Sony has officially delayed the release of the "Arc" motion controller to Fall 2010. Kaz Hirai claims Sony's waiting for a time when they'll "... be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users." So basically, Sony's got no games for the damn thing other that Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, which by the way I was extremely excited for, and they're delaying the motion controller to the fall when they'll hopefully have more than one game in their motion control library. Technically, that's not a bad plan, but now instead of getting a six month head-start on Natal, they'll be going toe-to-toe with Microsoft's peripheral.

While I'm all for a little competition, the fact that Natal will reportedly come ready to use right out of the box and the "Arc" requires gamers to also purchase the PlayStation Eye, adding an extra, unneeded step, may dissuade people from going with the Sony controller. Personally, I'm pretty disappointed in Sony. Most people may have seen this coming, but I was a firm believer in the spring release. I mean, the one selling point, other than the new content, for RE5: GE was the motion controls being added. Without those, I've got no reason to pick the game up on day one. By the time the "Arc" controllers come out, I may not even want to get the game anymore.

I'm really bummed out by this, and now have even less desire to pick up either of the peripherals when they arrive later this year. Natal and "Arc" are going to need some stellar day one games for me to even consider changing my mind at this point.