Harrison defends PS3 controller from "copying" claims

Sony is not bothered about people claiming PS3 copied Wii with its motion sensing controller, according to the firm's worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison, nor is it worried about Microsoft's convergent PC and Xbox 360 strategy.

Speaking to German newspaper Der Spiegel, Phil Harrison reacted to the widespread cynicism directed at Sony's motion sensing controller by saying "In a certain way, I understand why people would say [that], but it's stupid, if you'll forgive me saying so." (Obviously that's gone through the translation filter, so take the wording with a pinch of salt.)

Harrison maintains that the controller was not a last minute idea. "We have already worked on it a long time, and Nintendo almost certainly has done likewise with something similar," he said. "It is perfectly naturally for two companies to work on [nearly] identical devices. It's like that with technology."

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata seems to agree, having told GameDaily recently, "We were anticipating that Sony would make that kind of announcement, so I had to make a kind of wry smile at the time," although he disputed claims that it put PS3 in direct competition with Wii.

Harrison also stressed, in Der Spiegel's interview, the company line that PS3 is much more than a games console. "We believe that the PS3 will be the place where our users play games, watch films, browse the Web, and use other [home] computer functions. The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC," he said when asked Microsoft's Live Anywhere system, which effectively defines the PC and Xbox 360 as a shared platform in many ways.