – the Nintendo fans, and the avid gamers – look for the new experiences we provide them.

What I think it quite interesting is that Metroid: Other M is an instance where we have a new insight on a well established franchise, and I think the challenge from the development team has been really achieved in an amazing way. On the other side, we can also follow up on the same path as we have done with Super Mario Bros. Wii. – we have Donkey Kong coming back. It’s the pure essence of the platform, and the way we handle it, from my point of view, will be able to put together all these different types of people, regardless of skill, or whether or not they’re veteran players. Everyone together, one proposal: to have fun.

Obviously, this is the “motion year” for Sony and Microsoft. Reggie was very vocal when Sony announced Move at GDC, saying Nintendo would be embarrassed to be following in this way. How do you feel about Sony and Microsoft releasing motion controllers this year?

Laurent Fischer: I think at the end of the day, we know that motion control has been an innovative proposal, and we kicked off the process in 2006. It’s an ongoing process for us. Our priority is always to say, ‘OK, we have started. We have moved it forward with new proposals such as Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus.’

And we are still doing that exercise, and we’re still moving forward and finding other ways to use the technology that we’ve developed and embedded into the console itself. For example, today’s proposal, in terms of how we can further use the motion control and the Wii MotionPlus experience, is definitely something we’re doing with the Zelda franchise. To me, from the Zelda player point of view, it’s really a dream coming true. Last year, Mr Miyamoto suggested that we were going to have a real sword and being able to use the sword in the same control process that we have on Wii Sports Resort, and now that’s been turned into reality it’s amazing how it’s changed the gameplay experience.

Again, the people that have this Zelda love will discover a new way to play, and it will be a fresh new experience. Also, I believe that people who have no clue as to what Zelda is from a franchise point of view will come to it and say, “OK, I love to fight, I love to think, I love to laugh,” and they will fully enjoy the experience. That’s the refocus we have.

Are we going to see any price-cutting from Nintendo this year? You’re probably going to be under pressure, particularly towards the end of the year, when inevitably Sony and Microsoft do push down a bit further. Are you feeling pressure to get a bit cheaper now or are you comfortable where you are?

Laurent Fischer: Actually, we now have a very good proposal for the consumer. The consumer gets the Wii hardware alongside Wii Sports Resort and the Wii MotionPlus experience embedded, so that’s a fairly strong proposal from our point of view.

As a matter of fact, it’s an ongoing trend on price activity from the very beginning from our competitors, and we have not moved so much on their moves. Again, if we’re able to provide the right experience at the right price for the consumer, the value for money that we have is the one that will convince the consumer. I think everything is a matter of being able to provide this software proposal, this fun proposal. That’s the core proposal we have to do.

As a matter of fact, whether we’re talking about the handheld side or the console side, we’ve been, from the very beginning, always trying to have the best market price. So, they had to change their price, of course, as they started at a very high point, but that’s not our case. The starting point is something that differs very much, and put us in a different situation.

When do you think we’ll see the 3DS price announced, and can you give us an indication of how much it will cost?

Laurent Fischer: It’s too early to say anything about it. The only thing we can confirm is that we plan to have the console ready to launch in this fiscal year. That’s where we are.

Game discounts Xbox 360 Elite to £149.99

Game has reduced the price of the Xbox 360 Elite to £149.99, ahead of the launch of the new 250Gb Xbox 360 model which arrives next month.

The slimmer 360, announced at E3 last week, is smaller than its predecessor, includes five USB ports, a custom Kinect port, a 250Gb hard drive and built in Wi-fi. But in my opinion unless you really need Wi-fi just buy the elite, I don’t think it is better to buy the slim, plus it doesn’t come with any cables :/

Cost of the new console is currently £199.99, the previous price of the Elite, although the new machine does not come bundled with any games or an HDMI cable.

“We need buttons to have certain kinds of experiences”, says Sony

Sony has revealed that it looked into technology such as Kinect, before finally deciding on PlayStation Move.

Speaking in an extensive interview with Digital Foundry, Sony Europe’s Richard Marks said that sometimes, buttons are just necessary.

“I’m a heavy proponent of 3D cameras. I think they’re really interesting technology”, he said.  “We had many different 3D camera prototypes and we had our game teams look into that to evaluate what they could do with it. There are some experiences that it can do that are really neat but there just weren’t enough experiences that made it make enough sense as a platform-level controller.

“Coming back is that sometimes we need buttons to have certain kinds of experiences. Other times we need more precision than we can get out of those cameras. We need to know exactly what you’re doing with your hands, especially in the more hardcore experiences.”

In response to this, Digital Foundry asked if Marks feels that technology like Kinect actually limits gamers.

“If it’s just that 3D camera, yeah I guess, he said. “That’s what we ran into with EyeToy. When you have only the camera, it’s a magical feeling but sometimes you just wish you could select something.

“I don’t want to wave to click a button.”

You can read the whole interview with Richard Marks over at Digital Foundry, it’s very interesting and definitely worth the read.

PlayStation Move is due for release starting September this year.