Now this is interesting. We've known about some sort of motion controller for the XBOX 360 for some time now, but it has remained shrouded in a thick cloud of mystery and PR babble.
Now however, developer Motus have shown off a motion-sensing break-apart pad for the XBOX 360. The major question is whether this is a third party offering or the real deal first party contraption.
Developer Motus shows off motion-sensing, break-apart pad, but is it for third or first-party production? Nowhere on their website is it made clear if this is simply a third party product for the XBOX 360 or if the hardware developer have signed a deal with Microsoft to bring the controller, codenamed 'Darwin', to the system.
The developer boasts:
'Darwin uses a number of sensors that allow it to know where it is (kind of like a personal GPS, but using a different kind of technology) It is self-contained, meaning what you hold is all you need, no IR strips or other devices for a reference point.'
It also provides a visual description of each element of the controller, showing that it breaks in half, which will apparently allow for three different modes of play. Single player with two hands, one hand or even multiplayer with one person using each half. Sounds pretty clever to us...if it works.
The company website takes a number of cheap swipes at the Nintendo Wii Remote in highlighting what it sees as strengths of their Darwin system. Time will tell just how good or bad the product seems to be, but it certainly shows a lot of promise, albeit fairly unoriginal promise.
It has been rumoured that Microsoft will unveil some sort of motion-sensing controller at its E3 keynote conference on Monday July 14th, but speaking to MCV they refused to comment as to whether the Motus pad is what they will be showing at the event stating "We do not comment on rumour or speculation".
So there you have it. You can check out a nice little demonstration of the controller by clicking here.
As always, share your views below...