Sony to bring PS Move functionality to PCs?

Sony may soon unveil plans to bring its PlayStation Move motion-gaming accessory to PCs.

John McCutchan, who heads the game systems team in developer support at Sony Computer Entertainment America, is scheduled to discuss PlayStation Move development at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in early March. According to an online description of his talk, he will focus in part on a new Move Server project at Sony.

"We will discuss the new Move Server project that will make it possible for academics and hobbyists to develop software using the PlayStation Move controller on their own PCs," the description reads.

Exactly what that might mean for gamers is unknown. So far, Sony hasn't confirmed that the Move Server project even exists. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If Sony does indeed offer Move functionality on the PC, it won't be first to the game.

After Microsoft's Kinect platform launched in November, several people took to the Web showing off how they hacked the device to work with their PCs. It was a move that Microsoft initially frowned on, telling CNET at the time that it would "continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

But then Microsoft changed course. The company said less than two weeks later that Kinect was left open by "design" and that Microsoft would not attempt to target hackers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer followed up with an interview last month with the BBC, saying that PC support for the Kinect would be coming in due time.

"We'll support that in a formal way, in the right time," Ballmer told the BBC. "And when we've got an announcement to make, we'll make it."

Microsoft has yet to make that announcement. And it looks like Sony might beat the software giant to the punch.

(Via Engadget)