The Sony PS3 wand motion-sensing technology shown at E3, the world’s largest videogame industry trade show, should be out in early 2010. Microsoft’s rival “project Natal” Xbox 360 motion-sensing tech should also be out in 2010. One of the two companies has given developers at mega-publisher THQ kits to program with, one hasn’t…
In an interview with G4’s The Feed, THQ CEO Brian Farrell said the company had had Microsoft Xbox 360 Project Natal kits “for some time… four, six weeks, however long they’ve been available.”
Farrell said that THQ had only had “discussions” with Sony over its PS3 wand kits and “don’t have any of the actual, hands-on dev kits yet.”
Kotaku have quoted a Sony industry newsletter that said Sony PS3 want “hardware prototypes and support are in extremely limited supply”, therefore the company is “prioritizing allocation for those partners likely to be able to deliver a title that makes use of the distinctive features of this controller at its consumer launch.”
This means either Sony thinks THQ can’t deliver a “distinctive” PS3 wand title at launch in spring 2010. Or that Sony’s technology is further behind than Microsoft’s. That seems unlikely, given the clarity of stage presentations the two companies managed at E3 – Sony’s was live, Microsoft’s was a pre-recorded demonstration.
