Gates hints at plans for new game controller

Bill Gates has revealed that his vision for the future of gaming involves a new control system where players swing a bat or racket as they would in real life - but said it won't be the same as the Wii.

As reported by AllThingsDigital, Gates' comments came during a panel interview which he took part in with Apple boss Steve Jobs.

Turning to the subject of how the home PC's role is evolving, Gates said, "As we get natural input, that will cause a change... Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you just can pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it."

The interviewers suggested Nintendo has already created such a machine in the form of the Wii - but Gates replied, "No, thatâs not it. You canât pick up your tennis racketâ¦And swing it. You canât sit there with your friends and do those natural things.

"Thatâs a 3D positional device," Gates continued. "This is video recognition. This is a camera seeing whatâs going on."

Gates has previously been critical of Nintendo's strategy with Wii. Back in January he was quoted as saying, "Look at the resolution you get with a controlled experience like that. Say to yourself, how in terms of using a game for a long period of time, what kind of accuracy and capability do you want?"