According to Jake Metcalf, the blogger who first broke the Bungie / Microsoft split, the Xbox 360 will see its rumored motion sensing controller by the end of this year. The controller, codenamed "Newton" as in Newtonian Physics relating to gravity, inertia and acceleration, uses licensed patents from Gyration, makers of the 3D mouse and co-developer of technology used in Nintendo's Wii remote and the Guitar Hero controller (Patents 5898421 and 5440326).
Citing internal sources in Microsoft's hardware division, Metcalf describes the Newton as being powered by an USB LED sensor bar and having, "an LED sensor on the front accelerometer and gyroscope ... that can detect tilt and motion, rumble motors, wireless two way data communication with the 360 [and includes] a built in Microphone for Xbox Live and voice-activated games."
In January we broke the news that Rare was developing an Xbox Live Arcade game, titled The Fast and the Furriest, which purportedly features "a wand type input device for gesture recognition." The rumored Newton seems to fit the bill nicely for the title and may release along side the peripheral with an included download code, according to Metcalf. At the end of his lengthy post, Metcalf reiterates his confidence in his source and promises that if the Microsoft branded Wii remote-like device isn't out by the end of the year he will donate his Nintendo Wii to charity.
If the rumors end up being true, gamers shouldn't be surprised. With the popularity of the Nintendo Wii reaching a large segment of, traditionally, non-gamers, the market has opened-up considerably. With Microsoft's recent work to clear hardware shortage issues and Nintendo's constant sell-out rate, an Xbox 360 style Wii-mote could end up being a smart move and then it will be a matter of time before a new Arcade SKU is released that includes the rumored controller.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
4-09-2008 @ 10:11AM
stinger503 said...
The prospects of this for the 360 are good. Imagine an Xbox 360 "Sports" with heavily updated graphics and Xbox Live support.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:53AM
JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) said...
MS Sports - Dealing with Angry RRODERS in Microsoft Customer Service Department.
4-09-2008 @ 10:14AM
adam said...
This isnt gonna make a diffrence sales for two reasons.
1.Nobody associates the 360 as a motion sensing family friendly console.Just like no one associates xbox with jrpgs thats why it sells shit in japan.
2.The majority of games wont even use this.It will be used as much in game development as the eye toy was on the ps2.
Game developers dont push games off of add on periphriels becuase the chances of people purchasing this garbage is slim.
There not gonna release this microsoft isnt that stupid "well i sure hope they arent"
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4-09-2008 @ 10:59AM
Vcize said...
^^ winner
4-09-2008 @ 10:15AM
OrionnoirO said...
Like Stinger said... I know when this news hit, alot of people were ripping on it, but I dont know.. A LARGE part of what makes the Wii as popular as it is, is its decent motion controls. If Microsoft could successfully integrate a motion control system similar to the Wii, into a system that has great online, a vast selection of games, and now motion control as well as standard controls, I think it could potentially shake things up. Imagine if they then patch up the games already on Arcade and disc, to allow this as a control method.. Marble Blast Ultra would be great with this, shmups, Pac-Man CE, I would think even N+ might be interesting with it... Lots of potential applications, not to mention new games designed with it in mind... I just wonder if there will be a way to use it with existing FPS games such as Halo 3, CoD4, and RSV2... Doubtful, I dont know how that would work without at least a nunchuk type attachment, but would be awesome I have to say ;p
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4-09-2008 @ 11:12AM
Deck said...
The problem is.. I DON'T WANT TO use it. I am not a Wii fan, and do not particularly like the motion controls. I prefer my regular XBOX360 controller.
Most likely games wont even adapt to this technology on the 360 for the most part because it is a 3rd party unit which people don't buy all that much of I don't believe.
Its just my opinion that the 360 should stop trying to get into the "Wii Market" because they obviously are not there, not going to get there and by trying to do so there is potential for screwing things up in the process. (Sure, highly unlikely but its there).
4-09-2008 @ 10:23AM
adam said...
Im sure if they do this there not gonna release it without some sort of nun chuck setup.They will want to integrate this into all software otherwise its useless.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:32AM
Anticrawl said...
The Newton codename has been floating around for a while now.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:17AM
Richard Mitchell said...
MS idea man: "Let's name it after a crappy PDA!"
4-09-2008 @ 11:45AM
Captain Obvious said...
Oh, Richard. If any TUAW readers happen to stumble over to x360f, you're going to get some flack for that comment. You know how much-loved their Newton was. I mean IS.
4-09-2008 @ 12:04PM
Anticrawl said...
Haha, I totally forgot about said PDA, good times.. not really.
4-09-2008 @ 10:39AM
oomlop said...
I actually like the idea, the Xbox needs more games besides having mainly FPSs. I want to buy a Wii but Xbox Live is the best online service by far even though it doesn't have Microsoft dedicated server support in most of its games.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:51AM
baby sea tuna said...
"I actually like the idea, the Xbox needs more games besides having mainly FPSs."
Please continue typing like you have any idea what in the hell you're talking about...
4-09-2008 @ 10:56AM
JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) said...
Baby, stop being such a Grammar-Nazi, will ya.Everybody makes a mistake or two once in a while.
4-09-2008 @ 11:01AM
baby sea tuna said...
Yeah, and his mistake was saying that all the 360 has is first-person shooters.
If I wanted to pick apart some post's grammar, that wouldn't be the one I'd start with.
4-09-2008 @ 11:29AM
J said...
Actually I think this could work really well with FPS's... using Metroid as a guide. It was a really good start, anyway.
4-09-2008 @ 2:27PM
Knight Marquise said...
@jacobK666
Perhaps you should practice a little reading comprehension. BST wasn't referring to grammar, but the FUD that all the 360 has are FPS.
Back on topic...
I'm sure this is a good move for Microsoft, however, I personally have no intention of purchasing it for myself, nor any desire to have motion sensing in my games. That's just not a feature I care for, although I can see my wife and kids going bananas for it, which, I guess upon reflection, will result in several purchases.
*sigh*
4-09-2008 @ 10:40AM
Tony said...
I don't think the nunchuck really matters what MS is aiming for.
But beyond that, I don't think we can think about this in the typical way and it certainly doesn't matter what MS does in the past if they market it properly. That's going to be the real key.
Beyond that, this is potentially a trojan horse. There's millions of 360s out there. Every one of us has a friend, girlfriend, boyfriend or relative that won't play these games but would be far more open to some sort of Wii-esque experience. Suddenly there's millions of people interested in a system they've always had access to and never gave a second look to before.
Word of mouth could certainly build from there, much like it did with the Wii. There was some poll recently that showed only like 5% of people own multiple consoles... if my girlfriend loved the Wii, would I be more likely to plop $250 down or $50 down at this stage? I've already bought a 360. Of course this assumes they make any fun titles for it that really capture the point of motion sensing, something not even many Wii titles do.
The news on this from MTV made a point that the materials talked about how easy it would be to port Wii titles. Put Carnival Games on there and you have a best seller instantly (I can't see why the developer would not want to). Hell, if MS courts Hudson they could port over Deca Sports too and the 360 would suddenly have an answer to Wii Sports too.
There's a lot of possibilities there. While I'd rather they did something entirely new, I can't exactly fault them for trying this either. I just hope the games turn out OK. Maybe it will flop and maybe it'll never release, who knows... but from a marketing perspective it makes a lot of sense.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:41AM
Gemini Ace said...
The only thing that worries me is the fact that Rare is developing the software. Nintendo develops awesome software for the Wii. That's why you get it.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:51AM
Raheem said...
adam have you ever worked in the games industry? EyeToys were huge here (UK).
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