I had one for the Dreamcast, looks almost the same as far as i can tell. had 2 or 3 games that it worked on. And yes, you use it just like a real fishing pole. You have to cast it, push the buttons like a real one. I must say if you enjoy fishing and dont mind the slower paced gameplay the DREAMCAST one and games was quite fun. The one downside I found is it was somewhat fragile. Normal use is fine, but as with real fishing you can get a bit excited, or on casts with no hok and lots of reeling you can get a bit "harsh" I broke 2 of them (the spinny part). I have never used the X-box one but as i say it looks to be almost and exact dup of the old Dreamcast one.
Clok