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It’s currently the worst-kept secret in the industry, motion controllers are headed to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The fact that Nintendo is making a ton of cash from their waggle-controlled console hasn’t gone unnoticed, and there’s no way their competitors are going to sit idly by and not try to snatch up a piece of the pie. But how do we know it’s coming for sure? The facts are overwhelming, read on…

The Rumors Started

It all started over a year ago, when then Microsoft Xbox boss Peter Moore hinted (in an interview with Game Informer) at a change in strategy for Xbox 360, saying that “From a first-party point of view, it’s not just about E-rated games, it’s going to be about the experience that, quite frankly, Nintendo has done a tremendous job in capturing, in bringing back fun - if you will - to the gaming platforms.” He continues, “But we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve as well to be able to do that. It’s not something that we’re going to be shy about, and it’s not something that we’re not painfully aware of that needs to be changed - And it was always going to be a challenge for us. So, we have plans. This does not come as a surprise. Our strategy has been laid out for us years in advance”.

Then shortly after in the May issue of EGM’s Rumor Mill column (snippit shown to the right), it was hinted that a new Halo game was in the works that may include a motion controller. Apparently Microsoft wanted to release it with Halo 3, but Bungie shot down the idea. The benefits of a Wii-like controller for a First-Person Shooter have already been proven on the Wii with Metroid Prime, and would be a perfect fit for a Halo game. Halo Wars is however a Real Time Strategy game that would greatly benefit from a mouse-like pointer control as well.

News Flash

But nobody really took notice of these rumors until a source told MTV News that an Xbox 360 version of the Wii remote had been in development at Microsoft since August 2007 that was “designed to do all the Wii remote does, and more.” That falls just after the EGM blurb hit news stands.

Then last May “sources that will go unnamed” told Kotaku that a controller geared specifically for Banjo Kazooie 3 gameplay had already been seen by select members of the press in action. Then just this month further word from “a number of sources” that that the Xbox 360 would be getting a 3D dashboard make-over as a second interface option that will use the yet-to-be announced motion controller to navigate.

Bombs Lobbed

Next Ken Lobb gets the internet in a tizzy when he says in an IGN video (3:50 in) while demonstrating the game that he “twist the controller around” and “shake my box free”. Microsoft quickly replied in a statement that “There is no truth to this speculation,” and that “Ken’s comment is in reference to rotating the left analog stick while hitting the X-button to move different things in the game.”

It’s important to note that Microsoft is famous for the saying “Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation“. But this time they felt the need to deny, not that they don’t have a motion controller coming out, but that Ken Lobb was referring to one when he said that. This makes the denial sound more like a cover-up!

Geared Up

Now in comes Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski “purely speculating” that the current 360 control pad looks like “an alien spaceship“, and that he hopes that Microsoft will come out with a controller with “fewer buttons on the controller“.

So how does he suggest that this be accomplished?  “I think you could do things with a built-in camera or a little motion sensitivity. You look at the Wii controller with less buttons - they added functionality by doing waggle. Not a lot of games use the waggle well, but Super Mario Galaxy for example uses it perfectly. Zak and Wiki uses it rather well,” he said.

If there was one 3rd-party developer that would be in-the-know about a looming 360 motion controller announcement, it would be the Gears of War creators. It would in fact be very likely that CliffyB himself would have been asked for suggestions while creating it. Could Gears of War 2 already have built-in motion controller support?

Snubbed

Many core gamers have made it clear that they don’t want a motion controller on their 360, fearing that a barrage of casual shovelware will be piled onto their favorite console like it did the Wii. But remember that Microsoft would not be forcing you use their X-mote, and the Wii has proven that many games are still best played with the Gamepad and should not be forced to be played otherwise. And the games that are great to play with one such as Wii Sports are not being capitalized on on the Wii. There is still no sign of a Wii Sports 2, and my mom still can’t play Wii Bowling with her friends in another state…something that Microsoft would surely love to capitalize on. And when the day comes that peeps are getting their asses handed to them on a a Halo-like game and they find out the guys owning them are using motion controllers, they will change their anti-motion controller outlook.

And besides, a motion controller is coming to the 360 and PS3 whether you like it or not, the mass media outlets just haven’t been reporting it. We’ve already proven without a shadow of a doubt that In2Games is involved in a motion controller for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, and Microsoft certainly wouldn’t want Sony to shoot first. Also Microsoft has full control of who makes controllers for their system, and certainly wouldn’t allow a 3rd-party company to make a rival motion controller before they release their own. This suggests that the In2Games technology is the one being used in the Xbox 360 motion controller.

But who knows, perhaps Microsoft will use the Motus Games motion controller, though all bets here are that it would be used for the PSThrii-mote (if at all) since it breaks apart as was rumored.

The good news is that we won’t likely have to wait long to find out what’s what, as Microsoft’s press conference is set to take place on Monday at 10:30pm PST (1:30pm EST). We’re betting that it will not only be revealed this Monday, but playable at E3, and launched to the public by this holiday season. Fingers firmly crossed…

UPDATE: E3 ‘08 Forgot The Next-Gen Motion Controllers