Since it seems like a
waggle controller for the Xbox 360 is almost a given I was wondering how Microsoft might actually implement this functionality for the Xbox 360. The most obvious answer would be a brand new controller but there are other ways Microsoft could add motion to controls to the existing Xbox 360 controller which would give gamers the best of both worlds without forcing them to buy a new controller. Keep in mind that these ideas are pure idle speculation and not based on any inside information.
Two methods leap to mind. The first would be a motion sensing control that snaps to the bottom of the Xbox 360 controller, much like the Chatpad does now. The controller then passes back the extra data to the Xbox 360 (I'm assuming there's enough bandwidth for it). Of course this means that you won't be able to use the chatpad and the waggle at the same time which isn't optimal.
The second idea would be to release a new battery pack with the waggle sensor built in,
rumble pack style. While this wouldn't work for wired controllers (and who would want to have waggle in a wired controller) it would be a fairly elegant solution that would work for the majority of Xbox 360 owners.
More than likely we'll get a separate controller for waggle stuff as there's a better profit margin in selling new controllers than add-ons for existing ones and Microsoft needs to keep their gaming division profitable. It's also assuming that Microsoft wants to use the Xbox 360 form factor for their waggle controls and that's a pretty big jump given that Microsoft manufactured a separate, user friendly control for
Scene-It last year.
Update (Chuck) - Rumor
busted but still fun speculation.
