Sony unveils prototype for new PS3 motion controller

The Wii has its updated Wii Motion Plus, the Xbox 360 has its body motion-sensing "Project Natal," and now Sony is showing off its new, long-rumored motion controller, slated to arrive next spring.

The controller, which Sony execs unveiled Tuesday at the E3 conference in Los Angeles, looks pretty much like the drawings from this patent from last year—a thick stick with a pink bulb on the end (check out Engadget's photo gallery for more snapshots), its movement tracked (down to "sub-millimeter accuracy") by a PlayStation Eye cam. ("The final look will change," Sony reps said.)

During the demo, we saw a Sony engineer wave the controller around in his hand, while in a monitor, the stick was replaced by a variety of objects and weapons: a tennis racquet, a stop sigh, a sword, a Japanese fan, and even a flashlight.

The motion tracking did, indeed, look impressively accurate, with the tennis racquet (for example) perfectly matching the Sony rep's every move—although the poor guy had a tough time smacking a virtual tennis ball ("it's still hard," he said sheepishly.)

Other demos followed, including a dual-controller swordfight (with a shield in the other hand) with a skeleton and a swarm of orcs. The demo dudes also used twin motion controllers to manipulate virtual toy building blocks in a virtual sandbox. Most impressive: writing in long-hand (legibly, even) using the motion-tracked stick.

Granted, Sony's motion-control demo wasn't nearly as flashy as Microsoft's eye-popping showcase Monday for "Project Natal," an upcoming motion-sensing camera that tracks your entire body, no controller needed. That said, Sony had one key detail that Microsoft was missing yesterday: a release date, namely spring 2010.

[Image credit: Engadget]