The Gyration thing still mystifies me - it has to be patents alone.

The Wiimote uses accelerometers and is extremely hardy - many have survived being thrown at walls, TVs, and anything else hapless enough to get in the way. They seem to be made of classic Nintendium.

Gyration mice are overpriced, badly built, use a large cubic gyro sensor with an actuall kind of physical gyro in them that can develop loud squeals and tones, and will often give up the ghost if dropped a foot or two even once. We got a bunch at work and it was a terrible mistake - we can't deploy them as fast as they break, partly because it's so hard to order more than 6 at once!!

fuchikoma

Whats with the design? on the lower part it looks like the man squashes some kind of a snail, on the upper part he presses some kind of a robot. And yeah, I'm sleepy.

SegevRaz

BOP IT! TWIST IT! SHAKE IT! TAP IT!

Green-clad Gamer Dude

They seem to copy the wii remote, nyko made concept but it was wireless. I see big lawsuit coming very soon. The controls seem little off, like unworkable.

zkotaku

"Console-makers need motion-based control"

Says the man trying to sell his motion-based controller. Console-makers do not need it, he just needs it to sell.

DaveKap

Now there's an argument I hadn't heard before...maybe I'm getting slow. But the idea that devs are dumping a shitload of money into the Wii with no possible alternative cash-flow from other consoles very nearly demands that the other consoles incorporate motion controls (aka "waggle").

When I look at it this way, it seems pretty stupid to not go ahead and "jump onto the bandwagon" of waggle. I like my Wii, but I actually like and PLAY my 360. Cross-platform releases of motion-sensitive/controlled games would get me to buy more of these devs games...but I'm pretty much done with putting money into my dust-covered Wii.

FatalisticDread

Behold the black version of this doohickey -> [www.motusgames.com]

jsf49

TRWTF is, "[T]hey invest a lot of money in these Wii titles."

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

@DigitalHero:

How old are you? That's such an immature comment!

magictroll

@KEITH1437: Agreed, I'm not digging the design either.

@karasu is my homeboy: Software developers could also want to make games that are bundled with this peripheral. I think MS would go for more of an in-house solution.

TheHun

So it is official now, there, I said it

Masterpain22

Why do most 3rd party stuff look so cheap. And they miss the whole punt of the wii. It was that the controller wont scare people off . But just look at it.

Ett

Wow. Now, I'm sure these are prototypes, and all, but I've got to be honest, here - wow, is that ugly.

But ignore that for a sec, because ugly doesn't really matter if it *feels* good. There's a whole lot of drunk people who spend their entire life chasing that one basic principle.

So the only question left is whose is this... and I'm kinda wondering whether the large number of hits you get when you go googling for "ps3 breaks apart" means that we're asking the wrong console manufacturer to clarify.

gblock

"said Motus chairman Satayan Mahajan."

Can we believe Satan?

DigitalHero

This looks like the kind of cheap shit Tiger Electronics put out in the mid-90's.

FAIL.

Vanguarde

The videos have actually been on youtube since Feb. 13 of this year. Just search "Darwin controller."

YesILikeGuys

"There's a lot of rumor - some of it true, some of it not true."

In other words, "... is this the long-rumored [PS3 break-apart] motion controller?"

jsf49

It'd have to be REAAAAALLY finely tuned to be any good. Wii controls were all well and good until you realised they were not all well and good.

Ryumeka

In my hones opinions, i think it looks like shit.

KEITH1437

I don't know, holding the controller with two hands like a fishing pole seems to miss what makes the Wiimote-nunchuck combo so special--when you swing a wiimote, its like swinging a tennis racket. You can basically use your imagination to put anything in place of the Wiimote. But with this controller, with all those buttons and both hands...seems to completly miss the point.

How did they miss that?

I mean, its not that hard to figure out that is where the Wiis charm comes from!

fenderfuel08

They really need to get over the novelty aspect. Motion controls = the suck.

GnatB

Man if I was Microsoft's PR guy I'd be pissed right now. He pretty much went out of his way to take the wind out of the perverbial sails regarding MS's new motion peripheral.

Shh...no sudden movements

You don't need to contact Microsoft, I can already tell you what they're going to say.

"We are not involved in the development of a motion controller."

That said, I wonder if they're denying it so that they can simply make a big announcement at E3. Although it wouldn't be much of a surprise now.

Silent Predator

YES. Now I can waggle my way through Gears of War, just as I had dreamed of.

nonpareil

I feel like they're just using the Newton for publicity.

"A few companies approached us and asked us to be an enabler for their motion technology..."

leads me to believe this is more about PC gaming. How many console makers are there? "A few" is more than one. The only possible company suspected is Micrsoft. "Some true, some not..." there's only one rumor, right?

I feel like they're riding the convienient similarity, that's all.

karasu is my homeboy

This can't be it. The Banjo video showed that you have to press X and waggle the controller, this doesn't have X, and using a joypad and this remote thing would be rather unorthodox.

Fadakar

@chuffhoncho: Notice how the top part is 'connected' to the bottom part and the whole thing is gripped in an overtly sexual nature?

Definitely Creature Creator'd.

Ampillion = That Man.

@jsf49: It looks like it was made with the Spore Creature Creator.

chuffhoncho

@noelix: You will never see that! EVER!

It would never happen. How could you guard or parry with no resistance from another player.

You may as well just grab a couple of sticks and beat your mates to death Jedi style!

GOD

@FatalisticDread: That would be because you are a core gamer. The Wii itself hasn't failed, developers have failed the Wii. It's fairly obvious at this point that most have treated it like the poor man's system this generation from the core gamer point. The 360 caters exclusively to this group. Developers (or moreso producers) have clearly hopped on the trend of casual, cheap, shallow games for the system to cash in.

As I've said in previous comment sections, it's a little late to jump into the 'waggle' bandwagon, as again, the motion controller won't be as widespread throughout the player base to really make much of an incentive for developers to make good games actually using it... outside of, perhaps, first-party efforts aimed at supporting it.

In other words, at this point in the game, the motion controls for the 360 will at best only open the floodgates for the shittiest of shovelwares from the Wii's library, not any of the actual good games... is that what you really want?

Ampillion = That Man.

Will it have a sex toy attachement?

[kotaku.com]

GOD

All I want to see is a frickin lightsaber controller that moves in my exact motion on screen. Ship it with the game and I'm sold.

noelix

It seems as if it would be extremely awkward to try and control a game like that- if it uses both sides at the same time for movement of some sort. If the two halves needed to be connected at that time for some reason, it would be rather uncomfortable for most- and look quite awkward when held in the lap.

Aerokii

@jsf49:
Thank you. I keep seeing MS getting bombarded with this rumor (see final line of this article) but, as you mentioned, it sounds MORE like the rumor that was attached to Sony.

So what gives?

DARTH_TIGRIS

I don't get what the fuck everyone's problem is. That thing is no more complicated than the wiimote+nunchuck. It's practically the same thing, but the two halves attach, which is an A++ idea for some games (like the lightsaber, the two-handed gun (instead of a shitty 'zapper' attachment).

Looks cool.

Draylorn

I don't want any motion controls on my 360. It would just open the door for shovelware. Who knows though MS will probably have a better quality control than Nintendo.

DazeOfWar

@fenderfuel08: Given the two wriststraps, im pretty sure the thing comes apart. I dont love the design, but having two parts of equal mass is better than the flimsy nunchuck imo.

Thrillhaus

@jsf49: Yeah, I totally agree with you regarding the color schemes. This leads me to believe that's they're probably trying to attract that special attention (from Sony or MS), which in turn leads me to believe that they don't have any deals going at all, but rather they're hoping to get one. Or two.

chuffhoncho

@chuffhoncho: Hmmm...I thought it invoked more of a wakizashi or tanto aesthetic. But what I was really trying to point out are the color schemes. The white with green LED's matches Xbox well while the black with blue LED's matches PS3 well. It's a toss-up on who this might be for, aside from PC.

jsf49

one won´t be able to garner much positive hype with something which looks and feels way worse in comparison...
where´s th edit button when you need it?..

tomsamson

I think it would be nice to have a motion controller on the ps3 (not the pseudo ps2 controller) or the 360. Not for every game,not even half of em ideally, but yeah,for some game types they are nice. Even better if they would be more accurate than the wiimote.
The problem is a standalone third party controller like that won´t sell well,it would have to come with the console or have a great game bundled with it at least.
Also yup, the design of this one is quite bad.
I think its sad the wiimote isn´t that precise but besides that its quite a great design,the wiimote itself just as being able to attach and use the nunchuck like that, one won´t be able to garner much positive hype which looks and feels way worse in comparison.

tomsamson

Its way too big, and it doesnt look good, lets see what happens...

TOCATL

This is sensationalist crap. This website has been around for months now and Microsoft wouldn't outsource an initiative this important to a bunch of guys making third party controllers and showing youtube videos? on their mediocre website.

This story is stupid and Kotaku should be ashamed for falling into this obvious ploy to get media attention from this low rent company.

Does no site have shame when e3 comes around?

thefoxtrot

@DazeOfWar: Buy the good motion control games and ignore the crap, not that hard really.

sereal

Console-makers need motion-based control, and for publishers it makes sense too... they invest a lot of money in these Wii titles while not reaping the benefit on other platforms..."

I must admit that the guy hit a point here. All major publishers are putting a lot of time and money in Wii only title and most of the time, they have a PS2 game with motion control mapping. If you can have a motion-based control on other platform (PS3, XBox, PC, MAC, or other), this may open a door for better motion-based games.

I still believe that this controller sucks since it seems too big. Even the guys in the videos seems uncorfortable using it :S

slimky

That looks very uncomfortable to use.

crunks

@cynopt: And now the videos have showed up, I feel like a twat for posting that. Anyhoo, should gewd.

cynopt

My vote is that they won't make much on this thing.

EmeraldDragon

This looks... not really bad at all.
I've been skeptical up to now just because that's always a safe approach with MS, but assuming this thing comes apart at the seam there, which it should if they're bothering to put two wrist straps on it, this ought to work out just fine.

cynopt

This thing looks like some kind of gigantic two-handed sex toy. With the size, button layout and the grip required to hold this monstrosity, it seems impossible to use without making it look like you're jacking off.

Vipre77

Bop It! Twist It!

VakeroRokero

BAH! If I can't point and shoot, what's the point? The big thing, to me anyway, with the Wii is the ability to aim. The waggle portions are usually only tolerated but once in awhile they work (ie MP3C & RE4). I really hope Microsoft has something of their own, considering all the FPS they have that would benefit from being able to aim and turn a little more intuitively.

hollowfreak

@Ampillion = That Man.: Really? I'm a core gamer because I think that motion/waggle is a reality of gaming today? 2 out of 3 consoles out there have some sort of motion-sensing controller. Rumors suggest that the next iterations of the PSP and DS will also have motion-sensing controls. The iPhone and its clones have motion-sensing abilities. Gyration (the company that worked with Nintendo on the Wii Remote) was created to bring motion-sensing to today's electronics and make computer mice that have motion-sensing tech in them.

I own a Wii, PS3, and a 360 (not focusing on other platforms for the sake of this argument). Between the three, the 360 gets the majority of the attention. When I'm feeling too lazy, I'll get my ass off the couch and play Rock Band (360), Wii Fit, Wii Sports, We Ski, or WarioWare. Having the ability to play all of those "types" of games on one console would be ideal. I can't play Wii Sports with my friends that aren't in my living room. But I could if the game was on my 360. (Ignore the fact that Wii Sports is a first-party game and would never be on the 360...Microsoft could come up with their own version and it could be just as good and fun.)

Hardcore or Core (or the dreaded "Casual") doesn't really matter in this instance, because the central point is that gaming is continually changing and bits and pieces of each companies' current console will be incorporated into ALL of these companies' next consoles. If you honestly think that the next 360 isn't going to have an X-mote, I'll bet you $20 on it right now. With the possible reconditioning of the Xbox Live Marketplace into a "3-D" experience, it only makes sense that you put a motion-sensing controller into your hands and navigate by gestures and movement. Imagine some type of gloves (NOT the power glove...that thing could be used during welding it was so damn bulky) that you could put on that allowed the system to read your hands like a mouse in Google Earth. "Push" the screen to the left, right, up, down, whatever. Why not? It could read your hands' positions during bowling, golf, FPSs even.

You aren't seeing the bigger picture. MS isn't catering to the hardcore anymore. They are trying to get your mom and dad and sister and girlfriend to play your 360. The game devs are plopping shit onto the Wii because it makes them money. MS and Sony want some of that money...they'll dumb-down your precious Xbox and Playstation to get it. It's business, plain and simple.

SONY: Where'd my money go?
MS: It's over there.
SONY: Where?
MS: Nintendo has it...cheeky bastards.
SONY: How do I get it back?
MS: Make a motion-sensing controller.
SONY: I did! It was called the Sixaxis!
MS: Never heard of it...does it work like Nintendo's?
SONY: Well, no...
MS: Does it really work at all?
SONY: *sigh* ...no.

I know this is long ago in a post far away on page two or three by now, but I figured I'd retort just the same. I'll stop now.

FatalisticDread

If this is true: the 360 finally will have a working D-Pad.

dowingba

I seem to be one of the few that really doesn't want motion controls at all. I want to relax while playing games, not look like an idiot flailing a controller everywhere.

BC4T

@dowingba: amen to that the d pad does suck on that thing. I just can't believe the credit these guys give themselves: "Console-makers need motion-based control..." Um, no, not in my opinion they don't. I agree with alot of the other posters who say that motion based control is more of a novelty thing. Yeah, my wiimote works great when I'm on the main menu, but transitioning that into a game controller isn't as good. I still play Brawl with a gamecube controller, and think I always will. I don't know, let them make their silly controllers, I guess. I know that I like to just sit down after dealing with everyone's bullshit all day, relax, and play a game, not wave my arm around like some idiot. If I wanted to feel like I'm playing sports or skateboarding on the wii fit board, I'd just go outside and do those things. I don't know... whatever.

willparry79

"I don' wanna play wif no dill-doe." - Chad Warden

Murmaider

And this is the reason why Wii 2 will repeat Wii's success in 2012.

gencid