Can Microsoft legally copy the Nintendo Wii's wand?

[Anthony1]

When it comes to motion control controllers, it's pretty obvious that Nintendo was thinking the right thing with their wand design. The Sixaxis just can't be used in the same fashion, simply because of it's physical shape. You can't grip a Sixaxis and swing it like a baseball bat or a tennis racket. It's just not a natural thing to do. That has severly limited what the Sixaxis could do. By shaping the Sixaxis as a contemporary controller, they basically ruined most of it's functionality as a motion controller. Sure, there are some other cool things that you can still do with it. But holding it like a tennis racket or a baseball bat, or holding it at the screen like a gun, just doesn't make alot of sense. With the Wii, it's perfectly natural and makes alot of sense.


There are a ton of rumors floating around that Microsoft is going to come out with their own motion controller for the 360, and I pray to God that they somehow ape the Nintendo Wii Wand design. The big question I have is how much can they really copy from it, without worrying about being sued? Nintendo themselves are already being sued by some company that has a patent on a device that looks very similar to the Wii-mote.

All I know is, that I'm very excited about the possibility of playing games like Wii Sports with some real High Def next-gen graphics, but if the thing is shaped like a conventional controller, then I really have no interest. Shape it similar to the Wii-mote, maybe make it a bit larger and longer, a bit more ergonomic, and I'll be very pleased. Then immediately assign Visual Concepts to make MLB2K8 around this new peripheral, and it's all gravy baby. Just imagine playing a true Next-Gen game, with all the Next-Gen graphical trappings, but also having the inovation of the Nintendo Wii-mote. I think that would be pretty damn pimp.

[wufners]

Microsoft seems to be mostly reactionary to Sony, so I assume they'll go with a tradional design, rather than ape the Wii.

But it's an interesting idea. All the magic motion control stuff for the Wii happens within the hardware of the remote, no? The Wii itself just crunches the data. So it's conceivable that Microsoft or Sony could design a controller with all the same bells and whistles and abilities of the Wiimote (which, Nintendo strongly dislike the its controller being called .) If this is all in addition to the fancy next gen graphics, they could seriously deflate Nintendo's bubble.

At that point, the Wii's only advantage would be price and the fact that its system comes with motion control out of the box, as opposed to be an accessory like Microsoft or a last minute add on like Sony. So companies developoing for the Wii are desiging around motion desigin, whereas the with MS and Sony they may not feel as inclined to go all out--unless propperly motivated.

*shrugs* Still would be an interesting attempt to grab the Wii by the balls and take away its competivie advantage.

[joedick]

Well, the sixaxis can't do what the wii can - and not just because of the shape. I won't even attempt to explain much of the technology, but the wiimote can detect '3d space' while sixaxis cannot. I believe it can just detect tilting.

[skaar]

It's just an RF receiver that triangulates position, from my understanding of it.

It's not that novel that anyone else can't do the same thing, and better.

The thing the Wii has going is the franchises, for me.

[Kitsune Sniper]

It's just an RF receiver that triangulates position, from my understanding of it.

...

So the Wiimote is a glorified Power Glove?!

[CartCollector]

Yup, pretty much. Except it uses Bluetooth and has a newfangled 3-dimensional accelerometer. So it's much more precise and less prone to losing its connection.

[Anthony1]

But what do you guys think about the whole shape factor? I mean, if Microsoft releases a new Wireless 360 controller with built in motion control functionality, would you even give an F? I sure as heck wouldn't. But, if they released a Wand type of thing, that might be totally different. I would be very much thrilled about that. On one hand, I wouldn't want every single game for the 360 using it, but certain games (like Virtua Tennis 3 or MBL2K7) could really take advantage of it, and I think it would be outstanding.

There is a strong rumor floating around that Microsoft actually aproached Bungie about having Halo 3 use motion controls. The thought was, what better way to get nearly every 360 owner to purchase the new accesssory, than to bundle it along with Halo 3. Bungie apparently was adamant that Halo 3 use a normal control scheme. Now, I'm not saying that I totally believe in this rumor, but it's definitely a wee bit interesting. If they seriously considering trying to have Halo 3 use the new motion control device, then that would suggest that they are extremely serious about coming out with a motion controller in the very near future.

Again, my biggest fear is that it's going to be shaped exactly like the regular 360 controller, only with the extra motion control added into the mix. If this is the case, I'm going to be extremely dissapointed about it. They absolutely have to go with a device that is held in one hand, similar to the Wii-mote.

[veronica_marsfan]

All I know is, that I'm very excited about the possibility of playing games like Wii Sports

Why not just buy a Wii?

Microsoft will do what they always do (dating back to at least 1995).

(1) Steal somebody else's idea. (2) Hire lots of lawyers when they get sued. (3) Drive the other company into near-bankruptcy due to the court costs. (4) "Generously" offer to buy stock in the other company, if the case is dropped. (5) Microsoft wins.

source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace...h#The_strategy

[Icarus Moonsight]

You can sum up Microsoft's business model in three phases...
1) Emulate
2) Enhance
3) Eliminate

Just ask Steve Jobs and he'll tell y'all 'bout it.

Kinda the same as the Wiki... but I came across that one on the net at least 8 years ago.

Underpants Gnome's business model (for comparative purposes lol)
Phase 1: Steal underpants.
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!!!

[Nature Boy]

Can they copy it? Of course not. Can they create something slightly different? I don't see why not - especially when it comes to the shape. How different are the GC/PS2/PS3/Xbox/360 controllers in shape? When it comes to the hardware inside is where the lawsuits start I think.

[Anthony1]

Why not just buy a Wii?

I have a Wii. But when I play a game like MLB 2K7 or Virtua Tennis 3 on the Xbox 360, I can't but help imagine how cool it would be to play it with the Wii controller setup. The difference of course is graphics and sounds. Yeah, I know it's shallow and all, but I like my HD graphics and 5.1 sound. I still play my Wii quite frequently, just because the experience is so different, but there's no question that I'm stepping back in time from a graphics and sound standpoint. I just want the best of both worlds. I want all the Next-Gen state of the art goodness, along with the Next-Gen controls. Of course, only for the games that actually make sense. Like Golf, Tennis and Baseball to name a few. I definitley don't want the motion control shoehorned onto every single 360 game, but I think it could be a very nice option for certain games.

[Iron Draggon]

a recent issue of PC Gamer describes how to mod a Wii controller to work on the PC, so I'm sure that a mod to make it work on the 360 is on the way...

in other words, it doesn't matter if Microsoft can do it legally or not... any gamer with half an ounce of tech skills can legally make their own mods...

[goemon]

But wouldn't it be bad marketing to design games around an optional controller? You could buy the game and it would run on your 360, but if you don't shell out another $40 for the new controller, you either can't play it or you can play a crippled version of it. My guess is if they do release such a device, it won't be revolutionary and it won't change the way the games are designed. The most we'll probably see is a "motion sensor mode" toggle on the options screen.

[Anthony1]

But wouldn't it be bad marketing to design games around an optional controller? You could buy the game and it would run on your 360, but if you don't shell out another $40 for the new controller, you either can't play it or you can play a crippled version of it. My guess is if they do release such a device, it won't be revolutionary and it won't change the way the games are designed. The most we'll probably see is a "motion sensor mode" toggle on the options screen.

Well, it would be an optional thing, just the like steering wheel accessory. For games that make sense to use the motion controller, then they would have that option available. For example, games like MLB 2K7 and Virtua Tennis 3, would have special modes built in, to allow people to use motion control. Just like a game like Forza is going to have special code in there for the steering wheel. Certainly, it's not going to be totally ideal, considering you are going to have a splintered market, and are developers going to really take the time to make it work that great if they know that such a small subset of the 360 consumer base is going to have this controller.

That was part of the basis of this rumor in the first place. That Microsoft went to Bungie and tried to convince them to make Halo use the motion controller. The idea was, that they could basically force everybody to get this thing, cause everybody is going to get Halo 3. Again, I'm not sure I believe that rumor at all, but it's an interesting theory.

There is also the possibility that the motion controller could be packed into the premium and elite packages at some point. We are still very early in the game for the 360's lifespan. Look at the original Dual Shock controller. Everybody had the normal PS1 controller, then the Dual Shock came out, and only a few games supported it, and then they started packing it into the system box, and then tons and tons of games started supporting it, and then by the end of that systems lifecycle, it was the de-facto controller. You could still use the normal control to play almost every PS1 game, so it didn't really exclude anybody that didn't have the Dual Shock (well, ok, a few games absolutely required it).

[Buyatari]

Why not just buy a Wii?

Because it only works well on some games, like the sports and play games.

[Candycab]

In the United States federal law says that you can legally copy anything or atleast get youre own Patent on the item so long as you change the origional design bye at least 20% therefore making it a new design/item.

I know this beacuse my cousin [www.holeshot.com] has been making and selling all electronic "Power Shifters" for motorcycles for the last 20 years that is Patented. A few years back Eraldo Ferracci expressed interest in his product and running them on some race bikes, my cousin sent him one to try and he promptly took the design and duplicated it and now sells it as his own.

Needless to say legal action was pursued and thats how it worked out, change 20% and you can get youre own Patent and say you created it, sell it etc.

I imagine this would apply to game controllers etc aswell, at least in the US market anyway.