Ben-DutkaI think by now people are aware of my stance on the Wii, which I consider to be more of a gadget than a video game console. But I certainly understand that it has proven to be insanely popular – despite a major falling off in the past year or so – and it's all due to that motion sensing feature.
And of course, both Sony and Microsoft want to grab a piece of that gigantic pie for themselves, which is only natural. And while I'll be interested to give the PlayStation Move a try, I find I'm mostly lukewarm on the whole idea…and I doubt I'm the only PS3 owner who feels this way. Look, I'm aware they're trying to cater to a younger demographic and come across as more family-friendly. There will be slightly more mature games designed for Move, but for the most part, I doubt they'll be offending anyone (at least, not at first). The EyePet is all sorts of cute and it's a great idea but I'm just wondering if this will appeal to the majority of the PS3 crowd. I mean, I'm no business executive but if I'm sitting there going, "this turned out to be a smash hit; we need to do it, too," I'm asking myself the follow-up question:
"Do we have the type of audience that would respond favorably to the concept?"
And this, I'm not 100% on. Right now, the PS3 is about cutting-edge video game productions and it typically appeals to the 18-35 age group, I believe. There are also a lot of long-time gamers who have been on board since the original PlayStation, and in my experience, the older they are, the less interested they are in Move. I'm not proposing that Move will fail; the technology is intriguing and I'm sure there are some current Wii owners going, "hmm, maybe I should upgrade," but I'm wondering what kind of investment this is for Sony. Did they really pump a ton of money and resources into this? Or is it not costing them as much as we think? It's all about returns on investments in business and I suppose I'm just questioning the size of that return for the Move. Am I off base or are they…?
I have my reservations about 3D, too, but for different reasons. I guess it's just very anti-progress of me to say I'm happy with the way things are, that I'm just now getting used to high-definition, online-everything and entirely new experiences like Heavy Rain . I'm perfectly satisfied with the ultra-polished, ceaselessly entertaining products like Uncharted 2 and to me, they just got here. Maybe it's just age, I dunno. But when I look at Move and then look at your standard, run-of-the-mill PS3 owner, I have to wonder if one is hot for the other. That's all.
