Microsoft, Sony, and the Nintendo Wii

This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo has been quite the moving experience.

During presentations at the video game industry trade show, both Microsoft and Sony debuted prototype motion-control devices for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that could rival Nintendo's popular Wii, the first console to employ a motion-detecting controller when it debuted in 2006.

Nintendo said Wednesday they are flattered by the imitations.

"It's certainly nice for us to see other companies adopting the philosophy that Nintendo communicated back a few years ago," said Cammie Dunaway, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America. "For us, we're really pleased and excited to bring consumers the next advancement now with Wii MotionPlus."

Nintendo mostly used the show as an opportunity to showcase Wii MotionPlus, an attachment announced at last year's E3 that uses sensors to more precisely mimic gamers' hand movements on screen. The only new apparatus Nintendo debuted this year was the Wii Vitality Sensor, which can check a player's pulse. The doodad prompted some to wonder if Nintendo had run out of ideas.

"That sensor was slightly bizarre," said Paul Jackson, an analyst at Forrester. "But it plays into the success that Nintendo has had with 'Wii Fit' on the health and lifestyle front. I imagine that one does get a bit weary of new things that you can plug into your Wii. I just can't see the Wii Vitality Sensor having more than two or three applications."

Meanwhile, Microsoft unveiled a motion control device, codenamed "Project Natal," that combines a...

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