Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft 'Wait and See' On Motion Controller

Posted by Zonk on from the everybody-else-is-doing-it dept.

CVG is reporting that Microsoft has developed a 'wait and see' attitude toward the concept of incorporating motion controls into Xbox 360 games. Despite the popularity of the Wii, and the inclusion of the system in the PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Chris Satchell stated in an interview with the website that the company is still cool on the idea. Says Satchell, "There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it ... One thing I'm not certain of is that third-parties are super-excited about that motion control - or at least they're not showing it with the games that are hitting the shelves yet ... We're yet to see a really good game on Wii that really says 'OK that control kicked ass'." This is at odds with statements from Peter Moore from earlier this year, who stated that the company does have motion control plans in the works. CVG will have the complete interview up soon, which might give more context to his statements.

12 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Hello, LucasArts... by icthus13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "We've yet to see a really good game on Wii that really says 'OK that control kicked ass'." Lightsaber battles, anyone?

  2. um, what? by AdmiralWeirdbeard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's no point in building something if noone wants it.
    ok, that's true.

    But...wait what?

    Clearly people want it, and clearly people have been finding the technology to be adding to the gaming experience on the wii.

    What he really should have said is, 'well, nintendo is already doing a pretty good job of locking that down, so we're not going to bother competing'
    Its one thing to have been all skeptical before it came out, but to claim now that nobody wants it is just plain bullshit. So you'd rather compete with the PS3, fine, its a more natural competitor anyways. Just try not to smear any more bullshit around than you have to, mmmkay?

    --
    Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
    1. Re:um, what? by Osty · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Clearly people want it, and clearly people have been finding the technology to be adding to the gaming experience on the wii.

      Comparing what Microsoft might do to the Wii is a little disingenuous. I suspect any motion-sensing controller for the 360 will look much more like Sony's SIXAXIS (or Microsoft's own old Sidewinder Freestyle Pro) than Nintendo's WiiMote. Add to that the fact that this is inherently an add-on and add-ons generally don't do well (the only mid-life controller-functionality change I can think of that actually caught on was the PSX Dual Shock), and it really doesn't make much sense for Microsoft to do a motion-sensing controller right now.

      It makes more sense for Microsoft to bide their time and spend the next couple years researching the technology rather than try to rush out a "Me too!" motion-sensing controller. The 360 is complementary to the Wii, and has the PS3 beat on controller functionality (rumble beats controller-form-factor motion sensing any day -- I'd much rather have rumble feedback for a racing game than the ability to turn the controller like a steering wheel, for example). The next Xbox is probably only 3 years away (2010), which gives Microsoft plenty of time to find the right combination of technologies for a truly next-generation control scheme (how about an EyeToy/Xbox Live vision camera input system that actually works?).

    2. Re:um, what? by AdmiralWeirdbeard · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I dont think I'm reading it wrong at all. He referenced a technology, and said that nobody wants it. He may have been specifically talking about a possible motion sensing 360 controller, and in that I agree, there would be little point. However, he goes on to disparage the wii-mote, and the very idea of a motion-sensing controller. In no way do i think his comments on this front are justifiable in the face of the popularity of the wii.

      As for 3rd party coverage, i just think he's being disingenuous. Obviously Nintendo is making the big hits for the moment, but is that really a shocker? They innovated, and have obviously had the most time to play around with the tech. the best launch games all made by Nintendo? *GASP* Do people bitch out the 360 for Halo, Gears, etc being M$ titles? no. whyso for nintendo? because it was a marketing speech. Also, there are certainly good 3rd party games for the wii, and considering the solid console sales, i fail to see how they could do anythign but get better.

      Yes, nintendo and xbox operate differently. Nintendo has survived explicitly by not *relying* on 3rd party dev. They put out a product, and they make a profit on it.

      Please understand, I'm not ripping on the 360. I love the 360. I see no reason for the 360 and the wii to be mutually exclusive. But its silly for an xbox mucketymuck to be coming down on the wii the way.
      Clearly, the 360 is in a good position, but its not really competing with the wii as much as it now is with the PS3. A simple 'well, its an intriguing idea for gaming, but we'll be focusing on what we've already been doing so very well until we see a demand for it from us' both would have sufficed and been a much more professional way to conduct himself.

      And yes, the ps3 controller looks like bs. I'm glad they did that instead of xbox.
      also, how can movement in 3 dimensions be construed as being more than 3 axes? is one of them smission?

      --
      Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
  3. No contradiction here... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft's Chris Satchell stated in an interview with the website that the company is still cool on the idea. Says Satchell, "There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it..." This is at odds with statements from Peter Moore from earlier this year, who stated that the company does have motion control plans in the works.


    To not have any plans would be foolish, but to rush into a project like this would also be silly. So...I don't see the contradiction.

    Microsoft's classic business strategy has always been to extend the best ideas of the first wave and sell an improved version of the idea to the masses anyway. (Just ask the first generation of Macs, Netscape, Lotus, etc.)
  4. No one really wants it? by Frag-A-Muffin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    from TFA:
    "There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it..."

    What part of the 6 million Wiis sold to date says "no one wants it"? I know I sure want it. My friends want it. My friends' parents even want it! Unless he's just talking about the "hardcore" market again?

    --

    AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
    1. Re:No one really wants it? by tzhuge · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The hardcore demographic wants it for the name. Revolution -> Wii was actually marketing genius

    2. Re:No one really wants it? by HappySqurriel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would say that he is probably correct in saying that no one wants a motion controller for the XBox 360... Developers don't want it because it would be an add on and practically no consumers would have it, and Consumers don't want it because so few game developers will support it at all.

    3. Re:No one really wants it? by Frag-A-Muffin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just because people want the Wii does not mean people really want the controller. I mean, by that logic just because you buy a Dell means that you want all the spyware/crapware that is loaded on by default.

      Let's be honest here. It's the controller that *is* the selling feature of the Wii. If you don't think so, then you've obviously never played it.

      --

      AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
    4. Re:No one really wants it? by SetupWeasel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If people didn't want the Wii controller, why the hell would they buy the Wii? Wii Sports is a hit. Wii Sports is driving sales. Wii Sports is controlled almost entirely with motion control unique to the Wii Remote.

      People want the controller, because it and only it can play Wii Sports. I personally think the pointing aspect of the Wii Remote will be the real gem of the system. I can't wait to see it sell when that is used effectively.

    5. Re:No one really wants it? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Certainly price is important, and anyone who says otherwise (looking at you Sony and fanbois) is insane.

      But the Wii is selling much better than the GameCube (about 1/4th of GC lifetime sales already) which was $200, and it's selling to people who wouldn't have considered a game console before regardless of the price. Clearly it's the controller that is making the Wii.

      Just without the price, even the controller wouldn't be enough to draw a skeptical non-gamer (or skeptical gamer for that matter).

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  5. Awesone games: Wii Sports. Others: None. by posterlogo · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Um, besides wii sports, I don't see anything out there that's really changed the way we play games. In my mind, the wii motion controller is just another kind of peripheral, like a steering wheel, a dance pad, or a guitar, or eye toy, etc. It's great for somethings. All in all, as a general feature, it's kind of just a gimmick. So I can see exactly where MS is coming from when they say there isn't much developer support... there isn't all that much of a sustainable future there in its current form. Let's face it, Wii users mostly just play wii sports with the motion sensor used to its fullest.