Top 10 of 2009: News
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Number 5: Motion Control, Incoming
Given Nintendo's success in the mainstream market with the Wii it was only a matter of time before core incumbents Sony and Microsoft announced solutions of their own in the motion controller space.
Following a lot of speculation about which company would produce what peripheral, this year's E3 was the scene for revelations from both companies.
The first press conference to hit was Microsoft's, and it's fair to say that Project Natal was probably the biggest-impact reveal of the whole event. Nobody called the hands-free camera-based solution ahead of time - a refreshing change for the industry - with luminaries such as Steven Spielberg on hand to laud its possibilities.
By contrast, Sony's leaked 'wand' system - which does apparently have a name now, just not one that's been made public (and it's not "Gem", I'm told) - wasn't able to match the hype of its rival's system, and while a handful of developers have talked (mostly off the record) about its potential, that's currently outweighed by a range of Natal industry fanboys.
Pricing for both systems has yet to be revealed officially, although insiders believe that Microsoft is planning to be very aggressive with hardware price points in a bid to get as many units of Natal into homes as possible.
What's certain is that while both Sony and Microsoft have said very little since those initial unveilings, they'll both be pinning high hopes on boosting their audiences next year.
But it is a little strange to be giving motion control a top ten placing in a 2009 list, since Nintendo's solutions have now been in the market for several years, and the Xbox and PlayStation solutions won't hit until next year.
Regardless, it's been the subject of much chatter and conjecture, and there's no doubt that the 2010 list will see it feature further up.