Microsoft Holding Fire on Motion-Control Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Microsoft Holding Fire on Motion-Control Posted by XanTium | April 3 12:09 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From mcvuk.com: [QUOTE] Despite Xbox 360 being currently the only next-gen console to offer no form of motion control via its standard joypad, Microsoft's developer group general manager Chris Satchell has told CVG that his firm is waiting to see how the sector develops before making any moves. "There's no point building the hardware if nobody really wants it," Satchell stated. "One thing I'm not certain of is that third-parties are super-excited about the motion control, or at least they're not showing it with the games hitting the shelves yet. [/QUOTE] Full Story: mcvuk.com

[C o s m o]

I'm glad they're not. Devs have stated that motion controls are sloppy.

[spinr34]

good. while it is fun on the wii, that is all the wii has. without motion control on the wii there isn't a point to it. on the ps3, the motion control is sloppy and always seems like an after thought in games. there hasn't been one time while i'm playing my 360 that i'm like damn, i wish i had motion control. it isn't needed.

[sinister slipknot]

Good. Keep the motion control on the Wii, as the games made for it are made for motion controls. Besides when im in a lazy mood i dont want to be having to wave my arms around like a mad man.

[picopir8]

They are not holding off because they want to, they are holding off because they have to. The Wii uses 3 axis acceleration in both the wiimote and nunchuck and, 2 axis infrared positioning, and 1 axis rotation sensor, not to mention 2 axis analog stick. Thats 11 axis control. The 360 has 2 2-axis analog sticks, and 2 1 axis analog triggers for a total of 6 axis control or about 1/2 what the wii has.

Microsoft would have to totally rewrite the controller subsystem and the wireless controller protocol in order to get something even close. That assumes that both those can be updated via firmware updates which may not be the case. Also, any such update must also remain backward compatable with both old controllers (so people are not forced to buy all new controllers), and old games (new controller would need to be able to be used in old games that do not support it). And you would need to convince developers that its worthwhile to write games to utilize a new controller which few people have purchased. Its unlikely that M$ could get this done and get it done in a timely manner.

[Martinchris23]

I agree with MS - the Jury's still out as to whether motion-sensor is the way forward. We'll see in 12 months time if the Wii is still being played as much as it is today.

[stevenalvarado]

MS has to investigate in some way if xb360 owners really want some kind of motion control in their .... mmm controllers. if they dont, like in the above opinions, then MS will pay attention to them and will not even try to build one. why MS would add motion control if the majority of xb360 owners dont want it or arent interested in it?

[Deihmos]

I don't want to waive my hands like an idiot when playing. Not interested in motion sensing at all.

[kermit007]

I'm glad they're not. Devs have stated that motion controls are sloppy.

Did you just read the title or the actual article? It's new technology for Devs to deal with, and they don't know entirely how to handle it yet. Mainly this boils down to Western Devs not knowing how to utilize, or work with the new control schemes yet (largely a lack of imagination) while Devs in Japan are making massive progress in the area. At least when analog came about on consoles it'd been fairly well established on PCs for an extremely long time, and it still has it's issues. Motion sensing is a cutting edge use for videogames now, and some people just don't know how to cope yet.

Getting back on topic though, MS will never implement motion sensing for the 360. They allready have enough legacy problems to deal with in regards to the HD or no HD thing they brought upon themselves. Last thing they want to try and do is tell people "you gota buy all new controllers to play Halo 3!"

[Legendary Badass]

Like most of you, I'm glad the 360 doesn't have motion controll. I wouldn't want some afterthough sixaxis on my 360. There are too many genres of games that would suffer if delevopers were forced to implement motion.

[Tiuk]

Good, I hope they don't implement it. I have a Wii and it's fun to play with friends, but I really don't want motion control on the 360. IMO they've designed the best game pad I've ever used, just leave it alone.

[peachy997]

wasnt there that custom tilt control added to anormal 360 controller, i remember seeing a youtube of it ...or was it a fake?

but i agree it isnt really needed the system wasnt designed for it and none of the games in production have it in mind. without it everything works jus great..... if you really want motion control buy a wii its a great system with a reasonable price tag for once ,and im very happy with it and my 360, jus wish wasnt so long to wait for mario galaxy and party,and halo 3!!!!

a system custom designed to use a feature is always gonna out perform a system with an add on

This post has been edited by peachy997: Apr 3 2007, 07:57 PM

[spinr34]

wasnt there that custom tilt control added to anormal 360 controller, i remember seeing a youtube of it ...or was it a fake?

but i agree it isnt really needed the system wasnt designed for it and none of the games in production have it in mind. without it everything works jus great..... if you really want motion control buy a wii its a great system with a reasonable price tag for once ,and im very happy with it and my 360, jus wish wasnt so long to wait for mario galaxy and party,and halo 3!!!!

a system custom designed to use a feature is always gonna out perform a system with an add on

yeah there was. i think it was just a two position, and in the case of the modder he used it for left and right. there was a video of him playing need for speed with it, looked as accurate as anything on the wii or ps3.

[Antinous-ODY]

I thought the custom one had 4 axis.. i thought there was a forward/backward and also a left right... either way, if that one guy did it, and I don't see any real reason to believe otherwise.. it's not nearly as complicated as picopir8 would have you believe. Custom controllers are used all the time, and often for only one game.. Guitar Hero, DDR, House of the Dead/Silent Scope, Steel Battalion... The nintendo running pad...

[SphtKr76]

If they made a game that required motion control for the 360, I would not buy it. When I sit down after a long days work to play some games, I want to move as little as possible. Apparently Nintendo and Sony feel that their players are too fat, hence the need for SOME kind of physical movement during their useless lives.