Microsoft: Natal Is No Eye Toy

[Shy_Guy]

And then suddenly you go to scratch an itch and accidentally get ventilated by the enemy cause it caused you to lean out of cover. No thanks.

Let me put some perspective on this aside from that joke scenario. For almost 2 decades now, as far as I can tell anyway, the Museum of Science in Boston had this thing called "Virtual Volleyball" which essentially used some level of projection trickery to project people's bodies onto a screen and be able to interact with a ball moving across said screen and play volleyball against one another. As cool as the idea seems it still boils down to the exact same issues with the eyetoy and Natal. You are still nothing more than a doofus in front of a camera in an electronics store, i.e. you look silly. There is no tactile feedback and as such there is no real immersion. It's not "virtual reality". At least not from my POV. Something that could be done 20 years ago is still being done today with no real progress. I want to believe Natal could be an awesome idea but so far I haven't really seen anything as of yet that has been able to convince me. I'm sure that sounds ridiculous coming from someone who owns and plays a Nintendo Wii but then again the Wii still has a controller, plus Motion Control isn't mandatory.

I see your point. I'm really just optimistic that developers are smarter than me. I mean, I see how combination controller/Natal games could work, I just can't think of good specifics.

Regardless, I actually want full-body minigames. Maybe that makes me lame and in the minority, but I don't care! =l

 

[Casual Shinji]

So,..................it's an even less in tune control system than the Eye-Toy!?

Gotcha

 

[Stormz]

I'm not buying it no matter what they say. If all games in the future have to have Natal then I will just stop buying games for me 360. Simple as that.

"WE can see when you move your hand, when you move your feet, WE can track your body."

Uhhhh.... I don't think I'm going to be buying natal.

Also this. The way that was worded is slightly disturbing.

 

[Crabturtleking]

It's out for the PS3 in Japan, but I would consider it excluded from the PS3 list since it's doubtful it will be localized.

Shit...Tales of Vesperia is BY FAR the best all around JRPG of this console generation, imo. Lost Odyssey beats it out in story, but that's about it.

And they're missing out...Oh well. The PS2 could play EVERY OTHER TALES GAME. Well, except Phantasia.

But they released Phantasia for the PSX, so why couldn't it? You're also forgetting Hearts, Innocence, and Graces. (DS, and Wii, respectively)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It's out for the PS3 in Japan, but I would consider it excluded from the PS3 list since it's doubtful it will be localized.

Shit...Tales of Vesperia is BY FAR the best all around JRPG of this console generation, imo. Lost Odyssey beats it out in story, but that's about it.

And they're missing out...Oh well. The PS2 could play EVERY OTHER TALES GAME. Well, except Phantasia.

But they released Phantasia for the PSX, so why couldn't it? You're also forgetting Hearts, Innocence, and Graces. (DS, and Wii, respectively)

Hmmm I didn't know Phantasia was on PS1. Were this games released outside of Japan?

 

[Crabturtleking]

It's out for the PS3 in Japan, but I would consider it excluded from the PS3 list since it's doubtful it will be localized.

Shit...Tales of Vesperia is BY FAR the best all around JRPG of this console generation, imo. Lost Odyssey beats it out in story, but that's about it.

And they're missing out...Oh well. The PS2 could play EVERY OTHER TALES GAME. Well, except Phantasia.

But they released Phantasia for the PSX, so why couldn't it? You're also forgetting Hearts, Innocence, and Graces. (DS, and Wii, respectively)

Hmmm I didn't know Phantasia was on PS1. Were this games released outside of Japan?

Sadly, all of them are Japan only games. On the bright side, Phantasia for PSX has a translation patch, and Innocence and Hearts have patches that are being worked on for them.

 

[Always_Remain]

Until I can go full Tron on shit motion gaming with never appeal to me. *spits on tony hawk ride "controller"*

 

[Nargleblarg]

If you pointed two Natal's at each other I wonder if they would call each other eye toys?

 

[Pokeylope]

The eye-toys biggest flaw was that without an optimal lighting scenario all of it's recognition features failed miserably (imagine trying to use the wand tool in photoshop on a terrible resolution blurry, poorly lit photo) Even when we changed into brightly colored plain shirts, changed the lighting, and put a blue dropcloth behind us, it still seemed to have difficulty focusing and a long lag between capturing the image and processing it into game data.

If they get a higher resolution, faster, sharper focusing camera with improved ability to deal with poor lighting it could work, but it still seems like a bad idea.

 

[GodKlown]

Three words from the past, boys and girls...

Sega Genesis Activator

Motion controls sucked then, they will continue to suck well into the future. The idea is neither new nor really that innovative. Get me some games with interactive holograms instead of this "putting me into the game" nonsense already. Better yet, let's just get crackin' on a holodeck!

 

[Julianking93]

Yes it is. Stop kidding yourself Microsoft.

 

[stabnex]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!

Microsoft is actually gonna go through with the Natal?!

I thought it was just a gag! You know, an April Fools thread?

Either way I'll say now what I said last year. The Natal is a bad idea and won't work when it comes time for 3rd party developers to program in their non-feedback, immersion breaking willy-scanners.

 

[wax88]

It's funny how I just skimmed down 5-6 posts, and then immedietely found a console war sparking up.

Grow the fuck up, please.

As for Natal, I've learned not to trust promises of "revolutionary innovation" because that's what practically every developer will say about their product. It does look promising for sure, I wouldn't bat it out of the sky right away. Let's give it some time and see how it turns up. (Who knows, maybe it really turns out to be "revolutionary".

you know what? i know it will be revolutionary!

so much so that it's a 360degrees revolution...that is doing absolutely nothing-going the full circle of failure that is motion controls.

i mean gosh-even if this works(and i doubt it will)- what this means is that i'll have to run around my living room like a lunatic just to play a game, and that the living room must be freaking huge and clear. so goodbye coffee table, and small apartments. seriously, you're gonna need a lotta space just to play the game and probably need to sit quite far back unless the camera on natal is THAT wide angled.

also, most demos take play behind fixed coloured walls of white of black. in a clutter living room i doubt it'll do jack for the camera.

 

[atombeast707]

i swear to god if this natal filth makes its way into my beloved modern warfare, i will... well... not play MW3... and i will make my ps3 my main system... yea... that'll show em...

but really, this better wither and die with Molyneux's eaten words. because motion control is such a gimmick. WHY DOES NO ONE IN MICROSOFT OR SONY OR NINTENDO REALIZE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: i now hate MW2. just thought id point that out.

 

[sln333]

because motion control is such a gimmick.

Why don't you tell that to the 50 million people who bought a Wii?

Natal should be successful. Microsoft is spending a lot of time with it, and it seems they are making it as more than just a new Eyetoy. It is supposed to be an alternate interface to a controller. You could use it to go through menus, select things, and also you can use it in games. Think of it as a replacement for your remote to your tv, and as for games, the ability for you to attach yourself to it by performing the physical motions you would in real life.
I'm surprised so many people are quick to write it off as a suped-up Eyetoy. It hasn't come out yet and people already believe it will fail, or not be nearly as good as advertised. With something as experimental as this I don't think we can judge it until it comes out.

 

[scotth266]

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I'm more interested in the device thanks to the interface system (facial/voice recognition, movement-oriented menus, stuff like that.)

If it does capture my interest as a gaming device, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Still, I didn't think that I would ever get into DDR, and yet, here I am a good five years later with two dance pads and a few games to boot. Physical interactivity might also be the saving grace of this platform if it can make exercise games that you can't cheat at. If nothing else, peopel would buy it for a Wii-Fit style game.

(Anyone else remember that issue of EGM where they had the article dedicated to finding ways to cheat at Wii Fit? Well, the joke would be on them if they tried it with Natal, if the hype is to be believed.)

 

[Buizel91]

wow everyone is really trying to make project natal a bad idea...

seriously, grow up and stop complaining, i would acctualy like to see Microsoft prove you all wrong...everyone laughed at the computer...but what is everyone using today?

non have you have experienced it so non of you can say it will be "awful"

i haven't either...i admit, but im staying neutral and not saying it'll be good or bad...cause i haven't used it (obviously)

if Microsoft say it isn't like the eye-toy then take their word for it and wait till its released. they will have done stuff to this equipment that they haven't even talked about yet, they are only releasing these thing to keep us on our toes...which isn't happening by the looks of it, because everyone thinks that it wont work.

don't judge a book by its cover and wait till you can open the pages =)

 

[Buizel91]

because motion control is such a gimmick.

Why don't you tell that to the 50 million people who bought a Wii?

Natal should be successful. Microsoft is spending a lot of time with it, and it seems they are making it as more than just a new Eyetoy. It is supposed to be an alternate interface to a controller. You could use it to go through menus, select things, and also you can use it in games. Think of it as a replacement for your remote to your tv, and as for games, the ability for you to attach yourself to it by performing the physical motions you would in real life.
I'm surprised so many people are quick to write it off as a suped-up Eyetoy. It hasn't come out yet and people already believe it will fail, or not be nearly as good as advertised. With something as experimental as this I don't think we can judge it until it comes out.

finally! someone who thinks like me about this device!!!!

about time i thought i was the only one =(

 

[Killerbunny001]

This kinda of news is for the lulz and it always ends up in being Captain Fanboy vs Afraid of change legion.

My opinion : Denying that the roots of Natal was the Eyetoy is one of the biggest lies Microsoft came up with this year.

 

[Klepa]

I bet this thing's doom will be the games. Just like Wii. A bunch of mini games, or games with little to no content, where people are expected to have multiple orgasms over "Oh look the guy is moving on the screen too! As I move! Isn't this fun!".