If You're Going to Say Sony Stole the Controller...

Contary to the rapidly developing urban legend that's forming now, the idea of a motion sensing controller is not something Nintendo invented just last year. It's just as false as the Nintendo invented analog joysticks and Al Gore invented the internet fairy tales. Actual products that you could BUY were available more than seven years ago on your PC. I used these controllers to play games like Motocross Madness and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. And they worked exactly as you saw that Sony representative playing Warhawk during the E3 press conference. So while hundreds of farked images of the Sony PS3 controller are being constructed and uploaded now accusing Sony of stealing from Nintendo, I just wanted to point out that this idea was soooo 20th century, and immediately flamed out on the PC because they were honestly more of a novelty than they were practical.

For whatever reason, motion sensing controllers are now all the rage, as two of the big three are offering this functionality in their new consoles. But unless developers really embrace the technology and use it as a basis for their game designs, it's not going to be any different in 2006 than it was for the Logitech Gamepad Extreme and Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle controllers on the PC in 1999. Here's hoping things turn out better for this new-old idea used in both the Wii and the PS3.

UPDATE: Thanks to actionjax25 for reminding me of Le Stick, a motion sensing controller for the Atari 2600 and Atari 800 that dates back more than 20 years. Aside from looking like a bomb detonator, this thing used mercury-filled sensors. I totally remember using this stick to play those classic Atari games. So while some of you may argue that the Logitech and Microsoft controllers are PC and not console oriented and don't count...the Le Stick was a true console-first. BTW, it really sucked.