While Sony's motion controller and Microsoft's Project Natal were both positively received by the gaming press, Natal perhaps had more “pop” given the device's completely hands-free nature. Still, Sony Computer Entertainment America's Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller likes his company's chances.
“I think the areas that are going to be really critical to our success will be family games, as well as shooters and sports games,” said Koller to GamePro. “Those are going to be the areas that will really define success, because they're areas that quite honestly, I think Project Natal and the Wii are going to have trouble matching, from a differentiation standpoint. We look at motion control as being that much more than what exists on the market. The Holy Grail of gaming is placing you as a consumer into the game physically. When we provide further details, people will see exactly where we're going, not only from a technological standpoint on the hardware, but also where the gameplay is transitioning. It's going to be a really exciting launch.”
The issue of backwards compatibility between the PS3 and PS2 came up as well, and Koller reiterated that it isn't a priority for Sony. “With the backwards compatibility issue, we're at a point now in the cycle of the PlayStation 3 that there's so many PS3 games available, so many strong PS3 games, that it's really become far less of an issue than I think a lot people -- particularly the media -- are asking about,” asserted Koller. “In all of our studies, we've noticed that it's fallen off the map in terms of demand. There's not many requests for it much at all anymore. There's really a high level of satisfaction on the PlayStation 3 for PS3 games themselves.“
While the first half of 2010 will be highlighted by PS3 games that are already well known (God of War III, Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo 5), Koller hinted at some surprises later in 2010. “Going into the back half of the year, we have a number of key launches. We haven't really announced all of them yet, but the titles that will be launching at the time are going to be very exciting. Some of the big franchises, as well as new IPs have new ways to game, not motion control gaming, but in other ways. It's going to be a really strong lineup,” noted Koller. “On the third-party side, the same is true. We've said this a lot, but strong sales really dictate development. Because of the strong sales we're seeing right now on the PS3, we're getting more investments and development from third-parties and first-party groups. The future is really bright for the type, quantity, and quality of games that are going to be coming to the PlayStation 3 in the next few years.”
