Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s planned motion control technology won’t be enough to break the Wii’s market dominance.
“This year’s E3 again focused on software, with motion control a popular theme (meant to capitalise on the success of the motion control Wii), and all console manufacturers focused on broadening the appeal of their respective consoles,” said Pachter.
“Sony and Microsoft each fired cannon shots across Nintendo’s bow, with Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s Motion Controller (based on the Eye Toy). We view Microsoft’s proposed offering as intended to provide a user-friendly interface for Xbox Live dashboard access, and view Sony’s offering as Wii-nis envy. We do not expect either to displace Nintendo’s Wii from its leadership position,” he said.
Last week Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto claimed that the company is "not worried at all" by its rivals’ technology. "The fact that both of those companies are looking at getting the gamer off the couch, taking advantage of motion control, and getting them to control the game by moving their body shows that they have looked at what we have done with Wii. And now they are moving in the same direction. To that end we are very flattered," he said.