What Japan Thinks About Kinect vs. Move

If you think the rhetoric between Microsoft and Sony regarding their new console controllers was a bit heated during E3, you'll be amused to know that it's pretty much the same deal over in Japan.

In fact, the way Xbox Japan general manager Takashi Sensui sees it, his company's Kinect device is nothing short of the platform's future. "The Kinect can truly be called a relaunch for the Xbox 360," he told Famitsu magazine in an interview published this week, "and we have high expectations for it in the Japan market as well. We see Kinect as a device that'll herald a new era in the world of interactive entertainment -- not just in games, but in other areas going into the future. The technology will fundamentally change the user interface between man and machine."

This despite the fact that Microsoft was criticized by 1UP and the rest of the media for a lack of non-casual games at the E3 show. "We are trying to appeal to the casual audience at first, certainly," Sensui admitted. "There are 40 million Xbox 360s sold worldwide, and if we want to attract an even broader audience, we need to gear ourselves toward people who haven't played games before. Still, I think the Kinect will give more passionate game fans new experiences to enjoy very soon as well, and I'm sure creators worldwide are thinking about that."

For his part, Yasuhide Kobayashi, senior VP of Sony's Japan Studio, took a more humble approach in his own Famitsu interview. In fact, he practically apologized for not showing much at E3 that combined the PlayStation Move with the 3D gaming tech Sony devoted much of E3 to push. "I do worry that the people who came to the event were expecting something else, that the fact we didn't show anything concrete on that is a negative point," he said. "I do think, though, that we laid out the core appeal of the PS Move pretty well."

Unlike Sensui, though, Kobayashi is taking a much more aggressive approach toward targeting hardcore gamers from the get-go. "I've always stated that whether or not the PS Move succeeds depends on how willing core gamers are to accept it," he said. "Playing SOCOM 4 gave me the confidence that it's doable. It's extremely accurate, and it takes what other products can't do at all and makes it so simple. Ever since then, SCE's Japan studio has been doing R&D work into PS Move content that'll appeal to core gamers."

Kobayashi's stated goal: To make motion-based gaming something that core users won't be embarrassed about, considering how casual-oriented the Wii marketplace has proven to be. "With less accurate controls, you see a tendency for the games that result to take the casual track," he said. "I think, however, that the PS Move will let developers from all regions pursue whatever they're best at. Every region has its game genres it's particularly good at developing -- I think every country is thinking about how those genres would play out on the Move. I want to make games that current PS3 users will easily get into, but also have the potential to appeal to a broader range of gamers."

Originally published on 1UP.com