Nintendo unconcerned by rivals' motion technology

Nintendo UK general manager David Yarnton has told GamesIndustry.biz that he's not concerned with the announcements at E3 this year by Sony and Microsoft of new motion-based controller technology.

Speaking yesterday, after all of the platform press conferences had concluded, he wouldn't speak directly about either Microsoft's Project Natal, or Sony's PlayStation Eye-based systems, but was confident that Nintendo would remain ahead of both rivals.

"We can't really make a comment because we've not actually seen anything running here and now," he said. "We've got our product out there and we've had that out for a while. We haven't seen anything current from those guys to comment on it.

"We're looking at innovation all the time, as you saw with the Vitality Sensor that was shown briefly today. There are always things coming through that enable us to keep two steps ahead. On top of that we've got one or two other areas to compete with in other forms of entertainment.

"One of the reasons why we have a lot of different products and offerings for different people is because we're competing for free time and entertainment time. Not just with videogames but movies and other entertainment. That's more what we're concerned with.

"We've got lots of exclusive content and obviously we have our own franchises and IP - you're not going to see Mario on any other console. Even on third party there's a lot of exclusive content so we're not worried about that."

He also indicated that the company was hoping that all Wii owners would be moved to purchase a new Motion Plus controller when it launches later this month - and maybe more than just one.

"To some extent if you look at the installed base - I wouldn't say that every owner has four remotes - but potentially everyone who has a Wii should have a Wii Motion Plus, and potentially more than one," he said. "But we're not looking at it like that so much.

"When we work with an accessory like that we're not looking at the product itself so much as enabling the player to have a much better enhanced gaming experience. And that opens up more doors for developers to make the products so much better. We expect really good sales on it, but it's not the Wii Motion Plus that's the driving force, it's the software that goes with it."

The full interview with David Yarnton is available now.