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Gates talks up new control idea News
Xbox 360 News by Games Industry.biz
Bill Gates has revealed that his vision for the future of gaming involves a new control system where players swing a bat or racket as they would in real life - but said it won't be the same as the Wii.
As reported by AllThingsDigital, Gates' comments came during a panel interview which he took part in with Apple boss Steve Jobs.
Turning to the subject of how the home PC's role is evolving, Gates said, "As we get natural input, that will cause a change... Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you just can pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it."
The interviewers suggested Nintendo has already created such a machine in the form of the Wii - but Gates replied, "No, that’s not it. You can't pick up your tennis racket... And swing it. You can't sit there with your friends and do those natural things.
"That’s a 3D positional device," Gates continued. "This is video recognition. This is a camera seeing what's going on."
Gates has previously been critical of Nintendo's strategy with Wii. Back in January he was quoted as saying, "Look at the resolution you get with a controlled experience like that. Say to yourself, how in terms of using a game for a long period of time, what kind of accuracy and capability do you want?"
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yeah cause we all have the room to swing full sized tennis bats or golf bats in our homes..
He's talking about video recognition (which is a NEW idea and nothing like the Eye-Toy), so it's most probably recognizing the action of your hand as a bat or something not literally swinging a bat.... at least i think he's not that crazy. |
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gamingdave
05/06/07 @ 09:32
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As cool as video recognition may become, he really should have tried to think of some better examples. The fact I can play Wii Tennis without a massive space arround me is the whole point. If I had to use a real racket I wouldnt be able to do it in my living room.
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@ frod
Not necessarily. After all, the Wiimote is not 'new' technology. It's old technology, tweaked, refined, and then adapted for a new purpose. Gaming. Microsoft were playing around with motion control years ago. I doubt it's something they're scrabbling to catch up on from an R&D persective. Quite the opposite in fact. I'd say they could implement a Wiimote style peripheral tomorrow if they wanted to. Personally, it makes no odds to me. The Wiimote has already proven that, while great for certain types of games, it's no jack-of-all-trades like the trusted current controllers are. I'm skeptical about this whole motion control thing until somebody proves to me that it works, and I mean really works. Still, it will be interesting all the same to see what they come up with. Who knows, MS may be the one's to correct the inherent flaws in the Wiimote and SIXAXIS, and deliver motion control proper! :)
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most recently on 05/06/07 @ 10:35
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"No, the whole point is doing it well. "
Agreed! imagine if MS did manage to do it well, wouldn't that be something. No more blurry GC style graphics and finally the removal of the need to put the tech into EVERY game! i like the motionsensor thing but only in a game where there is a real need/benefits from it! i wonder if this is always the case with the Wii games (yes i own one...somewhere under all the dust) |
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Uh, has he ever used a Wii? I don't agree that the Wiimote's resolution is at all bad or unusable. I've played Wii Bowling and Eledees and for that you need really good feedback. I can bowl in Wii Sports the same as I do in real life!
I don't believe a video recognition system would be immediately superior to the Wii, which has multiple axes plus forwards/back and acceleration. How would you do that with a single camera - or even two? This sounds like motion capture which requires multiple cameras and a bodysuit covered in dots!
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most recently on 05/06/07 @ 10:46
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ostrasized
05/06/07 @ 09:56
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Video recognition? And how is this substantially different to EyeToy?
Anyway, the wiimote has rumble and a speaker. Your 'racket' goes swish and 'bop' when it 'hits' the ball. This is a big part of the experience, Mr Gates ;-) |
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It doesn't matter if microsoft make some motion sensing accessory for the 360, it won't harm the Wii. The real revolutionary thing about the wii remote is not the technology in it, but the fact it comes with the console as standard. Any games that require an additional accessory divide the user base between those who have it and those who don't, limiting the sales of any game that uses it.
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pf stupid copy cat gates. he copys linux he copys nintendo he copys apple he copys sony and in the end his products still don't work. MS sucks. they just have the best marketing department in the world after coca cola.
though the 360 is nice the red rings of death put me away from buying it. i hope my cousin's xbox doesn't get them
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most recently on 05/06/07 @ 11:07
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@Steroyd
"He's talking about video recognition (which is a NEW idea and nothing like the Eye-Toy), so it's most probably recognizing the action of your hand as a bat or something not literally swinging a bat.... at least i think he's not that crazy." How is the EyeToy different to what he's talking about? |
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It's pretty obvious that the success of the Wii has caught MS and Sony completely by surprise. We're almost certain to see some sort of motion-based (or hybrid motion/vision) controller on the Xbox within a year or so.
"The whole point is doing it first really." "No, the whole point is doing it well." Actually, you're both wrong. It's the first to *market* it well, as long as the product is "good enough". Nintendo has got the marketing spot on (so far) and they have exploited their first-mover advantage brilliantly. The tech isn't perfect, but it seems to do the job well enough. |
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He was probably thinking about something like this: http://lostgarden.com/2006/08/flashlight...
Which would require your whole home connected to Microsoft. |
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How is the EyeToy different to what he's talking about?
It was sarcasm hence putting NEW in capitals. ;) Who knows, MS may be the one's to correct the inherent flaws in the Wiimote and SIXAXIS, and deliver motion control proper! :) Hold on, what Sony have done with the Sixaxis and what Nintendo have done with the Wiimote are mutually exclusive you're either going to fix one flaw or the other, Nintendo offers you almost complete motion control including body movement gestures while Sony offers you a lighter motion sensory compared to the wii while keeping traditional gaming intact both are standard to each console respectively. And since when was there a Eurogamer.fr? |
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paulagmiller
05/06/07 @ 10:31
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That would be way cool, though. But it is not a technology they are likely to deliver successfully for 5 years or so, I would guess. It will require a heap of CPU power, 3 dimensional spatial analysis, object recognition (something notoriously hard to deliver) and then some actual games...Also, I don't own a tennis racket. Would I have to buy one specially?
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captainrentboy
05/06/07 @ 10:40
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This sounds like bollox!!! Let the Wii do it's thing Bill, no matter how you look at it he seems to be trying to get a slice of the motion controlling action.
I don't know why though, it bored me after 20 minutes... ''Ohhh look I can control it with my movement'' ''It's not THAT accurate though is it?'' ''Infact if I slightly flick my wrist it's making out I just made a massive swing'' ''And my god the games look like shit on an hdtv'' ''My shoulder hurts.....'' ''Boooooored'' I haven't used a Wii for 5 months now. |
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The Duck demo
It would be cool if Eye-toy was used more extensively for this type of stuff, and with the new Playstation Eye specs the some limitations might be lifted. |
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bigbadbeasty
05/06/07 @ 10:50
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Microsoft were always going to copy the motion sensor idea. In the first month of the Wii's successful launch, it was always gonna happen.
I find it disapointing that both Sony and Microsoft cannot come up with there own ideas for a control system that don't just seem like a rip off. |
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@ZeroAx: "pf stupid copy cat gates. he copys linux he copys nintendo he copys apple he copys sony"
Linux "was inspired by" UNIX + Apple + MS Nintendo "were inspired by" Atari Apple "were inspired by" Xerox Park who themselves "were inspired by" Doug Engelbart (google him!). Sony "were inspired by" a whole *lot* of people. Your point is what? That original inventors actually dont often make a lot of money? And that big business that comes along later does? |
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bigbadbeasty
05/06/07 @ 11:35
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Nah, I am just teasing.
I am just pissed off that Sony did the whole motion sensitive controller after Nintendo annouced the Wii. Even if 'they say' they were planning before hand to do it. |
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It might really have not been like that, the PSP was rumoured to have motion sensing as well, I think that was why Mercury was made for the PSP, and then we had the Banana shaped PS3 controller, where the sides were too thin to accommodate rumble at least and how it was shaped like a wheel.
So who knows they may have genuinely been sitting on the tech contemplating using it and when they saw the Wii go all balls out they thought why not? Well it was better than a motion sensorless and non rumbling pad anyway. |
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ChrisBravoTown
05/06/07 @ 11:55
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I don't want a collection of cricket bats, tennis bats, golf clubs, bowling balls, ak-47's in my house. Just a wiimote.
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Is he not just talking about an extension of this XNA based system:
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?P... Which was shown at a conference earlier in the year? Let's you interact with stuff, so... |
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