I received an interesting press release a few days ago concerning a company called Omnimotion. Apparently they’re attempting to beat Project Natal to the punch with motion control games, not only in terms of time (it’s playable now – check out tech demos on their site) but also in terms of economy. Instead of a $150 motion sensor that Natal will require, all you need for this to work is a standard webcam.

I played around with it for a while. ZenBall, one of the demos, demonstrates the tech pretty effectively. It’s neat – after a few minutes of acclimation, I was able to control a red ball around the screen, knocking green balls off of a platform.

It is frustratingly imprecise at times, and it’s difficult to always know what the camera is picking up. Shifting in your seat mid-game can result in unintended consequences on-screen. But, it’s a promising start that will probably improve with time. Rumor is that the company is in talks with “major developers” to produce games using the control scheme.

I can’t see it ever becoming preferable to a mouse and keyboard (or even a gamepad). It’s too imprecise and involved to ever be comfortable for extended use or in a serious game. However, paired with Wii-style games, it could take off just based on its ease of use and the fact that nearly everyone has a webcam these days.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.