Tretton questions Natal approach

When Natal arrives later this year it will have a key USP over rivals Wii and Sony’s motion device – a truly controller-less interface. But SCEA boss Jack Tretton has stated that his company’s experience with the EyeToy has taught it that the approach brings with it its own disadvantages.

We introduced motion gaming with the EyeToy for PS2 – it was an incredible experience to be able to stand in front of the TV with nothing in your hands, and see yourself on the TV and interact with the objects there,” the exec told Fast Company.

But it was somewhat limited in terms of the type of gaming experiences. I think freeing yourself from a controller has advantages, but it also has key disadvantages. And we feel all that experience and all that learning, has put us in the perfect position.

We’re able to take advantage of the camera, take advantage of the ability to identity yourself in 3D space, but then have controls in hand to do things like shooting and swinging an object, and much more accurately than ever done before. You can have it as an element of a game, you can do it as a dedicated game, you can do it in a social gaming atmosphere.

None of our franchises are going to be out of the realm of possibility for motion gaming: it’s going to do wonders for MLB, for SOCOM, for Little Big Planet, and it will create franchises that nobody has ever heard of or envisioned.”