Nintendo tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony and Microsoft are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

LONDON (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

Satoru Iwata told the newspaper in an interview his company had made experimental games controlled by camera-based sensors, but got better results with the accelerometers it chose to use for its Wii console.

The FT said Iwata's comments throw down the gauntlet to Nintendo's rivals, both of which announced motion controllers based on cameras this week in an effort to catch up with the Wii's runaway sales lead.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Carol Bishopric)