New Motion-Control Gadgets Give Game Industry Hope

by Doug Desjardins

Once thought to be recession-proof, the video game industry has been mired in a prolonged slump, but the arrival of two new game console add-ons is giving retailers hopes for a long-awaited rebound.

The September release of Sony Move and November release of Microsoft Kinect gave the industry some much-needed new products in time for the holiday shopping season. But it’s no sure thing that the motion-control game console accessories – basically new takes on the wildly popular Nintendo Wii - will be enough to kick start an industry that may have already peaked.

Despite improvements, updates and price cuts on established video-game consoles like the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, hardware sales have been slumping. According to the NPD Group, console sales tumbled 19 percent in September and were down more than 13 percent for the first nine months of the year to $3.1 billion, compared to $3.56 billion in 2009.

As of Oct. 1, total industry sales were down 8.5 percent and headed for a second straight year of declining revenues after peaking at $22 billion in 2008. So the arrival of Move and Kinect, which are expected to take video-capture technology to the next level, comes at a critical time.

While the Nintendo Wii has focused on family-friendly games based on dancing and leisure sports, Sony Movie is going after the hardcore gamers who made its PS3 such a success. Sony has even built a gun attachment into the Move motion controller to make its popular war- and gangster-themed shooting games even more interactive for hardcore gamers.

“I think it’s just a broader range of experiences that we have,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America. “And that’s why we went down this path (with Move).”

Microsoft is taking a different approach and going after more casual gamers, the same audience that made the Wii such a huge success. And it’s also using a different technology. Unlike the Wii and Move, Kinect is a hands-free device that uses a camera and motion-capture sensor to project the movements of a player onto the screen.

“We’ve got a marketing photo where we show the Nintendo Wii wand, the PlayStation Move and then some empty hands,” said Microsoft’s general manager of Interactive Entertainment Matt Barlow. “I think that’s the biggest differentiator.”

Both of the add-ons are relatively inexpensive, with Move retailing for $50 and Kinect for $150. But, at least according to one research firm, Kinect will win the battle for holiday sales.

A report from market researcher IDC predicts Kinect will easily outsell Move during the holidays, with projected sales of 2.5 million to 3 million units for Kinect compared to 2 million to 2.25 million units for Move.