[games_access] Xbox 360 simplified game controller

[Barrie Ellis]

Kotaku gives a litte!

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/microsoft/microsoft-looks-into-simpler-controller-184193.php



From: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=17998

"We've got to bring more people in," says MS exec Xbox boss Peter Moore has 
hinted that Microsoft could be working on a simplified game controller 
designed to attract new gamers who might be intimidated by traditional 
joypads.

At a recent EA Community Event, Moore said the company is looking at "Any 
way that we can play and make games easier and more intuitive, that takes 
the intimidation factor away from what is a pretty complex device now when 
you look at the controller."

"Shoulder buttons, triggers, analog sticks, d-pads - I mean, there's a lot 
going on there."

Compare it to the old Atari 2600 joystick, Moore suggested - which 
"Everybody could pick up and have some fun with. Clearly I think the Wii is 
trying to get back to those days, although when I picked it up I was 
surprised how much stuff is on there, and it took me a little while even 
then to get going on those things."

But, as he's previously stated many times, Moore is a big fan of the Wii - 
and, he added, of "any innovation you can try and do that will make it a 
broader reach for games, because as an industry we've got to do that - we've 
got to bring more people in."

Moore went on to explain that his 14 year-old daughter loves racing games, 
particularly Project Gotham Racing, but "She's frustrated because the button 
configurations, the use of triggers... She just doesn't like it".

So is Microsoft looking for a solution to the problem of overly-complex 
controllers? Well, "We're doing a lot of stuff there," Moore said - but 
"Nothing that we're ready to talk about".

He went on to say that Microsoft is "not going to force anything that is not 
going to be intuitive and innovative" - which could suggest that the company 
is unlikely to follow in Sony and Nintendo's footsteps by producing a 
motion-sensing controller.