JAPANESE ELECTRONICS AND MEDIA GIANT Sony's release of details about its motion controller suggests that it is committed to extracting as much cash as it can from its gaming customers.

The annoucement, probably meant to act as a spoiler for Microsoft's Kinect release, shows that while it is moving in the motion controller direction, Sony is going to charge big time for it.

Sony says that it will release the Playstation Move motion controller for the Playstation3 on September 15 in Europe. It will hit the shops for €39.99. It will also become available in North America on September 19 at an MSRP of $49.99 and in Japan on October 21 at 3,980 yen.

That all seems fair enough, but the problem is that for the Playstation Move motion controller to actually work you also need to have the Playstation Eye camera, which is priced at $30.

There also appear to be shedloads of Sony motion controller peripherals, including a "Playstation Move charging station" and "PlayStation Move shooting attachment" and a "My Barbie Move action figure set with My Little Pony add ons". Well, we made that last one up.

The "charging station" will allow you to charge up to two Playstation Move controllers at once without having to connect them to the PS3 system. That will set you back €29.99 or $29.99.

The "shooting attachment", designed to place the Playstation Move motion controller horizontally, will allow players to hold the motion controller as if they are holding a gun and to easily aim at an in-game target. The trigger on the attachment is interlocked with the motion controller T button. The "shooting attachment" will become available starting this fall in each region at a price of €14.99 or US$19.99.

Add those all up and you could buy a Wii for all that.

In Japan the outfit will release a "Playstation Move starter pack" comprising a motion controller, Playstation Eye camera and Playstation Move software title called Sing and Draw. There's no word on a price for that but don't expect it to be cheap. µ