Xbox 360 'Wii Remote' Apparently Named

Yesterday the rumour and speculation regarding a Wii Remote-a-like for the Xbox 360 reared up and were questioned. Today 'Microsoft insiders' have apparently named the device to the Seattle Post Intelligencer (Spi).

The motion-sensing controller is apparently being developed under the title, 'Newton'. Spi tells us, "This is not to be confused with the defunct Apple Newton PDA, this is just and internal name, when this controller comes to market it will have a retail name.

The hardware is still being worked on and it might be a couple months before we see leaked shots of prototypes when they start to mass manufacture it but I am sure that there is an early software developer kit and prototype out there."

The rest of the report details 'strong feelings' about colours and retail price as well as the following, "From what I've learned from internal sources at Microsoft I can collaborate that the Newton project is moving forward and I can believe the time table that it has been in development for a while now and they could get it on the market by winter of 2008.

"The Newton is also going to use an LED sensor bar that can be powered by the USB ports on the 360, it is going to have an LED sensor on the front accelerometer and gyroscope sensor that can detect tilt and motion, rumble motors, wireless two way data communication with the 360, a built in Microphone for Xbox Live and voice-activated games."

Now, we hit a kind of a wall here. Sure, Microsoft could well be working on a motion-sensing controller (and about time to). If so, why not just announce it? Why all the 'insiders tell us' and 'unnamed sources'? Not that we doubt that these sources have been talking.

Our pinch of salt here is sprinkled not because of the unliklihood (see what we did there?) of a motion-sensing Xbox 360 controller, but the manner in which it's being leaked. If we were Microsoft, faced with the Wii onslaught and with growing competition from PS3, we'd also ensure that some FUD was thrown into the market regarding our platform's similarities to the market-domination of Nintendo's Wii.

We'd then probably just put out a Xbox 360 controller with built-in mo-sense that looks distinctly similar to our current controller, thus ensuring we don't need to tool up another factory or ten.

Microsoft itself, as ever, does not comment on rumour and speculation.

^{Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer}