As long as this isn't something that completely takes over but only for certain games, it could be quite great. And you know, what about things that work with the 360 controller?
should it really matter? the problem with that is that they have to scan the background. not with this. It worked on stage which was extremely flashy. I'd imagine a living room environement is rather controlled
It really doesn't matter whether it works or not. If this doesn't sell and isn't supported then it won't matter how well it works. From what I've seen it seems to work better than I would expect (and I can see potential in this camera), but I really doubt it will get the exposure of the Wii. I have a hard time believing that people will actually go out and buy this peripheral...
I don't know, Smug. Some people, for example, have highly reflective glass tables between themselves and the TV. Some people have animals that like to mess around. And as far as I could see, Natal as of now works only for single player.
The big problem is that it's entirely vision-based. There's so much that can go wrong with that. I don't think tracking software is there yet. There's been HUGE improvements in live tracking made in the last years, but I don't think we've arrived at a point where it can realistically be used for anything that goes beyond EyeToy/Singstar TEH FUNNAY evenings.
The Wii controls are bluetooth, physical, and there's always the option to return to traditional controls. Going beyond that, as of 09/10, I don't think is realistic for serious gaming. And Milo is just a refurbished Furby. There's a set amount of things he can do and say, and once you've tried all of them, you know the mechanics, and it's boring. Just like tracking software, AI is just not there yet. Not by a long shot. Molyneux is the master of making things look revolutionary and awesome. Remember the Black&White hype of "OMFG THERE'S SO MANY VARIABLES AND SO MUCH TO DO". Yeah.
Natal is garbage. It's not a new way to play--it never will be. I got an eyetoy. It was fun, but would I ever try to play a normal game with it? No. When you're at the point when you are standing up and doing the proper actions, you might as well go outside and play your bloody ricochet. I'm sick and tired of companies throwing in new technology, saying it's the second coming, and then it turning out to just be a bloody gimmick.
This really isn't what the industry needs in order to be taken seriously or grow, and in a real game, the concept is freaking useless, even when wanting to attract new consumers; learning a bunch of complex [and tiring] hand movements is a lot more difficult then learning how to use an analog stick. Let's hope Sony won't start feeding us this bull.
Essentially, I get the impression "Natal" (anyone else hate that name) is a really specced up Eye Toy; you know what - that thing was pretty cool but it barely got supported.
I doubt improved technology will make for that much better games than we saw with the Eye Toy. It's practically the same concept. I dunno. Jury is out.
This really isn't what the industry needs in order to be taken seriously or grow
Maybe. But action games with balding action heroes, explosions and shooting stuff definatly aren't, either. With the exception of some nice surreal visual in-game storytelling in Splinter Cell and Alan Wake, everything about the M$ conference was silly (from a "take the industry serious" point of view). Very, very silly.
"Natal is garbage. It's not a new way to play--it never will be. I got an eyetoy. It was fun, but would I ever try to play a normal game with it? No. When you're at the point when you are standing up and doing the proper actions, you might as well go outside and play your bloody ricochet. I'm sick and tired of companies throwing in new technology, saying it's the second coming, and then it turning out to just be a bloody gimmick.
This really isn't what the industry needs in order to be taken seriously or grow, and in a real game, the concept is freaking useless, even when wanting to attract new consumers; learning a bunch of complex [and tiring] hand movements is a lot more difficult then learning how to use an analog stick. Let's hope Sony won't start feeding us this bull.
"
This isn't the wiimote without the wiimote. There aren't suppose to be any preset motions.
You're just thinking about Eyetoy Antigrav and whatnot. You know why deelopers didn't want to do anything on the eyetoy.? because it was a freaking webcam. Same goes for the Xbox vision camera.
^ and to meowayne. You have an extremely limited view of "serious" games. Hardcore sci-fi is serious man too!
I just hope Sony does not try to force more casual stuff on us. If the ps3 was to go down the more core route I think alot more people would be happy. Anyways there is always the PC.
I'm sure Natal works after a fashion, but the ratio of bullshit to actual demos in the press conference made me extremely sceptical of how well it works. The live demos both relied on very big, wild gestures and the mapping to the avatar looked hideous and broken.
I am hopeful that it'll be cool, but I have difficulty believing it when their "vision" for Natal features a quality of motion capture currently only possible in specially built mocap rigs, and their Milo demo suggested a standard of voice recognition, AI reasoning and response not yet seen in computer science. Good luck with all that.
"Natal is garbage. It's not a new way to play--it never will be. I got an eyetoy. It was fun, but would I ever try to play a normal game with it? No. When you're at the point when you are standing up and doing the proper actions, you might as well go outside and play your bloody ricochet. I'm sick and tired of companies throwing in new technology, saying it's the second coming, and then it turning out to just be a bloody gimmick.
This really isn't what the industry needs in order to be taken seriously or grow, and in a real game, the concept is freaking useless, even when wanting to attract new consumers; learning a bunch of complex [and tiring] hand movements is a lot more difficult then learning how to use an analog stick. Let's hope Sony won't start feeding us this bull.
"
This isn't the wiimote without the wiimote. There aren't suppose to be any preset motions. You're just thinking about Eyetoy Antigrav and whatnot. You know why deelopers didn't want to do anything on the eyetoy.? because it was a freaking webcam. Same goes for the Xbox vision camera. ^ and to meowayne. You have an extremely limited view of "serious" games. Hardcore sci-fi is serious man too! "
1. I never said it was. Having a fist into your hand for your answer is about as complex (and takes way more effort) than pressing the A button, and don't get me started on the menu stuff.
2. I really don't see how the Eyetoy being a webcam or not really matters. Good quality camera or not, it's still basically the EyeToy.
I think Microsoft will pack these things in with new consoles once the device hits the market, so eventually it will be in households. I don't know how useful it will be to the game enthusiast, but I could see myself using aspects of it for somethings like menu option and I'd kind of like if I could program it to turn on or off my 360 by clapping. How cool (and surreal) would that be? All of what we saw at the press conference was tech demo and proof of concept stuff.
There are a few subtle ways that Project Natal might be implemented in games. I'd like to see if the system could read "body english" in racing games or shmups. This way you would still be using the standard controller to move your ship but may be there would be a subtle extra mobility depending on how you are physically moving while playing. This is just an idea. I don't know what they have planned and I doubt any developer has a really good idea what to do with this thing just yet. Its lack of tangebility makes it harder to work with I'm sure. The thing is at the very least more than a year off, so I'm not condemning it just yet. I'm just cautiously curious.
Log in to comment