Move: Sony not expecting huge day one
Word of mouth will do the trick instead.
Sony expects motion controller PlayStation Move will succeed through strong word of mouth over time rather than huge sales at launch.
The PS3 manufacturer reckons friend to friend recommendations will help sell Move controllers in the same way it did the EyeToy add-on.
"Move is a natural extension in the same way as we brought EyeToy to PS2," Sony Computer Entertainment senior vice president Ray Maguire told Eurogamer at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival yesterday.
"Exactly as with EyeToy in the PS2 days, it's a product that needs to be sampled. You need to get your hands on it. You need to understand it. You need to try it.
"Am I expecting a massive day one? Not particularly. We didn't with EyeToy, either. It went on to be massively successful.
"As people saw the value when they tried it they told their friends. Their friends bought it. They told their friends. Word of mouth grew the marketplace. That's what I expect from Move as well."
PlayStation Move will be released in the UK on 15th September. The Move controller on its own costs £35, the Navigation Controller £25, and the Starter Pack, which includes the PlayStation Eye camera, £50.
Sony will also release two PS3 Move bundles. £285 will get you a 320GB PS3 with the Move Starter Pack, and £250 will get you the 160GB bundle.
Maguire said content and word of mouth will convince gamers to pick PlayStation ahead of Microsoft and its rival motion add-on Kinect, which launches on 10th November, this Christmas.
"As always they'll look at the facts, consult with their friends, and make a decision based on both those elements," Maguire said.
"When we see people sampling it the outcome is everyone's delighted by the experience. That's the most important thing. The creativity in terms of the games being created for it already show a marked difference from the genres we had in the EyeToy space.
"It's not only about the keepy-uppy and the wishy-washy. We're starting to think about Move and how you use that in games like LBP or Killzone, some major games. With that attitude it starts becoming less of a novelty and more of just another way of enjoying the games we all know and love."
At E3 2010 in June and gamescom last week Sony went big on Move, which it hopes will increase the 38.1 million global sales of the PS3.
20 games that either use or support Move are expected to launch by the end of March next year, including racer Gran Turismo 5 and science fiction first-person shooter Killzone 3.