We’ve seen the Xbox Natal system use a camera and general hand gestures and set a vague date of “Holiday 2010″ – and now Sony is not going to stand by and let Microsoft be the only competitor trying to get to the top of the heap in gesture-based gaming.  The Sony Playstation Move seems to be a direct copy of the Wii’s control system but has an slightly tighter date of “Fall 2010.” The controller also looks, uhh, interesting.

At this point, isn’t it safe to say this a lack of innovation on the part Sony and Xbox? Or is this acceptance by the bean counters that Nintendo was on to something?

On a side note, remember when the Nintendo Wii was first announced, and it was ridiculed for its “dumb” gesture-based controlling AND not having super powerful HD graphics AND its lesser memory? Then remember when it sold like hotcakes and took everyone by surprise*? Last month, the Xbox finally beat the Wii’s monthly sales for the first time in the US, and it was only because Nintendo had a hardware shortage.

*Sales figures via Wikipedia as of Dec 2009.

Worldwide sales figures

1. Wii – 67.45 million, as of 31 December 2009^[8]
2. Xbox 360 – 39 million,as of 1 January 2010^[30]
3. PlayStation 3 – 33.5 million, as of 31 December 2009^[31]

Japan sales figures

Based on figures from Famitsu/Enterbrain, as of 17 December 2009:^[32]

1. Wii – 9,048,012
2. PlayStation 3 – 4,020,563
3. Xbox 360 – 900,000 (as of 2/20/2009) ^[33]

United Kingdom sales figures

Based on figures from GfK Chart-Track, as of 3 January 2009:^[34]

1. Wii – 4.9 million
2. Xbox 360 – 3.2 million
3. PlayStation 3 – 3.3 million

United States sales figures

Based on figures from the NPD Group, as of 1 November 2008:^[35]

1. Wii – 13.4 million
2. Xbox 360 – 11.6 million
3. PlayStation – 5.7 million