Microsoft to pull a PS3, place motion sensors in Xbox 360 pad?
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Jun 26th 2006 at 5:25PM }
In a recent episode of Gamertag radio, Peter Moore speaks out about the increasing complexity of video game controllers, comparing today's gamepads to the simplicity of the Atari 2600's button-and-stick joystick. He didn't exclude the Xbox 360 controller's design from criticism, mentioning that his 14-year old daughter found the controller somewhat confusing. Naturally, there was a point to his self-criticism; later on in the podcast he says that Microsoft is "doing a lot of stuff there. Nothing that we're ready to talk about, and we're not going to force anything that is not going to be intuitive and innovative."The most obvious conclusion to make from this statement would be that Microsoft is working on a new, simplified controller, which may or may not "borrow" the Wiimote's defining feature, although the part where Moore says that "[Microsoft is] not going to force anything that is not going to be... innovative" could suggest that simply slapping a motion sensor inside an Xbox 360 pad isn't on the cards.
British tech magazine T3 points out that the company could possibly be working on a simplified controller--to be sold in parallel with the main Xbox 360 pad--designed specifically for Xbox Live Arcade games. The magazine reasons that the company won't want to make the Xbox 360 pad's ergonomic design obsolete any time soon, which lends credence to the possibility of a simplified controller designed to play simple games to compliment the "hardcore" 360 gamepad.
[Via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AoE @ Jun 26th 2006 5:32PM
Peter Moore, it would be extremely innovative, not to mention intuitive, if you moved the damn start button.
Jay @ Jun 26th 2006 5:41PM
I like it how they're all following not exactly Nintendo's ideas, but their ideology about simplicity.
And people mocked when they had this grand vision of gaming being simple and here we are Microsoft touting the same "vision".
SickNic @ Jun 26th 2006 5:48PM
If anything I think what he meant by that comment is maybe they will be coming out with a basic 2-4 button controller for Xbox Live Arcade. Easy casual games could go along good with an easy to use casual controller...
PaleGringo @ Jun 26th 2006 5:48PM
I like how the original article says nothing about motion sensing being added and how Evan Blass @ Engadget linked to the Wiimote.
Somehow I don't see motion-sensing capability as the driving force behind the PS3 sales. It defines what the Wii is all about, obviously, but it would surprise me greatly if Microsoft was assinine to pull a double-back and make the same mistake Sony made tenfold worse.
I think a return to the SNES pad would work well for most all XBLA games.
GSI @ Jun 26th 2006 5:54PM
If they really do mean they are thinking of coming out with a basic controller for Live Arcade games, I hope they make the D-pad for the controller better. Maybe it's just me but for some reason the D-pad on the 360 controller feels kinda 'wierd.'
yumz @ Jun 26th 2006 5:55PM
@ Whomever did that photoshop: don't quit your dayjob.
lothar @ Jun 26th 2006 5:56PM
SickNic,
I seemed to get the same thing from that as you did. Remember Nintendo is going to put out and old school controller as well so you can play the classic games.
splitmetal @ Jun 26th 2006 5:56PM
They had a simple controller which was supposed to work for some live arcade titles -- the 360 remote. Before the system launched, they teased us with promises of the remote working for select titles, and one of their customer support line marketing messages (you know, the prerecorded sales crap you have to listen to while waiting to talk to a support rep) specifically mentioned that the remote works with Hexic. I've tried to get it to work with Hexic and a few other simple arcade titles each time they've updated the system, and it still doesn't.
vidGuy @ Jun 26th 2006 6:07PM
No way, not going to happen. MS putting out a controller to replace the 360 one is not only stupid but would also be admitting defeat (or that they made a mistake), which MS is not prepared to do (not implying that they need to). After all, it's only been a few weeks since Bill Gates said that motion controller is, basically, stupid. You're not going to have a biggiebig saying no to it, just for the company to announce it a few weeks later.
The 360 controller is widely regarded as the best out there now... I expect it to easily beat the PS3 pad (and you can't really compare it's shape or button-pattern to the Wii remote).
If anything, MS MIGHT release an XBOX LIVE Arcade only controller, but I somewhat doubt it.
superbagman @ Jun 26th 2006 6:45PM
Splitmetal, the DVD remote does work for some Live Arcade titles, Uno being one that I can name for certain. I was playing it just the other day with the remote.
Also, the 360 controller has a docking port on the top, the port that the play and charge kit uses. I wonder if Microsoft could use that for more than charging, say a motion sensor add on? I have no idea if the port is capable of that, but it was just a thought.
Amos @ Jun 26th 2006 6:46PM
I like how you pulled out a random possiblity as the whole point of this article, when the qoutation viewed alone wouldn't have even brought to mind motion-sensing capability, *rolls eyes*. I also think you purposefull cut a KEY word in that quote, in that Peter Moore said *intuitive* and innovative. Basically saying they're not going to throw in any crazy dumb shit features w/o first seeing how gamers will react to and use the product. *sighs* this is what happens when you cut words out, sentences lose meaning.
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Jun 26th 2006 6:48PM
Amos, read the article again. I did quote the full text - i only cut the intuitive the second time because I wanted to highlight the fact that copying the Wiimote isn't exactly the definition of innovation.
cringer8 @ Jun 26th 2006 6:48PM
I think Microsoft's big fall secret is this new control device. It will be a helmet that will read your brainwaves and convert them into button combinations. How much simpler could games get? No buttons, just picture it happening and *poof* your character will emulate the move.
Of course, this technology will extend into the Vista campaign. No more typing or messing around with text-recognition software. Throw away your mouse and keyboard. The "MicroScan 3.1" control helmet will perform tasks as quickly as you can think'em up.
Imagine how much fatter some gamers would get if they had both hands free while playing any game...
Mark @ Jun 26th 2006 6:49PM
Personally I think Microsoft is thinking about doing something with the camera. They took out a patent last year on a dual camera system which was really good at tracking objects in poor lighting. My guess is that they might release a motion capture system using cameras.
chrus @ Jun 26th 2006 7:01PM
Forgive me Mr Moore - I personally feel the 360 pad is one of the best, if not the best around..
leave it alone !!
baberg @ Jun 26th 2006 7:05PM
Title of the article is a bit of a stretch from the actual content. Not to mention that Microsoft would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did this. They've already come close releasing two variations of a console.
I have no interest in the 360 (didn't buy an Xbox either) but Microsoft isn't stupid enough to pull a Power Glove.
lazy @ Jun 26th 2006 7:08PM
xbl vision ftw?
splitmetal @ Jun 26th 2006 7:30PM
@superbagman:
Thanks for the comment. I tested it again, and found my remote didn't work for Uno either... until I tried turning on one of the 360 wireless controllers. It seems as long as the controller connected, I can use the remote to play Uno. Still didn't work with Hexic like they claimed it would. Is that how it works for you too?
Scott @ Jun 26th 2006 8:03PM
Splitmetal - maybe you have a bad remote? I've been using my remote to play Uno as well. I haven't tried hexic.
Troy Gilbert @ Jun 26th 2006 8:45PM
"Amos, read the article again. I did quote the full text - i only cut the intuitive the second time because I wanted to highlight the fact that copying the Wiimote isn't exactly the definition of innovation."
Conrad, listen to Mr. Moore again... *he* makes no mention of the Wiimote or motion-sensing. That's all your imaginings. "Intuitive and innovative" does not directly lead to the conclusion of copying Nintendo... unless, of course, you're Sony!
Ethan @ Jun 26th 2006 8:47PM
"Microsoft is working on a new, simplified controller, which may or may not "borrow" the Wiimote's defining feature"
wait a sec, didn't joystiq just post a story earlier about how the moyion sensing controller was on a PS2 before a wii. So wouldn't they be "borrowing" the design from, say, SONY.
Geist @ Jun 26th 2006 8:49PM
Well, you know, if Microsoft puts motion sensing in their controllers, all the fanboys will rise up and be like "OMG NINTEDO IS STELIN FROM MS!!!!!!!!!!!"
GSI @ Jun 26th 2006 9:21PM
@ Geist:
...and how exactly would saying that be false? The intelligent person wouldn't say it like that but if MS all of a sudden comes out and says "Oh we're going to make this optional controller that allows you to tilt,etc. and have it affect on-screen gameplay," that would be a valid issue.
V1L3 @ Jun 26th 2006 10:21PM
If my 3 year-old son can figure out a 360 controller, who exactly is this simplified controller for? People in comas?
vidGuy @ Jun 26th 2006 10:38PM
No offense, V1L3, but maybe somebody who is not being/has not been trained on video games by his/her parents? Maybe a 40 or 50 year old father who hasn't played video games since Pong? Maybe my sister, age 14, who can't seem to control anything more than a few buttons at a time? The controls will be simple for some games, while others attempt to reach the depth of current control. Best of both worlds, right?
I know I'm much more efficient at the controls than I would be if I hadn't grown up with NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, Gamecube, and XBOX.
superjoe @ Jun 26th 2006 10:50PM
You guys win. Thanks for putting me to shame. See you in the next name. I wont fuck up again. Sorry....
Ian @ Jun 26th 2006 11:27PM
"21. Well, you know, if Microsoft puts motion sensing in their controllers, all the fanboys will rise up and be like "OMG NINTEDO IS STELIN FROM MS!!!!!!!!!!!""
MS did make a motion sensing controller for the PC back in the 90's.....
Brian (Magus) @ Jun 27th 2006 12:20AM
Unlike Sony, other game companies work hard to get to where they're at, as opposed to just releasing a product, and having people migrate to that product en mass for seemingly no reason.
Microsoft has a lot of creative people in their games division, and they all like to play games. I'm pretty sure that whatever they develop will help to enable playing games, and it won't just be some gimmicky functionality, i.e., the Dual(Tilt?) controller.
Ian @ Jun 27th 2006 2:50AM
>>>>>#4 "Somehow I don't see motion-sensing capability as the driving force behind the PS3 sales. It defines what the Wii is all about, obviously, but it would surprise me greatly if Microsoft was assinine to pull a double-back and make the same mistake Sony made tenfold worse."
My Post:
>>>The PS3 isn't motion senstivie it's "Tilt" sensitive. Get it straight. I'm sick of all this they copied that balogna.
V1L3 @ Jun 27th 2006 3:02AM
#24: Yeah, that 4-week course in Controller Motor Skills at kindergarten really paid off. :P j/k
Seriously though, I've never conciously tried getting my son into games. He just sees a game and wants to play it - I put the game on for him, and he works it out for himself.
I understand your point, and the examples you mention are good ones, but there's more to it than the controller. Your 40-50 year old father... he knows how to drive a car, right? Your 14-year-old sister may not be able to push more than one button at a time on a PS2 pad, but I'd bet you a steak dinner her fingers are a blur when she's texting on her mobile phone.
The point is that people don't mind learning how to use a machine or a device so long as the desire is there. And that's what's missing. I think game companies and developers should focus more on the software than the input device.
The Wii controller looks simple to use, but it's not enough. The only way I could get my mother to touch a game controller of any description is if there were some kind of murder mystery type adventure game (Sherlock Holmes, for example), or something involving Egyptian mythology, because those are the things that interest her. It wouldn't matter if she had to control it with a joystick, a mouse and keyboard, or a raccoon on a stick.
Waccoon @ Jun 27th 2006 5:48AM
@V1L3:
A what on a stick?
Anyway, you win. Big time. It's garbage to say controllers are too complicated, because HOW they are used depends on the developers. Just because there's buttons and analog sticks and motion sensors doesn't mean they have to be used.
I, for one, and sick of developers telling me how the controller should be used. Let me remap my own buttons the way I like them, like DirectInput games do on the PC. That way, I can buy any revolutionary new controller I want and adapt it myself to any game I like. Think of the 3rd party manufacturing potential, there!
I think this is where Nintendo is going wrong. Sony and MS seem to be interested in using motion sensors to compliment proven designs, and using dedicated contollers for specific genres of games. Nintendo wants to dismiss existing designs in favor of making motion sensors the primary method of control, and force developers to write games around those methods, whether they are appropriate or not. This may be revolutionary, but it's also dangerous, and explains all the "mini-game" design flooding Nintendo's E3 displays. Nobody really knows what they are doing, yet. Some games are even facing major control redesign after E3. Hey, gusy, don't your playtesters notice these problems?
To me, Excite Truck looks like your run-of-the-mill racing game with arcadish physics that are simply painful to watch, and scenery that blasts by at 800 scaled MPH, making analog control pretty much irrelevant, anyway. How does this differ from the equally mediocre Rally Champoinship on the Gamecube? How is this better than *any* budget racing game that exists for the PS2 and XBox?
Deeper, more complex games actually justify the new technology. This is where Nintendo's "laser pointer" comes in. The motion sensors really don't have much potential but to compliment existing controls, not replace them. MS has worked with motion sensors before, without much success, and I think they made an actual decision not to use them for the XBox 360 controler. If it weren't for the asymetric design of the controller, I would like the 360 controller a lot.
In this case, I don't think tacking-on an extra feature is as bad as redesigning a product around a single feature. The hard part is avoiding the bad PR of "ripping off" Nintendo, even though the Big N has an entirely different implementation.
Supachecka @ Jun 27th 2006 5:57AM
There will be no new controller. They will go for stuff like this
http://www.xbox-lan.com/?p=2247
Amorphis @ Jun 27th 2006 11:32AM
With how small they can make components, what I think would be fantastic, is to replace one of the (right?) analog sticks with a little trackball that you could roll with your thumb.
You'd have the faster/more fluid control of a mouse, but still just have the simplicity and comfort of a control pad. This way, you'd also be able to play RTS games, and put cursor responsive icons/menus on the screen to give games like (RPG's?) or the like more easy to use.
And hey, even the user doesn't have the trackball, you can still navigate play it with the analog sticks, it just might not be as smooth (in terms of an RTS/etc).
But for FPS games, that'd kick ass.