I read the news of this rumour and cringed a little. My first instinct is that this will be another Xbox live vision cam.
I bought the vision cam and used the video chat to a friend once. Played some uno and saw an interesting cross-section of the dregs of humanity. However Uno wasn't good enough to keep my attention, and none of the other Xbox live arcade games have seemed interesting enough to buy. I am not a fan of poker or chess. The totem ball game I could never get working, maybe it's my lighting or my wallpaper but I could never get the darn thing to work. It's just possible that the camera is rubbish as the thing is cheaper even than Sony's original eye toy.
That was it for the vision cam though, the only use it has got in the last year is to put my face onto my Rainbow Six Vegas character, something that is desperately needed for all third person games and something that I hope Sony implement for Home. I don't want to spend hours making my avatar roughly look like me when i can take two quick pics and have my likeness added perfectly.
So looking at Microsofts track record here the attitude seems to be "we need an eye toy on the market, see to it". Once the product is out and launched they have simply abandoned it to third party developers to produce any games or uses for it. Will they do the same with the Xmote?
It would tick the box so that Microsoft can position the Xbox 360 as a direct competitor to the Wii. That is all Microsoft want to do in my opinion. The Wii buyer will see the Xbox 360 arcade console in the shop with its wii mote, sorry Xmote, and most probably a bundled sport game. Rare sports anyone, Viva pinata vs Banjo Kazooie characters in sports fun with cameos from Master Chief and Marcus Phoenix. The casual buyer will see the Wii with Wii sports and the Xbox 360 with Rare sports and the only deciding factor will be the price. If on closer inspection the more savvy customer sees that the Xbox 360 can play movies from portable hard drives unplugged straight from their PC or from DVD, can play their music CD's and has HD graphics etc then the contest is really over before it begins. In all honesty the Wii is no competition as a console with the Xbox 360.The only advantage is its web browser.
So from a business point of view this is a good thing. That is really all Microsoft want, money. That isn't a bad thing; a company that doesn't want your money is a bad thing too, Microsoft need to look like they want you to have a great time whilst also wanting your money, which is what it's all about. E.A need to take a long hard look at that. Buying guns in Battlefield and the European prices for Rock band are a poor joke. Rock band is a disgrace. The US price is 130 dollars, that should convert to 85 pounds, Factoring in VAT you get 100 pounds, they want to sell it at 180 pounds, an interesting diversion suggests that if you were to do this the other way around and charge the uk price converted into dollars in the US for a product like they do in Europe your Rock band kit would cost you 354 dollars. I wonder how well that would fly?
I personally own a Wii, well technically it was a Christmas present for my son. He plays all sorts of games on it, from Mario Galaxy to absolute shockers like eledees. He seems to like the Wii, but also plays Viva Pinata on Xbox 360 and Ratchet and Clank on the PS3. Super Smash Bros seems to attract his attention despite not being out for a few months here in the UK. Wiimote controls on the wii are ok, but personally I hate having to waggle furiously at certain points in games, don't get me wrong I hate it in games like God of War too, when you have to bash buttons to open doors, kill bosses etc. My point is that the basic premise of the Wiimote is good when used as a pointing device / light gun for shooters but beyond that it's really an annoyance to me.
So if this is more than some idle rumour then how can Microsoft do this right? Well in my opinion the possibilities that this opens up are many.
1) The most obvious is the copycatting of successful Wii games that use the Wiimote well, such as aforementioned wii sports. On that point that is all I want to see. One or two titles that make heavy use of the Xmote for authenticity in sport simulation, golf being the most obvious candidate.
2) Use it as a mouse substitute; I have bemoaned the lack of mouse in a prior post on my blog. I still want to see mouse support on the Xbox 360, but using an Xmote on the dashboard and a new shiny Windows mobile type internet explorer web browser would be something special to announce at E3, make it so Microsoft.
3) With the possibility of pointer control real time strategy games come back into play on the Xbox 360. Patches for Middle Earth and Command and Conquer, and support for Supreme commander and Halo wars when they arrive will see me first in line for an Xmote.
What I don't want is to be frantically shaking the damn thing in every game out there, I want the option Microsoft. If I want to have motion control in FPS's games, then let me choose the option, if I want to carry on and not buy the Xmote then I shouldn't be penalised or feel I am missing out on features.
That's it then, If I was Bill Gates, or whoever is in charge of the final decision. I would announce within a month of release window and once the thing has been tested to death to prevent any RROD embarrassment. That the new Xmote is coming out with improved tracking over the wiimote, a better product entirely with charge and play kit included. Also an Xmote bundle coming with either Rare sports/Banjo Kazooie or a different bundle with Halo wars. The follow up announcement from the same stage would be that the Xbox 360 is getting internet explorer and it is compatible with the Xmote.
Surely that's not asking too much?
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