Sony’s Move: who is it actually for?

In a move which surprised absolutely no-one, Sony kicked off GDC yesterday by officially revealing their brand new controller. It's called the Move, and it's also strikingly (suspiciously) similar to the Wii remote. So much so that it's not exactly clear who or what Sony's target market actually is.

Since the Wii is only ever regarded as a success - commercially at least - amongst more casual gamers (case in point: Dead Space Exraction), it's a strange move by Sony to release what's essentially a copy – only with better looks and more precision. One of the main attractions of the Wii is the affordable price point, and with Sony reporting that the Move is going to launch at 'under $100' (read: $99) as a mere add-on for the existing Playstation 3, it seems a lot to ask for a little extra sparkle in comparison to its competitor.

It's simply not reasonable to expect that casual gamers will choose to pay the premium price, even less acknowledge the difference between the two. And this is where Sony needs to tread especially carefully: Move needs to do what the Wii didn't - appeal to hardcore gamers without being a gimmick or a hindrance.

Sony has already demonstrated Move in action with SOCOM 4. It was particularly unimpressive; especially considering the guy playing was just sitting in a chair as you would with a controller. It would seem pretty unrealistic to assume that anyone would choose to point a controller at the screen rather than enjoy the accuracy of the thumbsticks, especially in the competitive environment that is the online shooter.

Ultimately, Move is going to need a lot of thought, but it also needs to tell core gamers exactly why it is worthy of their notes. Otherwise, it simply won't compete. We're waiting, Sony.