Doubtless timed to show up Microsoft’s announcement of 2.5 million Kinect units sold, Sony says its PlayStation Move can now lay claim to 4.1 million units sold worldwide during its initial two months on sale.
Like Microsoft, Sony stresses the numbers are for units sold worldwide (as opposed to shipped) since Move launched in mid-September. The 4.1 million figure accounts for sales in European territories, Asian countries, North America, and Japan. Sony say the number doesn’t include standalone sales of its PlayStation Eye controller (necessary to read the Move wands) or the optional PlayStation Move navigation controller.
Calling it a “milestone,” Sony said in a press statement that “the number not only shows clear success of the launch of the new motion sensing controller but also indicates positive momentum going in to the holiday season and to the year 2011.”
The press release is intriguing for other reasons. Its language emphasizes the Move’s accuracy angle, using terms like “precise movement” and “absolute position in 3D space” to describe how the camera interacts with users holding the motion control wands.
There’s also a subtle swipe at Kinect. Sony says the Move “not only captures the user’s motion but also the player’s image itself to offer new augmented reality experiences in select games.” Kinect technically has the edge over Move with its dual-camera 3D capability. Nevertheless, Sony wants potential buyers to view Move as something like “Kinect-plus,” capable of comparable (if not analogous) body-augmentation experiences with more precise motion-tracking.
Who wins December? Sony only has to clear a million more to hit Microsoft’s end-of-year Kinect target of 5 million. If both companies maintain current sales, Microsoft stands to finish with around 5 million Kinect units sold, while Sony could clear upwards of 6 million Move units.
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