Exception to this are Aliens Online and more notably, Aliens: Colonial Marines, which features the Motion Tracker as a separate item that must be equipped to use just as in Aliens (although an audible (as well as an optional visible) warning is played to alert the player when it may be needed even when the Motion Tracker is holstered).

The Motion Tracker didn't appear in the September 21, 1983 Alien II treatment by David Giler, Walter Hill and James Cameron; it first appeared in the February 26, 1985 Aliens "First Draft" by Cameron (the very next version).

The Motion Tracker detecting an audio log (indicated by a square with an audio icon inside of it). In addition to tracking enemies, the Motion Tracker in Aliens: Colonial Marines is also able to detect dog tags, audio logs and legendary weapons. Though they'll have a unique icon when they are detected, the tracker itself will not emit any sounds.

The tracker which appeared in Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual was a copy made by Terry Reed for Lawrence Nathan of Fiction & Fantasy Models in North London in early 1990. Resin casts of this were made available. The main component of the Motion Tracker is the casing of a Kango 426 drill, with extra parts as follows: