New motion-sensing tech is Wii-beater?

If Nintendo sees them as a potential problem (though I doubt after seeing the videos) they would get an exclusive contract or buy them out.

The only reason they're trumpeting this so loudly, including their claims that it's better than Nintendo's offering, is their hope that Microsoft or Sony will take notice. No more, no less. As for the product itself, there are a number of issues that others have already highlighted that prevent this from being nearly as advanced or extensible as the Wii Remote.

And I thought the crux of the integrity of the Wiimote was that it wouldn't come in a million variations. From just that screen posted it seems there will be from the 'Wii follower'.

Pay no attention to the giant sensor on the floor!

There also seems to be considerable lag between the actual movement and the on-screen movement. Plus, these devices seem awfully single purpose -- am I supposed to play Metroid with a tennis raquet?

Wannabes. Other posters have already commented on how limited this is so I'm not adding anymore to that.

Once again Nintendo's blazes the trail.
And who are these Wii-bashers fooling?
You know good & well they'll be checking through the closed curtains & shuttered blinds to make sure no one catches them playing their Wii. (the brandname of endless punnery. not even trying!)

No need to be a closet Wii fan. Be out in the open! Come out of the closet.
The whole world's playing Wii. There's no need to be ashamed. It's not about Yuu or Mii. It's about Wii.

Like I said many times & this development proves it...
Wii is the Future of Gaming.
John Lucas

Sorry, but these things can't ever dream of seeing the mainstream success the wii is certainly going to achieve.

Honestly the biggest problem that this accessory will have is that no companies other than the original makers will make games for it, why? Well, the precedent is very obvious. Look at basically every accessory ever made, it is very rare that anybody makes a game using someone else'e peripheral. Someone mentioned Guitar Hero, how many developers are making games that use the controller? One. Since these controllers have one use each, no one will want to make games for them. It's a great idea, a great demonstration of what can be done with this technology, but it will go nowhere. At least with Guitar Hero, there are plenty of songs out there to make new games out of, so there will always be a future there. With Tennis and Bowling, there's only so far you can go with these. At least with Nintendo, I bet we will see Mario sports games crop up on the Wii down the road taking advantage of the Wiimote. They have a future.

Wow, both the PS3 and Wii's "advanced" controllers are already out of date and they haven't even launched the consoles yet. That is a laugh.

Either these are going to be official perepherials oy, or Nintendo will be making the SP "Trapped in the Closet"-style lawsuit threat oy.

I don't see a use for all of those different controllers, unlike the Wiimote where you can do all of the things with one periphial, not 5. Plus, that thing had stuff on the floor and you couldn't just set it up anywhere. I can't see any major console provider, or anybody else for that matter, using this technology, at least they way they have laid it out right now.

"controller wars"? I'm sorry, I just don't see that happening. Perhaps you were kidding.

At any rate, this doesn't seem to be anything big to me. If it's USB based, guess what it's being designed for at this moment in time. Computer use. Sure there's potential for console use, but that just wont happen.

"And, it'll only be around 30 pounds" Can we assume you meant the currency, not the unit of weight?

Fuzzy Pickles: This technology is better than the wii in certain ways. It can use sound to measure exact location because sound travels reaaaaly slow compared to electricity. The speakers can chirp and tell distance by how long it takes for the sound to hit the device. With three speakers (either different frequency chirps or a time delay between them) you can triangulate a pretty good position. It really depends on how fast the circuitry is.

Sound travels 34 centimeters (~1 foot) in a millisecond, or 3 millimeters in a 10k nanoseconds. "Hey, (friend with a masters in Electrical Engineering), can you make an optimized circuit to recognize a sonar signal in less than a hundreth of a millisecond?" "Yeah, easily." That answers that. Also, he pointed out that 'chirp' has a specific meaning in sonar, I'm actually just using it as a generic 'signal' sound. Sorry for the inaccurate terminology.

The problem then becomes how frequently you can measure the location, because the chirp can echo off of every surface in the room, and any weird concave shapes could amplify the reflected sound enough to confuse the sensor. In a 20 foot room (fair guesstimate), you could get as many as 50 readings a second by just measuring the first response. That matches framerate in games well enough, so it certainly sounds like feasable technology.

However, what this absolutly can not do is act like a pointer device, ie a lightgun, ala the Wiimote's IR camera + sensor bar. That's the real kicker for the Wii, other than its versatility.

As far as I can tell, there's no rumble, and the latency is far greater than that in the Wii remote. Nope, not better, not even close. Also, how much is the power usage? The Wii remote is (supposedly, reasonable assumption) designed to be power non-intensive, how much power does these controls use? The only advantage I can see os possibly more accuracy, but that latency would really kill it.

Ok, guys, many of you are saying wii allows simple flicks. What you should realize is that games on the Wii are mapping motions to actions, basically, and given a MORE accurate 3d mapping like this controller, that is still very possible in software, which is what the wii is doing to map anyways, so this controller does NOT take that ability away.

What this controller allows for is much better control if the user/game developer wants it. For example, in tennis, non pro players I know often naturally turn their body a little and slam straight at the ball. The Wii is unable to distinguish this with a slam straight at the ball facing straight, because it does not map 3d directly. It only knows acceleration and rotations, but does not know exact position, thus it does not know that my body is not aligned with the screen when swinging (unless my pointer goes past the screen, then in software, you can code something to map it properly).

Others mentioned that the Wii is one device and can be used for many games. Well, you can put this same technology to use in a Wii controller shell. They have a dual analog stick shell shown which can be split like the Wii and used EXACTLY like the Wii. If this works as advertised, this technology can definitely be employed as a superior alternative to the gyroscope/accelerometer solution, since it is a superset of the capabilities of those (ie, can use this tech and simulate a wii if you want).

The main points I see against this is whether or not long term exposure to ultra sonic waves cause health issues or comfort issues, and whether or not the delay is inherent in the sensor technology they employ. Interference in less empty rooms can be another issue.

This is really reminding me of that Futurama episode with Fry and his worms. All this unneeded crap.
And the Wiimote can also triangulate things in 3d space. There are three of those receiver things (I forgot the name) iside it. It also screws up in sunlight, indicating some sort of light beam, which is much faster than sound waves.

The Wiimote actually can not triangulate exact positions in 3d.

An easy, though exaggerated, way to demonstrate Wii's inability to do exact triangulation can be: sit in a computer chair with wheels, hold a wiimote pointing straight in front of you. Now, spin the chair around a couple of times. Wii knows you spun, and around how fast you are spinning at any time, but it is not nearly accurate enough to know where you are. If you stop away from the monitor, it won't know that!

I personally keep an open mind on all new developements that can help in making virtual reality come true. Some of you say for tennis/sword play/etc, why not just do it in real life. The thing is, as technology gets better and simulations become very realistic (hopefully someone will develope a novel feedback idea soon), virtual games can easily be played online. What this means is that, like chess/go/etc servers today, you can play anytime you feel like, always have opponents, be able to play "ranked" games which effect your rank online, allowing for very accurate determination of your capabilities, and thus allowing you to find partners who have similar capabilities easily or ask someone with better ability help teach you. In Go, this is happening now since Go is just a board game and easily simulated.

It does not mean people won't play in real life, it just means when at home and bored, you can still find partners your level and play instantly without having to book a real life spot, book a specific time with busy friends who don't know their schedules beforehand, etc. In fact, even when playing with friends, its much easier to match times as shown in playing fpses and so on.

everyone here is forgetting something. this company is a peripheral maker, not a console maker. they have a huge disadvantage. no one will make games to support them other than them. who wants to pay them? you don't think MS or sony are already making their own 3D controllers for next next gen? why would they need them? why would they pay them? in2games made something before and had very little success with it for the ps2. if anyone has every heard, in2games made the gametrak, which was a controller that you put on the floor that had 2 cables coming from it that attached to 2 gloves. it detected 3D motion of your hands by keeping track of the length of the cables. you can still buy it at EB, and they had 2 games for it, golf and a first person fighter. not very popular. check out this link:

http://www.in2games.uk.com/corporate/index.htm

this is their 2nd try to get over on nintendo. i'm sure it'll be about as successful as their first try. on top of that, someone here said it before, that the nintendo wii is not a one trick pony. this remote also has a speaker on it. the games will have sound depth. does this in2games baton have that? no. this is imitation of a technology, not imitation of a philosopy. does this baton look and feel like a tv remote? no, because nintendo is trying to grab everyone it can and make video games the most popular entertainment medium. these in2games guys are rookies when it comes to entertainment. they are one dimensional, and on top of that, aren't even console makers.

This is hilarious.. their attempts looks "lame" -- it doesnt matter how much more accurate it is.. its just not as attractive as wii's remote