Sales of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation Move motion-sensing controllers are rather far behind those of Microsoft Corp.'s ultra popular Kinect, according to figures released by the company on Thursday. Nonetheless, the firm does not lose hope to popularize it thanks to new Move-enabled video games.

Sony has so far shipped [to retailers] 10.5 million of PlayStation Move and Navigation Controller devices combined, according to Gabe Ahn, field developer support engineer at Sony Computer Entertainment America, reports IGN web-site. Sony believes that the attach rate of Move devices is about one for every six PlayStation 3 consoles. By contrast, Microsoft has managed to sell ten million Kinect motion sensors by March, 2011. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not released official sales numbers since then.

Sony hopes that going forward sales of PlayStation Move will get higher as more game developers adopt it for their incoming titles. While it is hard to expect the majority of titles to utilize Move given the current low attach rate of the controller, it is clear that eventually the device will become more popular due to many reasons. At present, there are 85 games to support PlayStation Move.

The PlayStation Move platform includes the motion controller with a special light bulb, navigation controller, and PlayStation Eye camera. The combination of the PS3 system and PlayStation Eye camera detects the precise movement, angle, and absolute position in 3D space of PlayStation Move motion controller, allowing users to intuitively play the game as if they themselves are within the game. PlayStation Move motion controller sports three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, a terrestrial magnetic field sensor as well as a color-changing sphere that is tracked by PlayStation Eye camera to deliver very precise accuracy. The lighting sphere, however, requires the player to stand beside the PS Eye camera.

PlayStation Move motion controller costs $49.99/€39.99, PlayStation Move navigation controller is priced at $29.99/€29.99, PlayStation Eye carries $39.99/€29.99 price-tag, whereas optional charging station and shooting attachment cost $29.99/€29.99 and $19.99/€14.99, respectively. Sony also sells PlayStation Move Bundle – which includes one PlayStation Move motion controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, Sports Champions Blu-ray game and PlayStation Move game demo disc – for $99.99.

Tags: Sony, Playstation, Move