The rumor of Sony introducing a new handheld console is well-known, and most of us are anticipating the unveiling of a dual-analog PSP with a sliding screen and no UMD slot at this year’s E3.  That may not be the only hardware introduced by Sony, however; Variety.com’s Cut Scene blog is reporting that Sony will be showing off a new motion-sensing controller at the annual games conference in Los Angeles.

Citing “several sources, one of whom has seen the device and two of whom are familiar with Sony's plans to show it at E3 next month,” Variety states that Sony’s new controller will utilize LEDs and a small webcam that tracks the controller’s movements with far greater accuracy than that of the Wii.  According to one unnamed source, the prototype of the controller looks “kinda funky with a bulb to house the LEDs on the end.”  Sorry to hit you with all that technical jargon.

If this turns out to be true, Sony will have completely changed the way we play their games in a single week; we’ll be able to use a PS3 controller to waggle and point our way through games, and we’ll be able to actually enjoy playing the PSP for the first time ever.  Despite semi-annual proclamations that “this is the year the PS takes over,” the console is still in a distant third in worldwide and US sales.  If the motion-control rumor pans out, however, it’s the kind of massive change that could finally make those claims true.  We’ll see next month at E3.