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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.

2 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. 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.)
  2. 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?).