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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 final 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.
Take a look at the awesome infomercial for Gyration's wireless mouse.
Microsoft is rumored to have licensed patents from Gyration and are using them to develop their motion sensing Wiimote controller. Legally Microsoft is not ripping off Nintendo but rather licensing the technology from the same place that Nintendo got it. For an example the Guitar Hero and Rockband controllers both use the same patent that is owned by Konami that they developed for Guitar Freaks.
Back in January there was a notice for a job at Microsoft for a hardware test engineer that drops some big tips about the "Newton" project.
From what I've learned from internal sources at Microsoft I can corroborate the MTV News report that the Newton project is moving forward and I can believe the time table that it has been in development for a while now and they could get it on the market by winter of 2008. The Newton is also going to use an LED sensor bar that can be powered by the USB ports on the 360, it is going to have an LED sensor on the front accelerometer and gyroscope sensor that can detect tilt and motion, rumble motors, wireless two way data communication with the 360, a built in microphone for Xbox Live and voice-activated games.
If you cross the Gyration patents with Gyration existing product line, the Wiimote and the Job posting for a hardware test engineer, the reports about Rare (a Microsoft owned game studio) working on a XBLA game, The MTV report and my internal sources I can make some well informed estimation about the "Newton" controller
I have a good feeling that it might retail for 50 or 40 around the same price as a Wiimote and it might come with a 5 by 5 download code for the Conkers : Fast and the Furriest Xbox Live arcade game as a "Pack In" that can be downloaded after buying the stick much like how a code for Uno came with the Xbox Live Vision camera.
I have a feeling that there already is a clue about the final design of the "Newton" controller on the market right now and millions of Xbox gamers literally have it in their hands. I have a good feeling that the Xbox Play & Charge battery pack is going to fit on the bottom of the "Newton" controller. That would mean that it is going to be curved, about and inch wide and powered by two AA batteries or an equivalently recharge kit. The Xbox Wireless Racing wheel also can use the Play & Charge kit and was developed by the same division. They also have chargers and multiple product SKUs that use this battery pack.
I have a feeling that the "Newton" is likely to come in multiple colors such as white (chill), Black and Pink like the Play & Charge battery packs. There is a white Xbox on the market, and a Black one and a pink colored "Newton" controller would appeal to younger female gamers. That is a gaming market that Nintendo has with the Wii and DS and Microsoft would love to have play Xbox 360.
The Newton controller is going to have to small LED transmitters in a bar that you place next to your TV to triangulate the position of the remote by the LED sensor on the controller. The Big Button controllers that come with Sceen It! use an LED receiver that plugs into the USB ports. They also better get around to making a Xbox brand USB hub. Some of the original designs of the Xbox 360 had four USB ports in front and with all the Xbox accessories that use the USB ports would benefit from more available ports.
By making this controller Microsoft will be able to take away an exclusive feature that makes people want to buy a Nintendo Wii for around the cost of a standard wireless controller. If they bring an external Blu-Ray movie player they would take away one of the biggest reasons why current or potential Xbox owners would want to get a Playstation 3.
This controller would allow game developers to port Wii games to the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade platforms. I would love to see games like Zak and Wiki on Xbox 360. Heck I would pay real money for graphical adventure games on Xbox Live Arcade.
Microsoft wants to make the Xbox 360 appeal to Kids, girls, causal gamers and they want their current customer base to go out and buy yet another controller. If they bring out a controller like the Newton and lower the price of the Xbox 360 again it would be a tough blow to Nintendo. They want to beat Nintendo and Sony and they are willing to do anything to do that.
If we don't see this "Newton" Xbox controller by the end of the year I'll give my Wii to charity.
Jake at April 8, 2008 
Games
Comments
Jake, I never doubted ya buddy. If this is indeed true, this might change the Console war. Microsoft has a chance to gain their own "expanded gamers" from the Wii audience and actually bring some fun games on the table.
Hope to see MS make an announcement during E3.
Posted by: Danh at April 9, 2008 11:03 AM
Hi, my name is Charity cna I have your Wii when the time comes?
Posted by: charity at April 9, 2008 11:12 AM
I still think it will fail cause it ain't packed in and doesn't have the wii sports killer-up (though I dodn't think MS will have a problem blindly ripping off that as well)
Posted by: Quaro at April 9, 2008 11:17 AM
I think that Cooking Mama and WarioWare Smooth Moves are more a killer app for the Wii than Wii Sports.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 9, 2008 11:37 AM
I don't see the purpose of this, since no one buys third-party titles for the Wii in the first place. I only use the Wii for Nintendo titles...
Posted by: asurroca at April 9, 2008 1:23 PM
I buy Wii third party games. Zak and Wiki and Cooking Mama FTW!
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 9, 2008 2:51 PM
"If we don't see this "Newton" Xbox controller by the end of the year I'll give my Wii to charity."
I am charity.
Posted by: DarkGhostHunter at April 9, 2008 5:38 PM
It's a bad idea. The controller isn't packed with system, and third parties don't made anything good for wii, and obviusly nintendo won't make 360 games
Posted by: Anonymous at April 10, 2008 5:57 AM
I am planning on buying a Wii, and I probably will. The sub-standard graphics (compared to the xbox 360 and ps3) make me sad, but basically I'm buying the Wii for the Wiimote and the types of games it enables.
Although adding a Wiimote to the xbox 360 seems like a great marriage of the controller I (or my daughter) want and the graphics power I want, I agree that there are problems that make this an unlikely success. Because the new control is not part of the xbox 360 base package, everyone is not going to have it, making developing games that make use of it less attractive to developers. Not many people are going to want to buy this new controller unless there are some good games that support it. Not too many good games are going to be developed for it unless lots of people have bought the controllers (unless Microsoft make it a big priority to develop these games themselves or somehow convince 3rd party developer to cooperate). Bla Bla Bla.
I would love an XBOX 360 with a Wiimote-like (or improved) controller, but only if there are enough quality games that make good use of it. Unfortunately I promised my daughter a Wii by September, so I don't think I will be able to hold out long enough to see if the new xbox controller is worthwhile.
Posted by: KraftyDood at April 10, 2008 10:06 AM
If the 360 doesn't have an internal Blu-ray drive by Christmas I'll be building a HTPC or buying a ps3.
Posted by: Anonymous at April 10, 2008 10:19 AM
If they release this, they probably will start packing it in with the consoles.
Posted by: Dood at April 10, 2008 7:40 PM
This would be great For all the first person shooters the 360 already has pulse I would love this for the 360 version of "The Force Unleashed" and with the 360 online support it would be easy for game to be instantly compatible when the controler comes out
Posted by: Collin at April 10, 2008 10:48 PM
It's a very good idea!
Posted by: ramses at April 11, 2008 1:12 AM
I think this is an excellent idea, and about time MS uses some of their older technology.
This appeals to the casual market which is much larger or the largest segment of the market actually. Finally MS is thinking straight, I do not see it as a rip-off, since MS did have a motion sensing PC controller (I still have mine).
Will I like, probably not, will my three year old like it? YES he will, and best of all I will be able to find one, and I can give up on looking for a Wii!!!
Posted by: Jwm at April 12, 2008 10:29 AM
That is an excellent point. There was a motion sensitive Sidewinder gamepad for PCs made by Microsoft.
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Sidewinder-Freestyle-Game-A17-00001/dp/B00004Z729
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 12, 2008 11:18 AM
vous etes sur que sa va sortir
Posted by: mato at April 23, 2008 9:16 AM
wow...im stunned...nintendo creates an original console and everyone copies! GO FIGURE!!!
Posted by: A-BOT at April 26, 2008 3:20 PM
To the Nintendo zombie "A-BOT", above,
# 1. Nintendo never created any original motion senstive controller. Microsoft has had a motion sensitive contrller(The Sidewinder), long before Ninttendo even herad of one.
And # 2, Nintendo's Wimmote was designed by anAamerican comany called Gyration anyways, who still own the patents to their designs.
Posted by: Smithy at May 12, 2008 12:14 PM
