Some people will tell you that one is better than the other and will not listen to argument, and will not accept that each has it's strengths.  We know what the common label for these people is, I did after all write it in the first sentence of this article.  I have very little respect for these people.

Lets get down to understanding some of the basic facts of both systems.

Pricing

OK people, lets get this right.  We will assume for the purpose of this article that the buyer wants both systems to be able to accommodate two people playing at once.

Xbox Kinect

Kinect is expected at $150.  This allows for at least two players (in fact I haven't heard of a game that allows more than two to play.)  There is no additional cost, no additional controllers (or any) required.  I realize you have to pay for games, but that doesn't factor in here.

Total cost for Xbox Kinect for two players:  $150 USD

PlayStation Move

Move is $50 for the motion controller, $30 for the navigation controller. I'm not sure what the cost of the PlayStation Eye is alone, and it really doesn't matter. If you don't have the PlayStation Eye already then you can get a $100 package that includes the Eye, the motion controller, and the navigation controller, plus the Wii Sports clone job (which doesn't look bad.)

Some of these games can probably be played with just the motion controller but I expect that only a small number will allow you to do this. Many games expect you to have 2 motion controllers. Assuming you want to have the basic ability to have 2 people play at the same time it will cost you:

• $100 for the package deal that contains

• 1 motion controller
• 1 navigation controller
• 1 PlayStation Eye camera
• 1 copy of Sports Champions
• Whatever accessories that would normally come with the motion or navigation controllers

• $150 for 3 more motion controllers.

Total cost for PlayStation Move for two players:  $250 to $280 USD

Launch Strategy (Games and Target Audience)

Xbox Kinect

Microsoft seems to be targeting mainly mothers and teenage girls.  Third parties are looking mostly at the same markets.  They are not making it only for girls or non-gamers, but that does seem to be the main area they are trying to grab up. Launch titles are exercise heavy for the moms, and dance heavy for the teenage girls.  I apologize for making such generalizations but this is the way it is done by such corporations.  I will use these exercise games a lot, and I'll use the dance games when no one can see how dumb I look, so I definitely do not think the system is "for girls."

Additionally there are the expected mini-game compilations for groups of people and the Wii Sports type games.

At the moment the game selection does seem quite limited.  Expect this to change.  Microsoft is not stupid.  They will get you your hardcore games, but it is necessary to consider that the hardcore game takes a great deal longer to develop than the Wii Sports type game.  Taking a game that is already made and slapping motion control support onto it rarely works well at all.  Keep an eye on TGS and GDC, although you may have to wait until E3 2011 for anything ground shaking (like I said, it takes time.)

PlayStation Move

Sony is targeting a slightly larger range of people for it's Move controller system.  They are after the moms and the teenage girls at launch time, but they also are attempting to please the hardcore gamers as best as they can.  While they have the dance games and the exercise games, they also have taken some released and almost released games and slapped on motion control support.  While this is probably a good idea, it is also likely to not work very well.  It looks like they have done a good job with this on some games (Socom 4), but not so great on other games (Resident Evil 5.)

As much as I understand (what I assume to be) Microsoft's strategy of only releasing quality games that were actually built for the Kinect, I do actually feel that Sony's strategy for Move is the better one.  Gamers today don't seem to care about quality so much as they do about getting what they want when they want it.  A gamer who buys the Move and decides later that he doesn't like it is better than the gamer that doesn't buy Kinect at all because it doesn't have what he wants.  At least the gamer who bought the Move has the chance to try a demo or rental later on and decide that he loves it.  That gamer then already owns the Move and is now a consumer of PlayStation Move games.  Why not if you already own it?

Usage (Controller or No Controller)

Xbox Kinect

Microsoft went with the no controller route.  With Kinect, you are the controller.  You wave your hands, kick your feet, jump, duck, and talk to the system.  Games, movies, and music can all be controlled with your body and or voice.

As far as games are concerned, Kinect is useful for just about any type of game.  The first question that should be asked by a game developer before making a game for Kinect is:  Does this game need motion controls?  If the answer is not a definitive YES then your answer is no.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Best uses of Kinect (my opinion and I don't know everything) in my order of suitability:

1. Exercise games.  Games intended to be exercise games and sold as such.  The exercises in the game may include mini-games with fighting, jumping / dodging, dancing, etc.
2. Dancing games.  Games solely intended as dancing games.
3. Sports games that require mostly blocking or throwing balls.  This might include games like Ricochet (a sort of dodge-ball), baseball (especially pitching or hitting), basketball (at least shooting baskets), football (passing and even blocking could work well here), and I'm sure many others that aren't rolling off the top of my head.
4. Vehicle sims. These games could take some getting used to for the player, but after the learning curve the possibilities are great. 

Possibilities of vehicle sims:

• For a car sim the player can use the wheel and reach down to shift.  They can use a gas pedal, a break pedal, and a clutch all by just putting their feet where they would expect them to be.  They can turn their head to look around the car.  They can reach out the car window and adjust the rear view mirror.
• Flight simulators can allow the player to use every instrument in the cockpit.  The player can look around with a turn of the head.  They can use the flight stick and eject the way you would from a real plane (generally with a lever or something.)
• Space simulators (and I don't necessarily mean boring-memorize-the-400-page-manual type games when I say simulator) can be whatever the developer wants.  This is true for all types of games but with space sims it really makes me think.  I don't want to write a book trying to explain it here, but imagine if you could get into an X-Wing in a game and be able to turn your head around to look at the controls.  Of course, there's more.  Not only can you see the controls but you can use them.  Why isn't the hyper-drive working?  You haven't turned it on yet you dolt.  Yeah, you get the idea.

Basically my point here is that what can be done is only limited by the developer and the processing power / RAM available.  I didn't list game types like first person shooters and platformers.  It's not that I don't think that they couldn't be made for Kinect, it's just that rarely would the answer to the question ("Does this game need motion controls?") be yes.  I certainly hope there is a developer out there that can do an FPS game well.  Hopefully there are several who can.  I feel that in order to do a FPS game properly I would need props (guns) and I think Microsoft is against such things (although that's just speculation.)

I'm personally more excited with the exercise potential than with anything else (at least to begin with.)  Even with the games that aren't specifically designed as exercise games they often are certain to help you either lose weight or keep it off.  The only way I find that I can really motivate myself to exercise on a regular basis is if I have someone to compete against.  The Kinect can provide me with this.  At the moment all of my friends are at least 9 hours away by car and doing anything physical with them just isn't possible at this time.

I also feel that this is fantastic for my daughter.  She is turning one on the second of July and I expect that by the time the Kinect comes out she will be ready to use it (to a small degree at least.)  The possibilities for child oriented games with this is fantastic.  Very young children could use the Kinect and not have to learn any controllers at all (you may not realize it but a game controller is quite a bit to learn when you haven't used one before.)

PlayStation Move

Sony decided with their PlayStation Move system to (lets be fair here) essentially clone Nintendo's Wii console.  This is not really a bad thing.  The Nintendo Wii is something that has proven itself to be highly successful and if you are going to copy an idea, you may as well copy the best idea.  If you know how the Wii works, you pretty much know how the Move works.  You wave a controller around and press the buttons on the controller and this is how you play the games.  There is the motion controller which you wave around and press buttons on, and the navigation controller which is generally used to move your character around the game world (or whatever the developers choose.)

The Kinect system doesn't have a controller for me to make fun of, but Move does.  Does it ever.  Maybe it's not funny in Japan, but in North America most people are likely to find the rather phallic look of the device to be quite funny.  While a lot of gamers will put up with just about anything to have accurate motion control on a system that can handle more powerful graphics than the Wii, some gamers will be instantly thrown off by being forced to wave around an almost cylindrical controller with a big glowing ball at the end of it.  Even worse is that (for whatever reason) the colour that is on the end of the controller is often chosen by the developer.  I'm not sure why but often colours that homophobes will have trouble with often seem to be chosen.  It seems likely this has to do with making it easier for the camera to pick up the end of the controller, but I'm not certain.

Best uses of Move in order of suitability:

1. Sword and shield type games in first or third person.  Move is well suited to this due to it's accuracy and the use of physical controllers in the hand.  Kinect could do this quite well I'm sure, but I just feel having a controller with buttons in the hand would be helpful.
2. First or Third person shooters.  This is good for Sony.  In the past I would when asked instantly without a doubt reply that the Xbox 360 is the console to play first person shooters on.  With the Move controller that may change.  With the motion controller to aim and either a navigation controller or second motion controller to move around (probably navigation controller) you have the ability to very quickly hit what you want when you want (with a little practice.)  Keep in mind that this is dependent on the developer.  If done correctly this is a great controller system to use, if it isn't perfect however then it tends to be a horrible way to play.
3. Sports games involving a stick of some sort.  Baseball (at least batting), tennis, golf, cricket, hockey (at least shooting at the net), etc.
4. Traditional light gun style games.

Honestly I have a much harder time trying to come up with uses for the Move controller system than I do for Kinect.  I'm sure there are good uses that I have not thought of yet.

Improvements Needed

I don't really know what I would do to improve Move.  It's pretty much limited to what it already is.

Kinect is a different story.  What would I do to make this the most awesome thing ever made for gamers?  That's simple.  Video glasses.  You wouldn't want to require them for all games because they would be more expensive than a lot of gamers would want to buy, but have them be optional and required only for certain games that are designed especially for them.  With video glasses on (wireless if at all possible) the Kinect would become a full virtual reality system.  Wearing the glasses would mean you could turn around 180 degrees and actually be turned around in the game.  You could turn your head and not have any trouble seeing the screen because the screen turns with you.  This absolutely 100% should happen.  Microsoft, listen to me when I say that this would be HUGE.  I would pay as much as $500 for video glasses that go with Kinect, although pricing them that high would not be very wise.  Intelligent pricing of quality glasses would sell many of these just based on the capabilities it would provide.

Seriously.  Make it happen Microsoft.

Conclusion

So what's my point?  My point is that fanboys irritate me and I felt the need to write this out.  I love games.  Not this console or that console, but games.  I will be getting both Kinect (which I still always call Natal before correcting myself) and Move when they come out.  Personally I am more interested in Kinect than Move, but I definitely want both.

When it comes down to launch day and you aren't sure which one you want to get then the simple truth is that there are way too many factors involved for any one person to tell you which one to get.  You have to look at all the things that are important to you and decide based on that.  Of course what system you may be limited to and how much money you have may factor into the decision, but that's so obvious it doesn't need to be discussed.

Just remember, as you make your travels around the internet:  If you say something stupid to your friends so that you can (hopefully) look smart they will likely forget about it quickly.  If you say something stupid on the internet it is there forever (read: a long time), and they will rip you into a billion little pieces for having done it.