Microsoft poaches Tony Hawk Ride?

Microsoft demoed a motion capture camera controller today at E3. Basically a camera that sits under your tv and watches how you are moving. It’s up to the XBox to turn that movement into meaningful game play. Included in the demo was a skateboarding game “replete with a young man ‘air’ ollie-ing,” which I am interpreting to mean that it kind of negates the the need for the expensive board controller used in Tony Hawk Ride, the theory (and marketing slogan) being that you can “use your own gear.” Still, that’s going to have to be some sophisticated hardware to be able to deal with the subtleties of a skateboarding footwork and hand grab variations. What if you could combine the two? Well , then you’d just have, you know, actual skateboarding. In any case, Microsoft’s Project Natal won’t be shipping in 2009, so Tony’s crew still has a good year or so head start, more so if you take into account Microsoft’s infamous sliding launch dates. This will go over well with parents, I ‘m sure. I’m already yelling at my kids for all the time for skateboarding in the house, and they aren’t even hooked up to a video game yet.

[Source: Engadget via JustSkate.me]