Ars discusses rumored Xbox 360 motion sensor

by Alexander Sliwinski on May 6th 2009 9:30AM

Microsoft's rumored motion-sensing peripheral for the Xbox 360 may have actually been on display to the public under a different banner, Ars Technica suggests. The meat of this speculation (tofu compact for vegans) is that the site actually saw the same technology at the Consumer Electronics Show last year, and Microsoft is allegedly buying 3DV, the company responsible.

Back at CES 2008, 3DV apparently had a small web-cam that could detect movement and interaction, telling Ars at the time that it planned to release the item in the "sub-$100 area." Ars states that the technology was already "mature" at the time and was like having a "Microsoft Surface -- without the Surface." It's all still "rumor and speculation," but it seems Ars has found some missing puzzle pieces between the couch cushions.

[Via Engadget]

Source

Tags: e3-2009, engadget, gesture-controlled, microsoft, motion-sensing, rumor, sound-sensing, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (41)

what's up with the "day after engadget posts it, then it hits joystiq" cross posting you guys are doing with this story? I understand you want site hits, but this is a little lame.

WHY are there XBOX-only articles on the front page of PS3.Joystiq.com? There's this one and another one about DLC for Gears of War.

Why is it so hard for staff to file the articles under the correct console?

Ohhh boy so now we'll have games with some cheesy motion controlled tie in, and maybe some minigame collections?

Pass. Maybe someone else will get excited by this but....meh

Or some decent hardcore titles with excellent, well-planned and well-executed motion controls enhancing game experience?. I guess not playing the right Wii games leads to bad assessments of the technology. Oh well, your loss.

I've seen motion control on both Wii and PS3 and I'm not impressed. For serious gaming I'll stick with analog sticks, not wildly flinging my arms around like a madman.

If they do take the Wii-approach to motion games, expect to wade through a blue-ocean of turds to find a couple of well-polished gems.

the motion controls in the ps3 controller is god awful. Completely useless. The wii isn't that bad. I'm not saying htere isn't shovel ware but I mean there are alot of good games. Madworld, RE4, and the bunch of first party games zelda, galaxy, wario ware.

I take it you haven't played Flower, have you? Plus, if a developer doesn't use sixaxis at all, it still has THE EXACT SAME button layout and number of analog sticks the Xbox 360 controller has. I like the Wiimote and nunchuck, but it is a shame that it is not the ideal pair for more conventional games.

Flower is pretty damn nice to play. While the PS3 doesn't push the motion control to its extreme, when used right it is pleasing. I'm not so crazy about playing games waving my arms around for long periods though, so I often get bored quickly when using my Wii. I would hope MS goes more the direction Sony did in minimal use.

I agree 100% with tenor... I have zero interest in most games involving motion control. It would be fun to have a couple of them for parties and whatnot, but 95% of games I play should not have them.

I actually have a much bigger problem with the way Sony did it... by building it into the standard controller many games will force a token motion sequence or move. Unless this is optional in all those games, I really don't like that idea.

Much better to go with a separate controller so that hardcore games can still be precisely controlled without unneccessary movement.

I would love to see some light gun type games (like the next RE shooter on the Wii), but I'm not sure this new bar will allow that type of thing.

LOL Tenor. I haven't heard anyone use the 'flinging arms around like a madman' excuse for over 12 months, well done! Except for Wii Sports, every single Wii game i have played (a lot!) requires as much wrist movement as moving a PC mouse. As i said, you obviously haven't been playing the right Wii games, your loss.

microsoft is getting motion sensor or motion technology too late to compete with wii

although we may see some premium developers getting into motion technology
unlike wii

how about motion controlled gta

Motion controlled GTA?

I can already see the millions of people in their living rooms right now just dry-humping the air in that prostitute mini game.

Not only are they too late, they lack creativity to compete with the Wii by providing new stuff. and new ideas.

1 vs. 100 ?? come'on talk about just ripping off a regular game show and slapping miis to it.

@Snakku

This is completely different from the Wii's motion controller.

And come on, don't pretend Nintendo and Sony haven't taken ideas from Microsoft either. 1 vs 100 is a great idea to build an online community, something Nintendo doesn't even have.

i think the experience gonna be something like the eyetoy from playstation 2

whats with everyones crazy about motion control... Nintendos lock on the casual market and its millions of dollars in revenue sure did make Microsoft palms itchy for some of that pie.

if you ask me, in my OPINION, its sucks....

I don't know why Microsoft is even bothering trying to steal some of that audience away from Nintendo. We understand the mindset of this demographic. They aren't going to abandon the investment they made for more IR games. They aren't looking for more consoles. Heck, most of them aren't even probably looking for more games. They're probably still happy with the bowling game.

I love both consoles, but the chances of this becoming a big hit for Microsoft are about as much as The Conduit being the next Halo.

motion controlled halo's gonna suck

im with you. i feel MS waited too late to get into the motion game. most people that bought the Wii are casual players that are perfectly happy with the game it came with (after 2 years!). the Wii fits that demographic perfectly, it's cheap enough to be an impulse buy and it comes with everything to be ready to play out of the box. only way i see MS getting any traction with this thing at all is if they package it with the $199 Arcade. and even then, they can't really charge more than $50 for the pack in and should probably include a game as well. Ars is talking about them charging sub $100 which makes me think it will be to expensive to compete with Wii.

and even if they do get it out, what is going to stop these 3rd party devs from just throwing more mini game compilations onto it? sure you'll get a couple pretty good 1st party games but the 3rd party devs will probably just try to cash in on the Wii crowd again.

Microsoft is going to steal E3 again this year, wait and see!

With what the MS Eye/ x-mote???? and alan wake/ halo 3 maps ohh i mean Halo recon???

Microsoft Surface looks amazing.. If this can do something similar (without the surface) in a games environment, it'll be interesting to see what it's capable of.

But generally, I agree. It's too late in the 360's life cycle now to go after a completely different demographic, at the very most I see it being like the sixaxes, where it adds in couple of features to a few games that make you go "oh, that's kind of neat".

Those are my favorites most of the time. So far I've been unimpressed with most of the games that feature motion controls as the main input. Actually, I've been unimpressed with most motion controls in games period, but every now and then I've had the reaction you describe.

Fine, fine. Motion control. Great. Whatever. Now just get that console off the carpet!

People, please use your imagination
Read my blog about the damn thing ;-)
http://www.n4g.com/up/86751/BlogPostCom-321874.aspx

The tech Microsoft will use are grander than the Xbox360 and the PS3, it’s the future of how you will interact with your TV, PC, mobile and Xbox360.

The thing will probably be compatible with mediacenter and Win7.
You will control everything with gestures and sound, flicking around your menus (music, movies and games) and speak instead of writing.
If that’s not a cool factor then I don’t know what is (and yes I am the guy who thinks “clapping to turn on the lights” is cool).

It's not necessary for games to have full support for it, they can implement parts to complement the Xbox controller,
see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Now after you’ve seen the video, think about the head tracking use in Splinter cell or Forza 3, where you play with the controller but control your vision with the “cam”. how about that :D

This sounds awesome in Forza. Moving the view based on head positioning would be fabulous. They should hire Jonny Lee to build it :)

What's the point of turning your head left to look left in the game if you're no longer facing the TV? This will be about as well integrated as the live vision camera, which is to say not very.

Ian,
they've already hired Johnny Lee and he is at work in redmond right now ;-)
look at his page: http://johnnylee.net/

Johnny Lee:
"Coming Later: 3D tracking, and more....
Unfortunately, time constraints in the next couple of months have significantly reduced my ability to work on more projects."

I think you're on the right track with your blog. I think people are lacking a little imagination in what a true 3D motion tracking camera could accomplish. Looking at the ZCAMs website I think MS has much bigger plans for the device that just the 360. It could also extend this into a lot of other fields if the camera is as accurate and sensitive as they clam. (I can't believe it recognizes individual hand gestures.)

Peter Moore (now of EA) also alluded to the device in a recent comment he made.

Paraphrase..."Sony and MS don't want to recreate the Wii but want to go beyond it."

Sony and MS have motion control in their sights but they obviously won’t steal any of Nintendo's audience without something truly innovative.

Doesn't the 360 already have this device? I think it's called the Live Vision Camera or something like that.

Yeah they have the camera but that isn't anything like what they are talking about here. The camera they have now only sees you flat - it can't really make out movement other than hands going up or down and that isn't really its purpose.

Like the Wii controls, this probably won't work NEARLY as well as anyone hopes it will. I guess we'll see!

The dumbing-down Wii-ification of the real consoles has begun!

AHHHHHH this is sooooo annoying!!! The Wii is the Wii because it has motion (sensing) controls, and the games are simple!! The 360 and PS3, are not the Wii... and never will be!! What's worse is that developers will now feel forced or pressured to try and implement motion controls in games that really don't need them!! I mean I love the Wii for a completely different reason then I love the 360... I'm just annoyed! Sorry! =)

Alex - Professional Cutie
www.mioamoredesign.com

that guys entertainment centre/cabinet sucks. my mate has a more modern cabinet than that and he doesnt even have the internet, yes you read that right he doesnt have the internet, he will never know the joy that is geometry wars 2

I'm 99% sure that there is no correlation between the internet and the look of a mans fine brown wooden TV shelf.

I wish Microsoft and Sony would just let Nintendo have this chunk of the gaming market, and give up trying to emulate them. It always comes off as half-assed and lame.

I still think Microsoft and Nintendo are going to have to face Sony's 3D gaming possibility regardless of motion controls.

It would not surprise me if MS was buying this company just so they could kill potential Surface competitor.

Reality is all gaming consoles take technology ideas from one another and improve it. So lets not start a console war here. For those couch potatoes who don't like being active...thats fine, stick to your controllers. However I would love to have the option of using motion control on my 360. I've always hated the fact Nintendo decided to stick to old gen graphics, but I did love the new control idea. If Microsoft can bring these two together(graphics+motion)....and maybe improve their ridiculous reliability problems with the 360, which I think has finally happened after 4 F#@^en years. They will definitely have a winner!
The PS3 can benefit from an idea like this aswell, however its got that half a$$ed motion control on its controller which will then be kind of a waste????

For anyone who disagrees with me please click "here"

ALl this tech is going to be dead when the WII hd comes out thats all i have to say...

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Ars discusses rumored Xbox 360 motion sensor

Reader Comments (41)

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:46AM FNG said

Posted: May 6th 2009 2:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:48AM Cap Morgan said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:53AM Foetoid said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:17AM Cap Morgan said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:18AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:31AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:42AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 12:41PM Duke said

Posted: May 6th 2009 1:53PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 6:11PM Foetoid said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:49AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:59AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:33AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:50AM Snowblind said

Posted: May 6th 2009 12:18PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:58AM PR0F3TA said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:03AM MLS said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:05AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:26AM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:04AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 7th 2009 12:43AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:06AM Snowblind said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:14AM Vidikron said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:11AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:20AM moe2511 said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:59AM icase81 said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:08AM Altairio said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:15AM moe2511 said

Posted: May 6th 2009 6:10PM Clatu6 said

Posted: May 6th 2009 10:31AM KingBroly said

Posted: May 6th 2009 12:43PM Duke said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:09AM benheck said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:10AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 11:18AM rubbish usrname said

Posted: May 6th 2009 12:28PM Dowse said

Posted: May 6th 2009 1:50PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: May 6th 2009 3:18PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 4:00PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 6th 2009 9:56PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 7th 2009 12:47AM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days