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Sony 'Gem' Prototype Name for Motion Controller

Posted December 10, 2009 by David Radd

Sony’s motion control device has been without a formal name since it was officially unveiled at E3 2009. However, reports this morning said that Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello referred to “Natal and Gem” when speaking at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference about Microsoft and Sony’s new motion sensing platforms.

While Sony offered a “no comment” on the matter at first, the company confessed this morning to Kotaku that "Gem "was a codename early on for the controller. "We haven't announced final name at this point," said SCEA director of communications Patrick Seybold.

Considering the legions of marketers that work for Sony, it’s shocking they haven’t come up with a catchy official name yet; Microsoft has gotten a jump on them with the branding of their hands-free camera as Project Natal early on. We have to imagine at this point that Sony is waiting for a large event like GDC to unveil the Gem’s final name.  Regardless, we think both Microsoft and Sony will have difficulty competing with the Wii for the same mindspace.

David Radd has worked as a gaming journalist since 2004 at sites such as GamerFeed, Gigex and GameDaily Biz.