Sony denies copying Nintendo

Following reports that Sony only decided to implement motion-sensing technology into its PS3 controller after Nintendo unveiled the Wii remote, Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison has declared that the company first began discussing the idea more than a decade ago.

In an exclusive interview with our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz, Harrison said Sony had been thinking about a developing motion sensitive controller "since 1994," adding: "But in reality you can't make some of the ideas that we have because the technology is not available in sufficient quantity or at a low enough price, and you kind of have to wait for certain things to converge."

"The controller is obviously a surprise to the industry," Harrison continued.

"We've been thinking about it for a while, but it's a relatively recent addition to the format. We didn't show it last year, because we weren't ready to."

When asked if Sony had been influenced by the positive response Nintendo received after unveiling the Wii remote, Harrison replied: "I think that some of the research that we've done, clearly other companies have been doing as well - so there's nothing completely surprising about that.

"But I know that the strategy was to take what was already a winning formula - to have a controller as well regarded as it, and kind of the de facto industry standard that this PlayStation shape controller has become. We kind of took an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' strategy."

However, Harrison went on to concede, "We didn't start the wave, but we've kind of jumped onto that wave.

"I'm quite happy to admit that, but that will be one of the defining characteristics of next-generation gaming, the complexity and sophistication of input that you can get from a very simple device."

To find out why the boomerang prototype never made it, what Harrison thinks of the PS3 software line-up and why he's not bothered if you didn't think much of Sony's E3 press conference, read the full interview.