This may very well be announced as well as the nextbox though for 2011 release.

I'll need to see something much more "specific" along with software before passing judgment.

But I don't think "full body motion sensing" is that big a deal. I don't believe it can be as accurate as WiiFit/Motion+, will have no buttons, no tactile feedback, and poses a lot of questions (handling multiple people, people walking in front of you, light conditions, ...).

EyeToy did the 'simple' stuff, and between this and the Wii - I think most cases are covered.

Asking people to actually "move around a lot" in their living rooms is just impractical. The Wii is bad enough - and that doesn't actually involve any real body/leg motion.

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I do agree that MS's biggest drawcard is XboxLive - but at the same time, this becomes a complex 'turn off' for casuals. Virtually everyone I know who is into the 360 is a gamer, or someone very familiar with PCs. I don't know a single 'true casual' who is into the 360 in any form.

Anyway, it sounds interesting - and there is no doubt that motion capture/motion controls is the future. So I'll be interested to see what they do...

I think you are grasping at straws Legend. Add on features like this almost never take off. Maybe something like this can have big impact next gen.

Add on controllers/control systems typically don't fare very well. So I don't look for this to be a "game changer."

The idea is certainly novel and may be something that Microsoft puts into place for the next generation -- provided that bandwidth restrictions do not make such activities impractical.

Mike from Morgantown

I know I may be getting ahead of myself here but Id like to extend Legend's concepts even further.

Imagine if this is the reason why Alan Wake, Splinter Cell had to be delayed and revamped - to incorporate motion sensing in their gameplay. Its already been documented that Alan Wake will involve interesting mechanics with light and the weather. We know that Ubisoft is exploring speech control and building new engines for more expansive environments for strategy games (RUSE).

Also with what Peter Molyneux has been saying with his "one pure thought" idea and his Portal - like experiments he has been showing.

And what about Rare and BigPark? They could be working on the Live! line with the avatars.

I know the above are all conjecture but its nice to imagine. I must say it doesnt seem as far fetched as I initially thought. I still think that the normal controller would never go out of phase and each game will utilise both if motion controllers ever materialised.

They have one killer application which would sell a camera system for $150, its Windows!!!!

But aside from that, there are some interesting possibilities:

A console for education, interactive programs to teach people languages, and grade school kids stuff and you may be able to access things like tutors. The programs are already out there, they just need a new interface. We already know of kids signing onto Xbox Live and doing their homework together.

Theres also the fact that people will be able to navigate the media functionality of the Xbox 360 without getting up to grab the controller. Thats probably the most annoying part of it really.

Entirely true, as the distance between hands theory shows that the motion controls do not know of any objects between both hands, such as a sword, unless there was a motion-sensing baton being used as well. That adds more money and another item for this theory.

Looked interesting for interfaces, but the driving demo was bad. He could barely stay on the road. I would have to see a game that actually used this well it order to believe that it will actually be a useful game control mechanism.

I don't see this affecting Wii sales much at all.

Pretty soon we'll need to buy real swords, and then real goblins to hack up over and over.

A lot of the arguments in this thread are humorously ignorant. Would this work in the market absolutely. Nintendo has almost sold twenty million copies of Wii Fit. What do we make of games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The reality is that peripheral games are thriving in the market. That thrashes built from the ground up argument. In fact the fact that the 360 is flexible enough that it could support multiple control schemes is a blessing not a curse. That means it can cater to more markets not less.

You cannot be narrow minded about the concept, and think how will I play Halo with this. The answer is you will not. In fact the demographic for this would be the casual market who has no desire to play such a game. They prefer party games, music games, trivia games, and arcade games. Your not going to see a lot of those games supporting this control, and if they have the option to use this control the chances are it will not be as fine as a hand held controller, but then again someone using this control would probably not be very good in the first place.

Anyway there is no barrier beyond the purchase price, and if it comes with a game then it will probably be an easy sell. Were it to be packed in once again Microsoft has a model for that. They just pack it in with an arcade unit, and call it the family pack. Hell they might not even have to raise the price if they omit the standard controller, and even if they do include the controller. All they will do is match the price of the Wii.

I think it is an interesting theory, and beyond the casual market this would have applications for other types of gaming. Provided it allows for customization. This would be good for slower paced information intensive games. Such as the likes of a Civilization, or an online role playing game. Where a control pad simply lacks a button. Hand gestures allowing you to call up menus on the fly with the off hand while the other hand is on a controller.

Hell just imagine Halo with head motion control. Just a slight tilt of the head carrying your view in that direction. Actually an improvement over dual analog.