Iwata happy to welcome rivals to "motion-control world"

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said that he is happy to see Sony and Microsoft join the motion control arms race, but that their technology revelations at E3 this year were "later than expected".

In an interview with The Times, he stated that he was happy to see competition in that section of the games business, and he hopes that the overall population of people that play games will therefore increase.

"To tell the truth, I expected them to come up with stuff like this last year," he said. "So in my mind they're later than expected. I'd like to say to them, 'Welcome to the motion-control world!'

"We are happy that it is now becoming an industry standard. However, we still have no idea about when their products will be available, or how much they will cost, or what sort of software they will be used with.

"So, I am not in a position to judge whether they are a threat or not. And they should bear in mind that over the next year Nintendo will not be standing still. We're always at work on something new. I am actually looking forward to engaging in that sort of competition, because it gives our whole industry the chance to expand the gaming population."

The main announcements from E3 can be read in the GamesIndustry.biz Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft press conference features.