Microsoft and Sony are both expecting – and probably holding thumbs, hoping – that their soon to be released motion-sensing peripherals will increase the longevity of their consoles, which when compared to the graphical fidelity of high-end PC’s – are beginning to show their age.

Ubisoft’s Alain Corre doesn’t think so, saying he expects them to bring only a short-term boost to the market.

“Yes, it’s a good extension of the lifecycle for a certain length of time and it’s also a good way to capture some consumers they didn’t have on the casual side, because Microsoft’s 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 do not have the casual customers. So it will bring in a new category of customer for them.”

This is a stark contrast of opinion to Xbox Europe VP, Chris Lewis who said “Kinect really gives us, I think, a very genuine additional five years.”

"Now, will it prevent them from releasing brand new technology in the next five years? I don’t think so," he added; showing his belief, more than likely correctly, that both companies are hard at work designing their respective console’s successors.

He does, howevere, believe that Nintendo are on to a good thing with the 3DS.

"We’re very confident that the machine will lift the handheld market, which is what we need," said Corre, predicting it would be a “monster success”

Even though the French developer is already making games for Nintendo’s new handheld, they’re still surprised by Nintendo’s ingenuity.

"They surprised us even in the end, even though we had a lot of information and were able to get ahead in the development of our games, they still surprised us each time they bring a new feature that we didn’t know about."

Source : Gi.biz