EA unveiling Natal, PS3 motion-controller games in Q1-Q2 2010

One of the first third-party games to be shown using Microsoft's new camera-based motion-sensing peripheral was Electronic Arts and Criterion's Burnout Paradise. Shortly after Project Natal debuted at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, project lead Kudo Tsunoda demoed the device on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, showing how cars in Burnout could be controlled by mimicking the motions of a steering wheel.

So, it should come as no surprise that EA plans to fully back Project Natal, as well as its Sony EyeToy equivalent. As part of EA's post-earnings conference call yesterday, CEO John Riccitiello expressed optimism over both Sony and Microsoft's new hardware, noting that his company should have some kind of support to announce by next year.

"On Natal, I think at this point in time, I would rather lump that up with what is going on with Sony with their new motion-based controller, and the answer is we're really positive on both," Riccitiello stated. "Our view is that motion-based gaming is something that is both going to drive install base, drive interest, and drive growth, so we're positive overall."

"And yes, we're planning to support both," he continued. "We haven't yet announced our plans to do so, but we shall do so at the right time frame for that, which is likely to be early to mid-2010."

A number of third-party publishers have already expressed interest in using Microsoft's and Sony's new motion-sensing peripherals. Just after Natal's announcement, Microsoft said that two of the Xbox 360's top developers--Bungie and Epic Games--were already looking at the device, though the latter has expressed skepticism over using the technology for shooters. Likewise, Sony stated at E3 that dev kits are already available to third-party studios to create motion-sensing PS3 games.