The Project Natal. The Revolution has Come!

Posts Tagged ‘fail’

If you’ve ever played any kind of video game, you’ll find it hard not to be excited watching this demo video of Project Natal — the much-discussed controllerless gaming system for the Xbox 360 that Microsoft unveiled this week. Once you’re done with that, check this even more impressive (and vaguely creepy) one. Microsoft bills Natal as more than just a peripheral, but a revolutionary leap forward in gaming: a system that finally makes the controller invisible, opening video games to anyone who ever looked at a joystick and said, “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

As testimonies come in across the Web, it’s becoming clear that Natal is more than just hype. It could be as game-changing (if you’ll pardon the pun) as the Wiimote. But remember, this is Microsoft we’re talking about. Creator of the Zune. Maker of Windows Vista. Author of PlaysForSure. Given the company’s checkered past (the Xbox 360 being a very relevant exception), there’s a chance it might screw up Natal, too.

Natal is too promising a system to go to waste, though. After the jump, read a breakdown of why Natal could be what everyone’s playing in the future, and some cautionary supposition about how Microsoft still might blow it.
1. No Controller = No Intimidation

Natal takes the idea that made the Wii a success — that using natural, motion-controlled movements will make the system more accessible to nongamers — and brings it to a logical conclusion. Just as Wii Tennis and Bowling opened up gaming to people who’d never touched a joystick, Natal’s full motion capture is even more inviting. Instead of “take this stick,” now it’s just “stand over there.”

How Microsoft could blow it: If the motion capture isn’t sophisticated enough, things might get awkward. But Natal boasts 48 points of real-time motion capture on a human body, in three dimensions, so if anything the problem might be that it’s too sophisticated, with too many things to consider while you’re moving, or possibly complicated calibration. And dare I say an almost disgustingly PC question — what about the disabled?
2. Promising Gameplay, but Titles…?

The demo video shows a family playing various games, and it all looks great. Natal looks surprisingly adaptable: The bit where the kid imports his skateboard design is way cool, though for some reason the part where the girl and her friend pick out a dress via a teleconference seems a little fictional to me. Still, Natal’s apparent level of sophistication is so amazing, it’s hard to believe it’s based on a console that’s almost four years old.

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