House: Camera-only gaming is limited

SCEE chief Andrew House claims Microsoft will ‘hit a wall’ when creating new games for Kinect.

He says Sony learnt from the EyeToy that only a limited number of experiences can be had with cameras, adding that this isn’t a problem he has with Move.

We pioneered camera-based gaming with EyeToy,” he told MCV.

We learnt from that experience that there are limitations around a camera-only solution. It does work well and lend itself to certain genres, but you do tend to hit a bit of a wall when trying to support it with the broadest range of content available. That’s not the sort of problem we have with Move.

Consumers have understood Move is something that could impact a wide range of games. This is opposed to what I think may dog the competition to a degree, which is basing it solidly around just a family experience – and one that is harder to adapt into traditional game genres.”

House was responding to criticism over Sony’s quieter marketing push for Move compared to Microsoft’s multi-million pound campaign for Kinect. He told MCV advertising can only take a device so far, and content will result in long-term success.

I don’t think it was quieter,” he said. We know a marketing push is important around a launch window, but what will really drive adoption of new technology is going to be great content.

We’ve got a whole range of experiences that serve the broadest audience and that is a far better long-term bet. You can only sustain a certain amount of momentum just based on trying to ram product at people based on a strong marketing push. It really will be content that defines it.”

House added that consumer demand for Move is ‘in excess’ of projections.