From Merriam-Webster dictionary: 

Gimmick (n)
a. an important feature that is not immediately apparent
b. an ingenious and usually new scheme or angle
c. a trick or device used to attract business or attention

Most are thinking in terms of definition C, but for Nintendo-originated gimmicks, it usually turns out to be A and B. See: steering-wheel-style-grip controllers, D-pad, analog stick, rumble, wireless.

Neat. This is how I imagined the next generation of motion controllers working: all the same buttons and layout of a traditional controller, but split in two. The full button layout on the right hand would make a world of difference.

Of course, it's worthless without IR, but just because it wasn't mentioned in this rumor doesn't mean it won't be included.

I'm just saying the idea has been explored in the past, and was trashed-- I think sony is better than digging in that trash. Make something new, please. Personally, I don't like the idea of a break apart controller. I do like the idea of pointer based controller on the PS3, because after playing first person on the Wii, I hate sticks.

No they're not.  The only thing that Sony ever did in gaming that some may consider 'innovative' is Blu-Ray.

-Nintendo used shoulder buttons, a D-Pad, and four face buttons on the SNES controller.  What did Sony respond with on the first playstation?  FOUR shoulder buttons, a D-Pad, and four face buttons on the Playstation controller.

-Nintendo introduced the analog stick on the N64 (after the Playstation was already out).  It was widely heralded as one of gaming's greatest innovations.  They also introduced Rumble to the gaming world, which made its' games much more exciting.  Of course Sony responded with DUAL analog sticks and a controller with built-in rumble.

-Most recently, at E3 2005, Nintendo unveiled the 'remote control' for its' then-called Revolution system.  The codename was apt, as it dominated E3 and continues to dominate.  What does Sony announce the very next day?  "Oh, yeah, we're tossing in some accelerometer, cuz we're innovative like that."  And you can't even argue that they were already planning to unveil it that day, as 'ZERO' games released for several months that most people agree even made somewhat of a good use of it--the developers found out at the same time we did.

But I haven't even reached my piece de resistance yet--in case anybody here forgot, the 'Sony' Playstation would never have EXISTED if it weren't for Nintendo, when they decided to back out of their deal with Sony to design the 'Nintendo Play Station' CD add-on for the SNES.  Yes, Nintendo even came up with the name.

Sony is not revolutionary, they are evolutionary.  And that is why I believe that, though it makes me sad, at E3 2008 they will unveil their latest 'innovation', the PS3-mote. 

To be fair, Hellfish, almost every idea Nintendo has tried failed at some point in the past, too. It is possible to take a failed idea and make it work. The important thing to remember, however, is that Sony does not have a history of doing this. They take ideas that worked and implement them twofold into their own devices (2 analogs, 2 rumble motors, 2 shoulder buttons per side, etc.). The issue is not that the idea was scrapped by Nintendo, the issue is that Sony has no history of doing this successfully with video game systems.

Pretty stupid in my opinion, they should just stick to their current plan, rather than trying to attract an audience that nintendo has pretty much wrapped up

This is disruption at work. Nintendo has seized a market that Sony did not consider relevant, and they're moving upstream now towards Sony's dominant market. If Sony does nothing but flee upstream and support only their existing products, in time they will be left with a very niche slice of the pie, catering largely only to the sorts of people who proclaim the PS3 to be the greatest system ever built. If they respond, they can at least try to keep from losing the upmarket, but this can easily fail if their approach is not disruptive itself.

Given Sony's penchant for sustaining innovation over disruptive innovation in video game systems, it's unlikely that the controller they'll devise will have the kind of impact that the Wii Remote has had. You cannot disrupt by going backwards; you have to abandon the past in favor of the new style. Shoehorning in the disruptive technology onto the sustaining technology doesn't work at drawing in new customers or even keeping existing ones; that's why it's disruptive, after all.

Who isn't making a new controller these days?

OnTopic: This would be great IF it was done right, but I doubt Sony (or anyone else) can get it good enough to where both game pad and wii-mote/nunchuck controllers would feel and look right. Last time I checked both Sony and Nintendo had patents for these transforming break apart controller concepts years ago, neither of those patents saw the light of day.

When the Wiimote was announced, countless sony fans laughed and cried "gimmick!" all over the place.

Now that Sony is making a motion controller (that doesn't even have all the functions the Wiimote does) they think it's a great, novel idea?

Of course their will be 'some' software to support it - almost completely 1st party with a few 3rd party tossaway games.  But how does that compare to Wii have (almost) every single game supporting it?  It doesn't and that's the point.   The Wiimote IS the essence of Wii.  Gameplay is designed with it in mind.

With the PS3 (or 360) motion sensors some games may have an optional control scheme for it but games will be made based around the dualshock/sixaxis controller which every PS3 owner has not a peripheral that a few may have.  That's the problem with the idea of doing it now.

The other problem is that this will only put them to where Nintendo started - two years ago.  They will still be well behind Nintendo in appealling to the mass market.

Your right about pricing - if someone also wants a blu-ray player.

For the record, I'm one of the only people here who predicted Wii would be a huge success when it launched.