A leading games industry analyst has claimed that Xbox 360's forthcoming Project Natal motion control system will outsell Sony's competing PlayStation Arc system by 5 to 1.
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter makes the bold prediction that Xbox 360's Natal add-on will considerably outsell the PS3's "Arc" motion control camera.
"I think that the Sony motion controller will have some problems gaining traction, since it is not an "in the box" solution," said Pachter.
"That will probably limit adoption to one or two million at the outset. Natal is different... It's only one piece (the camera), is likely to be cheaper, and I think it will come in the Xbox 360 package with new consoles once launched, meaning far deeper penetration."
Games games games
The real decider will be the quality of the games that Sony and Microsoft and their respective third party publishing partners can create for the two different motion control gaming systems.
"Sony's internal development is top notch," concedes Pachter, "so I expect the launch titles to be fun, and likely on par with Wii Sports for quality, but ultimately, I think that the motion controller will only sell to 20% or less of the PS3 audience, limiting it's appeal to third party publishers.
"A year or so after launch, there will be 10 million [Project Natal units] out there, which will probably attract more third party support. Also, I think Microsoft will subsidize third party development to make it a success.
Via The Guardian
