Kotaku
Rumors about Microsoft entering the waggle market with a specialized, Wii Remote concept swiping controller have been popping up for the better part of a year. Talk of a partnership with Gyration, speculation that Bungie had quashed a proposal for a motion controller tied to Halo 3 and murmurs that Rare was now tasked with leading the waggle wand brigade have been bubbling up frequently. Microsoft and Gyration have both denied or brushed off the rumors, but we've just heard it pop up again.
According to sources that will go unnamed, Microsoft may be showing its Xbox 360 motion controller as early as next week to press, a controller geared specifically for Banjo Kazooie 3 gameplay. In fact, we've heard that select members of the press have already seen the controller—in use on the next Banjo Kazooie title—in action.
Microsoft plans to show off some of its 2008 and 2009 wares at an event next week, one that hits during the Game Critics Awards at which some of the "Best of E3" awards are judged. Occasionally, NDAs and embargoes ensure that what is shown at the Game Critics Awards doesn't go public until E3 proper, which may keep details on a the rumored new Xbox 360 controller under wraps.
However, Microsoft's event next Tuesday, at which the new Banjo Kazooie is confirmed to be shown to North American press, comes with an embargo that lifts before the event kicks off proper. That means that whatever is on display for press will be revealed next Tuesday morning to everyone.
Keep in mind that an Xbox 360 controller with motion control capabilities is still a rumor for now. We've heard some conflicting information about the controller's visibility to the media and that Microsoft may hold onto any new hardware reveals until E3. We'll know for sure Tuesday morning what's in store.
Comments
geez, "who needs hdmi" "O were having hdmi" "Who needs blu ray" "o were hacing blu ray (maybe) "who needs motion controller" "o we're having one"
And so it begins
Sorry Nintendo, Microshit has to have it all.
Package it with every game that uses it or suffer the consequences of every expensive optional peripheral that has ever been released on a console.
(they won't.)
The Banjo Kazooie title was in action at Microsofts meeting for MVPs in seattle the other week.
@Eddy666: Proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling would have helped your comment greatly.
Man, this is a bad move by MS. Gotta say.
All it will really do is interest the three people who have interest in motion controls that don't already have a Wii, and most of the "hardcore" gamers it will negatively effect which is a massive chunk of the 360 user base.
This has been denied for years.
@male roof blower (CFB): Yo. Let's like, rag on other people's comments, instead of commenting on the article itself. Sounds good.
Waggle, especially second-hand waggle, is not, and will never be a viable control scheme. Really, I don't see what everyone sees in it. It's horrifically inaccurate.
@male roof blower (CFB): Welcome to the internet.
Hmm, control specialized for Banjo Kazooie? Unless they're changing Banjo's genre, I'm curious to see how their motion controller works compared to SMG, the nearest analog I can think of on the Wii.
Also, it better come with something for the Wii Sports crowd if MS is really trying to challenge the Wii in some way. If this is just a special controller for a few games, all of them aimed at traditional gamers-Banjo is stretching it on that, sure, but most people wouldn't recognize the name is my point-I don't think its going to be that great a success.
Then again, perhaps it will improve on the WiiMote in some fashion. I'm very curious now :)
Awesome.
Might as well as reveal the new logo at "National Health DDR but-should-cash in on...health" trend.
This is a lie. My leafblower is looking less sexier lately.
So, is this going to be like the SceneIt controller then, too? Used for one game, packed in with said game, and forgotten afterwards?
@Eddy666: or who needs rumble or who needs more storage or who needs... oh shut up!
And boom goes the console war.
If this actually happens, I'm calling it right now:
"The Force Unleashed" for the XBOX 360 will be revealed to be Waggle-Enabled. Shock, awe and hundreds of Wii-version preorders canceled.
Hopefully it's more responsive than the Wii-mote.
@Archaotic: ...or used with every Wii game that is ported to the 360 with better graphics.
I'd like to at least see a picture of the rumored controller before deciding if this is a bad idea or not. I know when I saw the mini games in GTA4, I thought they would be a hell of a lot more fun if you were using a wii controller, so there may be some potential.
Best use of Photoshop ever. That is all.
They would be better off packaging the remote with a Wii Sprts/play combo, If They make the new Banjo waggle only I konw it will only drive people away. I'm not saying that waggle is bad, but If I wanted waggle I would have bought a Wii, IMO the Xwaggle will suffer the same fate as the Eyetoy.
@DarkCode: This is a bad move how again? Oh yeah... because people will see an option and go like, I don't want control options so I'm not going to buy this platform or this game because I hate options....riiight. Guitar Hero, Rockband, DDR, and even the Wii are all suffering from peripheral options. Maybe you want to rethink your argument assuming you at least thought about it.
@DaiMacculate: It would have to improve on the WiiMote to have any real hold, I would think. In any case, I'm open to it, as long as the price is right.
@tex1ntux: Actually, if games start getting truly ported from the Wii to the 360 on anything resembling a regular basis, that can only be bad for the 360....:)
@okenny :): your no better then him
Expect X-Sports, Super Master Chief Galaxy and Super Smash Cousins Combat in the VERY near future...
@tex1ntux:
In other words...used with nothing but Banjo 3. Since 99% of Wii games already have 360 versions, and the ones that don't are either exclusive TO it, or so bad even their publishers wouldn't waste the money porting them.
Okay... so if the rumor's to be believed, they're developing a wiimote-like controller for a former nintendo-exclusive franchise.
My response to that would be generic at best.
@tex1ntux: That would be cool, I would def buy No more Heroes, and Okami. I'm still planning on picking up a cheap Wii once the Wii market bottoms out(we all know it will, to many casual players that will be wanting to get rid of them)to play Mario Kart and Galaxy.
@Mit: You do realize that not all peripherals ship with consoles. The Wii itself is living proof of that. But if you look a little further, you should see dozens of more examples.
@slomo788: It is pretty good. The Kotaku crew is getting good at this.
It's gonna suck!
seriously how much does Rare wish they were still with Nintendo. All this time they could have been pumping out better games on the Wii and made gobs of money while on the 360 MS doesn't know what to do with them and they are left to flounder on 1 or 2 games.
Either that or Rare just sux now.
@Rockwallaby: He was being sarcastic. okenny has vowed to ridiculize every fanboy of Kotaku. Even I am afraid of his acidic humor...
I proclaim here and now, for the entire Internet to see: This will work for Microsoft.
@Rockwallaby: How so?
@jayntampa: What's interesting is the main problems with the WiiMote are the sensitivity of the accelerometers and only having one "sensor" to orient on. To really improve upon it would almost require more sensors, which then becomes a challenge to construct in a "universal" manner.
So this is a product which, even if it fails, may still be fascinating in some way, kind of like the 32X :)
@Archaotic: exclusive dosnet always mean will never show up on another console, there are alot of great Wii games that would sell great on 360 like No More Heroes, and Resident Evil 4: Wii version(ya we'd need a name change on that one, lol) that would get the money the publishers deserve. MS unlike Nintendo actualy has a QC bracnch that would kill most of the crappier Wii games.
if microsoft can do it right by releasing one that does 1:1 motion control, basically making it react to your exact hand movements... then look out...
Real lightsaber action, none of this "move it twice to the right for a swash" kinda effect
NOOOOOoooooOOOOoooOOOOOoo!
Why are you making a motion controller you're not going to steal any potential Wii buyers and you're just going to look bad.
And why the hell are you tying this knock off of a gimmick to my BANJO!
Seriously, wtf @Microsoft. Wtf.
ALL ABOARD THE FAILBOAT
...seriously, Microsoft, what the hell?
@Netnavi: IMO Rare makes 5 bad games to 1/2 good games. just try to rermember all the less popular games they released on the N64 and GC most of them were all trash, or clones of Mario 64. teh only games they made that were good IMO were Conker's bad fur day, and goldeneye
In all seriousness though, theres a chance for this controller to actualy be crazy and have much more possibilities then the wiimote. Hopefully more responsive and lives up to the previous dreams of what the wiimote could have been.
@karasu is my homeboy: Honestly, it's not a bad idea. Everyone got motion sensors now, except MS. And I know I won't buy the Wii, but I'm getting the 360 soon. I wouldn't mind waggling from time to time without having to shell out another $250.
After throughly reading through the patent on the MS motion sensing device I want one.
It's a mouse... that doesn't require a surface to use... and has a analog/roll ball on the top... and has more buttons... and has 6 way motion sensing... and speed sensing... and directional use...
Damn, Microsoft is failing and now try to steal nintendo's flame. It's sad
Look at the original PSX controller there were no twin sticks, but most gamers ended up bying a dualshock, I'm guessing that MS will include the Xstick(or what ever they call it with the console from release on. so forget about a large consoleprice-drop.)
Plus PS3 ustomers are going to have to buy a DS3 and trash their 6axis, and Wii owners will be buying that new Balance board, and ....
@Sinnbox: MS and QC don't go together, if by QC you mean quality control.
@Sinnbox:
I seriously doubt No More Heroes would get a port, and nobody would buy Resident Evil 4 again on 360 when 5 is already on the way. Unfortunately, those are really the two BIG third party games on Wii...there isn't much else.
@Sinnbox: why do people call the pso the psx... the psx was the Playstation X, and was a complete rip off of the Xbox....
Sorry for being off topic, it confuses me.
Am I the only one that thinks if they can take the motion controls of Metroid and improve upon it for CoD4 and Halo 3 it would be great? Man, I might actually be able to snipe then. =p Looking forward to the potential. I am sure many games that can use it and still get a lot of play time on live will offer updates to utilize it.
@Sinnbox: *raises Eyebrow*
So you're saying the 360 *never* gets crappy games? Did that change from the original Xbox or something?
That has nothing to do with the mounds of shovelware on the Wii, which are prodigous. But that has more to do with the development cost equation on the Wii and the console's stupifying sales numbers than it does MS being some type of quality judge barring the gates to the 360. I've played enough ass games on both consoles to know MS is no better than Nintendo in that regard.
Know what console has more shovelware than either? The PS2, because it has sold so many units.
There is also a decent argument that the 360 gets more good games than the Wii, but since the console is older and its games have been in development longer that hardly seems fair at this point. Personally I own both and play entirely different types of games on each, but yeah I just haven't seen this awesome QC you are attributing to MS on the majority of games on the console, sure on Halo or GTAIV they went the extra mile, but then there are games like LO or that ST game bethesda did, totally broken if not just crappy in the case of the latter.
@Sinnbox: I can't see why it will not succeed. But I don't know if it's fair to compare gamers from 2 generations ago to today's. And the DS3 was begged for by all PS3 owners and is considered the real controller of the PS3. Wii Fit is one of the most anticipated games for the Wii this year. MS lied about any form of "X-Mote" and no hyped game is promised with it. Again, it might (or not) be a neat idea, but I'm not sure it will flourish for the same reasons as Sony and Nintendo.
@DaiMacculate:
You're not insinuating that Lost Odyssey is broken or crappy, are you? Pistols at dawn, sir. Pistols at dawn.
@eunoia: PSX was the pre-release code name for the Playstation, widely used on the early gaming internet, and its just stuck around. Not to be confused with the Japan only HDD-bearing PS2 that I assume you're talking about :)
@Leanid: yes I mean QC, but by QC here i mean making sure that shovelware dosent get shoved out the door al the time, they do have their share of issues such as RROD,and bugs galore, but they would never allow someone to shove a free internet flash game on a disk and sell it for $50 apop, maybe in XLA for $5. Sony and MS both have a department that makes sure that tons of crappy games don't get released. but old Ninty will retty much put out for anyone that has royalty money.