Consoles

Engaget has always been a great source for tech news.  Coming from the rumor mill is a story that the Xbox 360 might be getting a motion-sensing addon bar, complete with camera and mic.  According to the article, “Microsoft’s efforts to beat the Wii at its own motion-sensing game” is taking on the form of “a ‘sensor bar’ of sorts that detects full body movement and sound.”  A list of features include:

- Full body and hand gesture control of games / characters.
- In fighting games you kick, punch, duck, dive, jump and so forth with your body.
- It also picks up small hand gestures like pinching, grabbing and scrolling.
- There will also be video conferencing and games with video.
- Trivia game over the internet with live images of each person playing. When a question pops up, they can clap to buzz in.
- You can “move objects on your screen” and the other party can see what you’re doing in real time.
- Sensor detects only the person playing, not folks observing on the couch.

This could open up a whole bunch of new avenues of game play, but I personally wouldn’t be a fan of shouting at the TV.  The mic on the sensor bar suggests to me that you’ll be asked to let out a loud “KIA!!” everytime you make a punching motion for the upcoming “Learn Karate” game.   For those in apartments with thin walls (*raises hand*) this might end up being one optional addon that stays on store shelves.