Xbox 360 " Newton" Motion Sensing Controller Confirmed
I can now confirm the existence of the Xbox Wiimote clone project and I can tell you the project code name : " Newton"

The " Newton" controller' s code name is after the physicist Sir Isaac Newton. The internal Microsoft engineering code name is for this controller is " Newton" as in Newtonian Physics relating to gravity, inertia and acceleration. This is not to be confused with the defunct Apple Newton PDA, this is just and internal name, when this controller comes to market it will have a retail name.

The hardware is still being worked on and it might be a couple months before we see leaked shots of prototypes when they start to mass manufacture it but I am sure that there is an early software developer kit and prototype out there.


Nintendo is not the first company to make something like the Wiimote. The concept for the Wiimote has been called a 3d Mouse or a " Flying Mouse" . There is a company called Gyration that makes wireless controllers and is an early innovator in these kind of controllers. Gyration owns a lot of applicable patents for motion-sensing controllers and in 2001 Nintendo hired the company to help them design a motion sensing one handed controller that eventually became the Wiimote.

Nintendo is an investor in Gyration but they don' t own it. In 2001 Nintendo licensed patents from Gyration and used it to develop the Wii. They are US application patents 5898421 and 5440326 which are about a device tracking human motion and translating it into linear movement of computer graphic images. So Nintendo does not wholly own all the patents involved in the Wiimote.

I wonder if there is truth to it

Well this guy sounds credible.

I' m not saying there won' t be a Microsoft-mote, but his links are worth far more to me than his " assurance" that we' ll see the " Newton" by year' s end, and his industry analysis.

This sucks. M$ ran out of ideas to get more SKUs so they gonna make more controllers?

Why does it suck ? Dont give me the shit about running out of ideas . Innovation is dead . Deal with it ..

I can' t wait to totally ignore this when it comes out.

Why does it suck ? Dont give me the shit about running out of ideas . Innovation is dead . Deal with it ..

It sucks because M$ is releasing updates every couple of months. Release them all at the same time or keep them till the next gen. It sucks for people who will have to buy new consoles/controllers every couple of months. Theres a great variation between the lowest end and the highest one. I think people and developers will get confused/sick of this.

I can' t wait to totally ignore this when it comes out.

Lol I hear that.

ORIGINAL: Joe Redifer

I can' t wait to totally ignore this when it comes out.

Ditto.

ORIGINAL: GrayFox

It sucks because M$ is releasing updates every couple of months. Release them all at the same time or keep them till the next gen. It sucks for people who will have to buy new consoles/controllers every couple of months. Theres a great variation between the lowest end and the highest one. I think people and developers will get confused/sick of this.

Dude, it' s not that extreme. It' s not like the Wii-mote rip off is going to become the standard remote. It' s just going to be an accessory. Also the variation between the lowest end 360 and the Elite is the harddrive, nothing else so your argument there has no validity.

Sony has been doing the same crap. How many different PS3 units have their been now (in a shorter span of time than the 360)? The Dual Shock 3 coming out is pretty much on the same level as MS releasing a new controller.

Everything you just said has no substance.

Dude, it' s not that extreme. It' s not like the Wii-mote rip off is going to become the standard remote. It' s just going to be an accessory. Also the variation between the lowest end 360 and the Elite is the harddrive, nothing else so your argument there has no validity.

I think M$ will give it some importance to grab people' s attention. There are a lot of variations: first the a small HD then HDMI then a bigger HD now there are rumors about a bluray SKU (mostly bullshit but you never know) and finally a motion controller (not even mentioning the mobo enhancements). If i was a developer i would be confused as to what should i stick with and as a gamer i would be angry if a developer didnt use a feature that i payed to get.

Sony has been doing the same crap. How many different PS3 units have their been now (in a shorter span of time than the 360)? The Dual Shock 3 coming out is pretty much on the same level as MS releasing a new controller.

Not the same. The different PS3 SKUs are very close and almost have no differences. Different HD sizes is passable but having an HD in one SKU and not having it on the other is not. Also about the DS3 its the same, If you dont have it you wont lose much and it can be enabled in a small game patch while you have to design the game from the ground up to enable motion controlling.

Edit: Some spelling mistakes.

Why does it suck ? Dont give me the shit about running out of ideas . Innovation is dead . Deal with it ..

-It' s tacky.
-It' s unnecessary.
-It' s going to be more expensive than it' s worth. Guaranteed.
-It' s going to attract piss-poor developers with shovelware titles to the 360, especially the XBLM. Also guaranteed.
-The good 360 developers won' t have experience with motion control, giving us the same tired titles we saw on the Wii for another 2 years.

Content Edit:

The Dual Shock 3 coming out is pretty much on the same level as MS releasing a new controller.

I disagree.

Playstation owners expected rumble, because they' d had it for 2 generations previous. It was only addressing an expectation that their userbase already had, whereas Microsoft Motion-Control is nothing more than a feeble attempt to scrape up the remnants from an already cornered market.

ORIGINAL: GrayFox

I think M$ will give it some importance to grab people' s attention. There are a lot of variations: first the a small HD then HDMI then a bigger HD now there are rumors about a bluray SKU (mostly bullshit but you never know) and finally a motion controller (not even mentioning the mobo enhancements). If i was a developer i would be confused as to what should i stick with and as a gamer i would be angry if a developer didnt use a feature that i payed to get.

Okay, wait a sec. You' re just being stupid now. Sure MS will try to support the controller if it comes out but they aren' t going to force developers to make games for it. My guess is it will be used mainly for XBLA games designed around it since that basically all the controller would be good for (like the Wii, only good for mini games... and even those suck).

Variations my ass. I' m calling you out right now for saying varying HD sizes is passable for the PS3 but making it a point to saying they started out with a small HD in the 360. That' s fanboyish right there. I' m also going to point out that the developers have been told they can' t program with an HD in mind just because not all consoles have the HD. That completely negates your argument because it' s not a factor.

Same thing with HDMI. It' s just a different thing to plug in. It' s not changing anything for developers or how the console functions.

MS has stated over and over that there will not be a BluRay SKU. Even if they did release it that' s not going to change anything for developers. It will still be mandatory that all games come out on DVD because MS' s entire goal is to make everything gaming wise fully functional on each SKU. All the addition will do is allow those with the consoles to watch BluRay movies.

Not the same. The different PS3 SKUs are very close and almost have no differences. Different HD sizes is passable but having an HD in one SKU and not having it on the other is not. Also about the DS3 its the same, If you dont have it you wont lose much and it can be enabled in a small game patch while you have to design the game from the ground up to enable motion controlling.

You' re right, it' s not the same. Sony makes different functionality out of the versions of the PS3. Backwards compatibility for example. Flash card readers, amount of USB slots, built in wireless have all varied from model to model. I find that far more significant than anything the 360 has had change.

For the DS3. I don' t care if it' s patched. It' s a new controller none the less. Sure it may not be a big deal but the motion sensor for the 360 (if it comes out) isn' t going to be a big deal to most people either. Most people realize the motion sensor controller is a gimmick and won' t be paying attention to it. Most will just use their standard controllers for their regular games.

If anything Sony is much more at fault for what you are claiming MS is doing. Personally I don' t really care because in both cases it' s not hindering developers at all.

You guys are pissed about this but u dont mind buying a ' new' DS every 2 years ...

The new DS' s don' t offer new useless features that games have to be programmed to use.

Nobody is forcing the developers to use it ...

Who says they are? I' m just pointing out that your (oops I' m sorry) ur comparison isn' t a good one. Nobody in this thread even mentioned the DS. Where is your data (oops there I go again) ur data saying that anyone (oops I keep messing up) ne1 in this thread has even bought more than one DS? Even if they did, it' s still not a good comparison.

Okay, wait a sec. You' re just being stupid now. Sure MS will try to support the controller if it comes out but they aren' t going to force developers to make games for it. My guess is it will be used mainly for XBLA games designed around it since that basically all the controller would be good for (like the Wii, only good for mini games... and even those suck).

I Had the idea that M$ will make it important to steal some light of Wii crowd.

Variations my ass. I' m calling you out right now for saying varying HD sizes is passable for the PS3 but making it a point to saying they started out with a small HD in the 360. That' s fanboyish right there.

First of all im NOT a fanboy. You dont see me going " Sony roxors joo" in every thread. I only mentioned Sony because you did. Sony have their own share of mistakes but this is not the point here. When i say passable, i mean that it is passable when im still not satisfied with it, not that i will go around smiling about that and calling it genius. The important part is that the HD is there in all SKUs. HDMI by itself is not a major variation but compunded with other things the stroy becomes different.

note: I made a mistake there saying a small HD and then bigger HD. I meant having an HD in one SKU and not having it in another. This is what happens when you post late at night lol.

I' m also going to point out that the developers have been told they can' t program with an HD in mind just because not all consoles have the HD. That completely negates your argument because it' s not a factor.

That is my point lol. Im paying for a HD but developers wont use it because the lowest end SKU doesnt have one. HDs can be used for storing movies and other things but i mainly buy a gaming console to play games.

MS has stated over and over that there will not be a BluRay SKU. Even if they did release it that' s not going to change anything for developers. It will still be mandatory that all games come out on DVD because MS' s entire goal is to make everything gaming wise fully functional on each SKU. All the addition will do is allow those with the consoles to watch BluRay movies.

Yeah its mostly BS but considering their history its not 100% written off. As far as i know they always denied upcoming SKUs in the past.

You' re right, it' s not the same. Sony makes different functionality out of the versions of the PS3. Backwards compatibility for example. Flash card readers, amount of USB slots, built in wireless have all varied from model to model. I find that far more significant than anything the 360 has had change.

I dont know about you but i didnt even use the card readers at all. Those and the number of USB ports wont affect my gaming experience. I agree that backwards compatibility is a huge feature but then again it wont affect this gen' s titles.

For the DS3. I don' t care if it' s patched. It' s a new controller none the less. Sure it may not be a big deal but the motion sensor for the 360 (if it comes out) isn' t going to be a big deal to most people either. Most people realize the motion sensor controller is a gimmick and won' t be paying attention to it. Most will just use their standard controllers for their regular games.

If anything Sony is much more at fault for what you are claiming MS is doing. Personally I don' t really care because in both cases it' s not hindering developers at all.

I think Sony was forced to make those choices since most gamers were annoyed because the Sixaxis didnt have vibration feedback. Again i say that i had ( and still have) the idea that M$ wants this controller to be big.

ORIGINAL: GrayFox
HDMI by itself is not a major variation but compunded with other things the stroy becomes different.

Explain this. You keep saying there' s bee huge changes but all that' s been changed is the HDMI port. That' s it. You can' t say the HD because when it launched there was one with a HD and one without. It' s been like that from day one. Coming out with the Elite which has more memory is the equivalent of giving a person a bigger memory card.

That' s all the HD is, a memory unit.

That is my point lol. Im paying for a HD but developers wont use it because the lowest end SKU doesnt have one.

So why is it a concern? Your point is stupid. You' re not paying for the HD to have developers use it, you' re paying for the memory. That' s where the choice comes into play. You don' t want to pay for an HD because " developers won' t use it" ? FINE! MS gave you that choice, and made sure if you chose not to have an HD you could still play the games the the people with a HD play. It' s advantageous to gamers who don' t want to spend a larger chunk of money and it' s not hindering the developers. You have no point.

The addition of the HD just allows me to have more saves and download movies, demos, and trailers. That' s what its there for. That' s why people buy it.

I dont know about you but i didnt even use the card readers at all. Those and the number of USB ports wont affect my gaming experience. I agree that backwards compatibility is a huge feature but then again it wont affect this gen' s titles.

But the addition of a HDMI port is a big deal? Your logic is astounding. Did I say it would effect the titles? No, I said it would effect the functionality of the console which it does.

I think Sony was forced to make those choices since most gamers were annoyed because the Sixaxis didnt have vibration feedback.

They weren' t forced to do anything. They did it for sales. Once they were able to put rumble in (delayed because of patent infringement) they did it, but also held of the release to sell out of their old controllers (which from a sales stand point was smart).

Again i say that i had ( and still have) the idea that M$ wants this controller to be big.

Of course they want it to be big. If they didn' t think it was going to be big and make money they wouldn' t be wasting their time on it. They are taking a chance that they can grab the Wii market, which I think is dumb and they will fail but they think they can pull it off (if this controller comes out). Releasing a new product and wanting it to be successful is the point of business. You' re just stating the obvious. It' s really up to developers and gamers to decide if that will happen.

As of right now your argument is flawed to the core. It' s to the point where there is no argument. When you can tell me how HDMI has compounded with all these other changes you talk about (but don' t describe... because there aren' t any) make this hard for consumers or developers then you can talk. My house currently has a Pro system and my Elite. My best friend owns the Arcade (same thing as the Core). There is no functional difference between them. All of the play the same games, do the same things, have the same functionality. There is no difference other than storage space. My old Pro that I traded in didn' t have an HDMI port but my Elite (along with all the current 360s on the market) does. That' s all that' s changed and it' s just an input. There' s no story to compound. You' re coming off as ignorant just trying to argue to sound like you aren' t wrong.

Yeah its mostly BS but considering their history its not 100% written off. As far as i know they always denied upcoming SKUs in the past.

Microsoft won' t be using Blu-Ray for game media this generation. At all.

ORIGINAL: Joe Redifer

Who says they are? I' m just pointing out that your (oops I' m sorry) ur comparison isn' t a good one. Nobody in this thread even mentioned the DS. Where is your data (oops there I go again) ur data saying that anyone (oops I keep messing up) ne1 in this thread has even bought more than one DS? Even if they did, it' s still not a good comparison.

Ok , you got me there . All I was trying to say was nobody complains when Nintendo releases a new DS every two years ...


I feel this new controller wont even come out this gen ..