EA Steals the Wind from Sony’s Sails

EA Spokesperson John Riccitiello has officially crapped on Sony’s salad. While speaking at a recent press conference in NYC, the CEO may have in “inadvertently” given the media the name of Sony’s top secret motion control project. Here’s the quote:

 

“In the coming year, both Sony and Microsoft have announced new controllers,” said Riccitiello at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference. “Motion sensor controls, Natal and Gem, these are likely to bring new consumers into the marketplace.”

 

Oh boy. The interwebz be a buzzin’. EA quickly responded by saying Gem wasn’t… “necessarily” the name of Sony’s new device. Nice cover. Very smooth. Sony Entertainment of America then followed up by stating that Gem was just a name they were using during the very early stages of the project and it wasn’t a big deal and blah blah blah.

 

If it’s not a big deal, why wasn’t the name Gem, which is clearly being provided to developers like EA, why wasn’t it mentioned during the E3 press release? The buzz regarding the device was fueled partially by the secrecy around the project’s final design and name. Either this is a scheme to get the name out before the Christmas (little late for that) or EA really screwed Sony.

 

For those who don’t know what the hell Project Natal and “Gem” are, here’s a quick sum-up.

 

Since this years E3 expos, the battle for Motion Control supremacy has really heated up. Both Microsoft and Sony are attempting to ride on Nintendo’s coat tails by showing off their own vision of “The Future of Interactive Gaming”. Both had prototypes and both were clearly geared for grabbing a piece of the blotted Wii Marketing demographic but they were not equals. Although Microsoft clearly had a much more polished presentation with it’s Project Natal, Sony’s unnamed project was the one to turn heads. Even though Microsoft had a refined product, interface, and a number of working titles to share while Sony only had tech demos, Sony’s unnamed project had TRUE 1:1 motion control, absolutely no delay, and a level of accuracy that allowed the user to “write” his name in the sky and have it display legibly on the screen. Very very cool stuff.

 

So, now, fast forward. EA slipped and used the name “Gem”. Its time for some facts.

 

   <— Click to start getting pumped

 

FACT: Sony did NOT intend to have this leaked. This may seem like it was a press circus just to get buzz but a staged leak would have only made sense BEFORE black friday.

 

FACT: Creamy peanut butter is far superior to chunky.

 

FACT: With Activision the center of attention with Modern Warfare 2, EA needs to get their company in the public eye. Theres no such thing as bad publicity.

 

FACT: Darkwing Duck could kick Inspector Gadget’s ass.

 

FACT: The name “Gem” is significant otherwise it would have been mentioned before this point.

 

FACT: You can’t fit two dogs in a bath tub unless they’re dead.

 

FACT: Somebodies getting sued or kicked in the nuts for this leak.

 

FACT: Both Sony and Microsoft’s name choices, Project Natal and Gem, are really really hella lame. I mean, come on.

Definitions:

                       Na-tal: Of, relating to, or accompanying birth.

                       Gem: A cartoon from the 80′s that was remade in 2006 with the

                         new name “Hana Montana”. Wait, that’s “Jem”…

 

All of these facts suggest that maybe EA did this on purpose. Perhaps they weighed the pros and cons and decided this is just what they needed to get everyone’s attention again. I’m not saying that is what happened. I’m just saying that, if they did, it may have been a smart move.

 

* “Getting Pumped” music “Smack my Bitch Up” by Prodigy provided via Youtube.com