Lord of the Web

The Nintendo Wii’s Remote - dubbed the Wiimote - is one of the main selling points of the Wii. The motion sensing capabilities of the Wiimote has won the hearts of kids and adults who fall into the category of casual gamers.

Gametrak Freedom, a similar product from Performance Designed Products (or PDP), will soon be coming to the Xbox 360. The Freedom offers much more than the Wiimote. It uses ultrasonic 3D positioning and does not require line of sight to the sensors. The Freedom comes with two sensor - to be kept on both the sides of the display - that help in making the motion sensing more foolproof than in the Wiimote.

PDP has also announced Squeeballs - a collection of 11 different minigames with 150 challenges in total - that will aim to put the Freedom to full use. Squeeballs will release aloong with the controller. PDP also says that there are other developers programming Freedom-compatible games, as well.

The Xbox 360 controller is really a great device for gaming. But many arcade games would be even more fun when played with the Freedom.  I really hope that many Wii style games that make use of the Freedom’s functionalities come in the future. That would make the Xbox 360 ( and the PS 3, once the Freedom comes for it too) take on Wii in its hometurf. A powerfull console like the 360 with Wii like features will make it all the more better.