Bill wants Wii controller for Xbox 360

Mike Bantick
Tuesday, 05 June 2007 06:13

Opinion and Analysis

A recent D5 (all things Digital)  interview with both Apple founder Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, had the Microsoft head hint at a new motion sensitive controller for the Xbox 360.

Talking about what might be on offer in the next four to five years, Gates begins to talk about 3D spaces and interfaces;” One of the things that’s been anticipated for a long time is when 3D comes into that interface. And there was a lot of experimentation, sites on the Internet where you’d kind of walk around and meet people, but in fact, the richness, the speed, it just didn’t sustain itself. Now we’re starting to see with some of the mapping stuff, a few of the sites that the quality of that graphics, the tools and things, are getting to the point where 3D can really come in. So I’d definitely say that when you go to a store, bookstore, you’ll be able to see the books lined up, you know, the way you might be interested in or lined up the way they are in the real store.”

This then leads into a discussion around 3D interfacing with technology; “…imagine a game machine where you’re just going to pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it.”

Do you mean the Wii Bill? 

“No, that’s not it. You can’t pick up your tennis racket. And swing it.You can’t sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That’s a 3D positional device. This is video recognition.”

It is easy to take Gates out of context here and jump straight to the inference that a motion controller is on the way for the Xbox 360.  Some sort of copy-cat-catch-up plan to take advantage of the Wii phenomena.

But it is pretty obvious the Gates was not talking or hinting at such a device, if anything the idea came across more as a copy-cat of PlayStation Home, the 3D world/lobby space currently in beta for the Sony PlayStation 3.  Or the other Sony innovation the Eye-Toy motion sensing camera for the PS2.

Still it is fun to speculate on future gaming developments, but not a future where all companies provide the same experience.  What is great about the current generation of gaming platforms is the fact they offer different environments, experiences and features.

Sure you can be envious of the other guys’ features and want them on the console you own, but an overall homogeny of the industry can only be bad for the consumer in the long run. Leading to blandness of content and the continued 'safe' choices of software developers and publishers.

Perhaps I am biased however, owning all consoles and a PC may take away my right to comment on a single platform consumer :-)