Bodies In Motion

In other words, the PS3 Motion Controller looks, for all the world, like a disruptive product - in this instance, applying old, robust and crucially, cheap technology to create a new user experience. What's most intriguing is that philosophically, this is brand new ground for PlayStation. With Ken Kutaragi at the helm, PlayStation has always been a technology-led brand - culminating, one could argue, in the over-expensive and over-engineered PS3, whose technology-led approach lumbered the firm with spiralling costs and sealed Kutaragi's own exit.

By comparison, PS3 Motion Controller is a distinctly un-Sony piece of kit. Having watched the market it utterly dominated for a decade being usurped by Nintendo's disruptive Wii - not to mention seeing the technologically superior PSP being outsold by the DS - Sony would appear to have performed a timely volte-face, taking an approach to motion control which keeps both costs and timescales well under control.

As a result, today Sony can talk about launch games for a system which will be available early next year - and even about patching motion control support into existing titles such as Flower and, interestingly, Resident Evil 5. The integration with Resident Evil will be watched especially closely to evaluate the potential of the system for core games, of course - but the simple fact of being able to name so many products in development, even if some of them are mere patches for existing games, is reassuring for consumers and industry alike.

Microsoft's counter-argument, voiced loudly and clearly in its developer session at TGS, is that Natal is a step ahead of anything either Sony or Nintendo is doing in this space. Technologically, the idea of modelling the 3D space and tracking the motion of multiple people through the space is, indeed, a generational leap over what either the Wii or the PS3 is attempting. The potential it opens up for videogames is, in theory, entirely different to that of the Wii and PS3 controllers - but with that comes more technological complexity, with the baggage of higher costs and tougher development timescales.

This is shaping up, in other words, to be yet another face-off between disruptive technology and cutting edge technology. This time, Sony has switched sides - its solution is cheap, disruptive and will be on the market quickly - but there's no guarantee that the disruptive tech will win over consumers.

Microsoft's challenge may be a tough one - it will be the last company to market with motion controls, and its solution may well be more expensive - but if the latter half of this console battle is to be a battle of the motion controllers, then Natal's high tech may yet set it apart and wow consumers in a way which Sony's solution cannot. Before we can judge that, however, Microsoft will have to move from gathering rooms full of top developers to sing the system's praises, and instead start gathering rooms full of top developers to show off some games.