If you can't beat 'em, rip 'em off!

We all knew it would eventually happen, but MTV News is reporting that Microsoft has been working on a wireless motion-sensitive controller for the Xbox 360 since last summer. With the success of the Nintendo Wii and specifically the popularity and critical praise for the Wii's motion-sensitive controller, it was inevitable that the other major players in the console industry follow suit.

Sony made a half-hearted attempt with its wireless Sixaxis controller for the Playstation 3, based on the venerable PS1 Dual Shock controller. However, very few games have supported the Sixaxis, and it hasn't done anything to improve Sony's position in current generation home console sales. Furthermore, Sony sacrificed vibration (or "rumble") in the Sixaxis in order to conserve battery life, a move that left many fans upset. This will be remedied shortly, with the release of the third Dual Shock controller, ending Sony's short experiment with motion-sensitivity.

As for Microsoft nothing has been officially announced yet, but if MTV's "insider" can be believed it sounds like this is more of a marketing stunt aimed at nullifying Nintendo's market lead than a serious peripheral for hardcore gamers. Even looking at the supposed early sketch of this controller, it's easy to see that it would be close to unusable for many games.

On top of this, it sounds like Microsoft is copying Nintendo's successful Mii avatar system. Microsoft avatars will be able to travel from game to game, just like Mii's. They will be attached to one's Xbox Live account, and seem to be an attempt to woo third-party developers into porting their Wii games to the 360. Considering how poor 99% of the third-party Wii games are (and how poorly they sell), I'm not really sure how this is a good business strategy by Microsoft.

If all this is true or has any ring of truth to it, it looks like we'll probably see this new Xbox controller and avatar system by the end of the year. We'll have to wait and see how far Microsoft is willing to go to try and sell the Xbox 360 as a casual platform. Let's just hope that Microsoft doesn't further water down its brand and hurt the 360 in the long run with this stunt.