Playstation Move: Good Move, Bad or just Desperate?

It’s a tossup whether Sony’s latest announcement, Playstation Move, is a good move for the company to retain console gaming market share, a segment being hit by the explosion of online social gaming. While spending time with some of the senior management teams of a few of our expansion stage portfolio companies, I had the opportunity to sneak over to the Game Developer Conference and check out the fun (in addition to meeting with some interesting companies looking for venture capital financing).

Here’s the skinny:
– It feels very much like Wii, but with better graphics
– It looks a bit odd – there is a ball on top of the remote that changes colors based on gameplay
– It is very immersive – in combination with the Playstation Eye, you will find yourself engulfed in the onscreen action
– It is very accurate – the motion sensor is very accurate and in tune with the gameplay
– It is expensive – for $100 plus the cost of a PS3 (if you do not already own one), it is certainly not a cheap alternative to the Wii
– It will be arriving in time for the holidays

Given how much of a gadget guy I am, and the fact I don’t have a Wii, I will probably end up moving on a Playstation Move. Will it rival the Wii? Probably not given the price point and the first mover advantage that Nintendo has. Just like Microsoft’s announcement of Natal, it’s just a desperate move by the console industry to fight for survival as the market is shifting more and more away from them.

-KKF