Microsoft and Sony get into the move

The battle for control of our bodies is hotting up. Motion-sensitive games, pioneered by PlayStation with its EyeToy, were brought to the grateful masses by the all-conquering Wii. But Sony is heading back into the fray with its forthcoming PlayStation Move controller, while Microsoft is hoping that its innovative motion-sensitive technology, Project Natal, will wow gamers when it is launched this Christmas.

So far, Natal looks likely to be the bigger game changer – with no traditional controller, players simply use their bodies to make things happen on screen. And like the Wii before it, Natal is designed to get gamers fit, rather than fat, with titles like the newly revealed ‘River Rush’, which sees players jumping from raft to raft in real time, and ‘Ricochet’, a dodgeball inspired game. The Hollywood screenwriter James Gunn,who’s had a sneak preview of ‘Ricochet’, said this week that he was “really struck by the amount of physical exertion it took. It’s amazing exercise.” Phew. Sounds like hard work to me.