Gates unmoved by motion-sensing controllers

When the next-gen systems from Sony and Nintendo hit the market later this year, they'll come equipped with motion-sensing controllers designed to immerse players further into their games. No such functionality was included in the controller for Microsoft's Xbox 360 system when it launched last November, but that doesn't appear to bother the software giant's cofounder and chairman, Bill Gates.

In an interview with MTV News, Gates said there was room for innovation in gaming interfaces but said "it's something that's not mainstream for most games." The billionaire figurehead of Microsoft noted that several years ago his company tried to market a controller that sensed 3D movement (the Sidewinder Freestyle Pro), but it didn't take.

"It's tough because sometimes you move the controller, and you don't [mean] to fly into the ground. You just want to put the controller down," Gates told MTV News. "People aren't that good at totally standing still. Even pilots actually sit in a chair when they do their flying. So there's a lot to be learned about these controllers."

Gates also discussed his belief that connected, social gaming would be more common than single-player gaming in the future and that the industry needs new ideas to go along with familiar genres like first-person shooters and sports games.

Gates also mentioned Microsoft's possible entry into the portable gaming market. He said he thought that eventually there would be an all-in-one media/phone/gaming device that could be carried around in one's pocket but that the hardware needs to be better and "the world isn't ready yet for a device that meets all those needs."