Natal

[not a zaar]

Yeah, this is the same stuff I remember playing with in science museums 20 years ago. It's not really that exciting. We'll see if there's any good games for it.

you played with a true interactive AI at a science museum? was it cosi? cus I missed that exhibit. last time I checked the prospect of a consumer device that could recognize and reflect intelligent AND emotional stimuli was a huge breakthru.

either Molyneux knows how to put together one hell of a fake tech demo, or the robot apocalypse is about to take off

No I was talking about the stupid Eye-Toy like minigames. As far as the Milo thing goes, I don't really care about it, but if you're looking forward to spending a lot of time doing boring shit with a cartoon boy then knock yourself out.

 

[manicfoot]

It looks really, really interesting but I can't help but think of the limitations. Not everyone has enough space in their houses to use play that game where you hit the balls with your limbs... How would analog control work? Would you just walk or run on the spot? That would get tiring after a while.
Still, I'm pretty much creaming over the thought of Street Fighter with this. I mean, imagine yelling Ha-du-Ken! and doing the hand gesture Childhood fantasies come true!

 

[megapenguinx]

I think I'll stick to my controllers, but it seems like a neat concept. I just hope it doesn't get Wii syndrome and put in needless waggle just because it can.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

It could be amazing but it could also just be gimmicky. I imagine they'll be a few games that integrate it well and a lot more games that try to profit off it with minimal effort.

 

[Hot'n'steamy]

Anyone else see the irony behind Microsoft's showing this on a Sony screen?

 

[Steeveeo]

WANT.

I have a feeling it will become just an overhyped Wii clone, but you never know for sure until the release date, eh?

 

[ganpondorodf]

Very much cautiously optimistic about this. I was super excited about the Wiimote back when it was first shown, and now it seems like nothing more than a gimmick. Worried that this'll go basically the same way.

 

[TikiShades]

WANT.

I have a feeling it will become just an overhyped Wii clone, but you never know for sure until the release date, eh?

It will be like the Xbox avatars. They look great, but it doesn't have a soul and give that fun feeling. I always prefer making Miis to making 360 avatars, and I feel the same will be for motion sensor.

 

[aniki21]

That Milo thing looked pretty impressive, but also phenomenally creepy.

Like the Wiimote, this is going to live or die on the applications developers create around it. The reason Nintendo's controller has become a joke is because developers (including Nintendo) are using it as a stand-in for a "proper" controller in basically traditional games, instead of using it to deliver new ideas.

 

[D_987]

*Sigh* I'll say it again, because people really don't get it - I doubt they are trying to eliminate controllers...they are merely created a new type of game for the system - you'll have your "hardcore" games, your party games (Natal, Guitar Hero etc...), your arcade games and your streamed games.

 

[yeah_so_no]

I foresee people managing to hurt themselves in really stupid ways with this. And breaking things around their homes.

 

[D_987]

Anyone else see the irony behind Microsoft's showing this on a Sony screen?

Slightly, but then again - they arn't competing with Sony in that market...

 

[mykalwane]

Right now I think it has great potential as well as great flaws. The showing of the avatar moving with you was an example of that. Right now it just looks to add a new thing to the mix. The only thing that bugged me was the idea that there is the attempt to make a divide with the idea of a core and casual terms. Just something that bugs me, because there isn't a real difference. It feels like an attempt to put everything in a nice neat container to be study. That is what lead to some very crappy shows (most of tv generally speaking) and don't want that to happen to games. Probably won't happen, but it isn't a nice sign either way.

Microsoft wants to be the number one console, so it will fight with whatever it has to do so. Which is a nice idea when there is others competing. This looks to be a way to shut out the competition. Which I hope doesn't happen. The fact Sony looks like Microsoft has cut off it's balls I don't like because competition has allowed it to get it where it is now. Just hope this doesn't lead to them to eliminating Nintendo. It would leave the consumer in a bad place even if the one console idea is a dream to many people.

 

[jj90]

i think natal looks totally sweet. i cant wait until i can get one. all the motion sensors kick the wii s ass.

 

[GodsOneMistake]

I suppose it has a lot of potential but im not sure how I feel about jumping around in front of a screen like that

 

[teisjm]

state of the art animation and AI: making cyber-sex a single player experience.

This is whats gonna happen... Prolly not by the hands of microsoft, but once the technology is out digital "partners" will soon follow

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

It seems good... But this could also be a horrible flop. Call me stupid but I prefer a controller for my games. They've proved to work really well so I'm just gonna say this. Why fix it when it's not broken?

Because Nintendo is making a mountain of cash and Microsoft wants in.

Well if the technology is viable then Nintendo might as well give up cause Microsoft have blown them out of the water and ramped off them several times.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

uhhhhhhhh... this remind anyone of Skynet? Sure does for me.

 

[Gulzt]

I just showed it to my girlfriend, she's hardly impressed, and she has some good points. Visual sensors require a lot of light to function. This will give "eye of judgement" problems. If your lightning is wrong, it won't work right.

Also she studies voice therapy and knows a lot about voice recognition. There are major facilities working on getting it right, but so far the results are far from perfect. We all know from software that we tried that Voice Recognition can be a real pain; often it doesn't understand.. you don't want to be dependend on that in your game. If you 'die' in a game because the software doesn't understand, that is really going to be frustrating. If you have an accent, you are tired, you have a cold etc etc.. the software won't understand. You have to teach it "your voice" and takes a lot of time, not to mention processing power.

The video with the boy, shows stuff that is impossible. The boy might be able to react on words, but the dialog was pre-recorded, no way a computer can sound like that.. nor can it think by itself like that, AI is not that advance at this point at all. This means that if you experiment too much, the boy will not understand or will show wrong behaviour.. it's a nice video, but you should hold some reserves in trusting the interactivity.

All-in-all it looks too good to be true, and there is a saying:
When it looks to good to be true, it usually is.

We also have to keep in mind that processing this amount of data consumes a lot of the processor power, this will mean the graphics for games that have it implemented will be majorly decreased.. it might attract new gamers to the market, but don't expect a MGS5 with motion sensing just yet.

Last but not least, we're talking about microsoft here. They never managed to get windows® to work, it's probably the last company in the world to get this kind of technology to work flawlessly.

----

But I talk like a fanboy now. I was impressed by that video, period! If they DO get it right, they'll have a selling hit in their hands.. I'm still not going to buy it though. I'm absolutely sure it will take 2 years before they "could" make a good game with it, it will just be minigames wii-style for now, and that gets old pretty quick.. that's what we can expect I think

The exclusives that were shown didn't have my interest either.. not if I'd compare them to Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain and Fat Princess. And I don't have time to play them all. One console is enough for me.

 

[A Raging Emo]

It seems good... But this could also be a horrible flop. Call me stupid but I prefer a controller for my games. They've proved to work really well so I'm just gonna say this. Why fix it when it's not broken?

It won't eliminate the controller completely.

Playing a game on your 360 with Natal like, say, Gears of War, would be VERY tiring. I reckon we will still be able to use a controller.