What earns Microsoft's new motion control system a place on a list that includes the Ares Rocket, an AIDS vaccine and mouse levitation? Simple: The elimination of the controller, which Time says is the one fundamental barrier to "Tron-like immersion" in videogames. Project Natal requires nothing but a willingness to wave various parts of your body around as required by the game; as the list puts it, "the gamer's body becomes the controller."
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Of course, whether or not Project Natal (and yes, fanboys, Sony's motion controller too, although the "wand" would seem to run contrary to the idea of truly controller-free gaming) becomes the Next Big Thing remains an open question, but even if it should tank, the technology and the potential it represents isn't going away. Someday we'll be able to ride Light Cycles by straddling our coffee tables and when that magic moment arrives, there will be no denying it: It really will be that cool.
Whoever wrote that article obviously hasn't played video games since the 80's.
ohhhh god lol that is so true
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Why didn't they just say character.....but it would be nice to have a fake weapon and pull the trigger on the fake gun to shoot and when you move around masterchief moves with your movement...a man can dream
Tron like gaming... I can't remember exactly but didn't that end really badly?
Also, when are we finally going to get over this annoying hands free thing and return to good old controllers? I'm almost tempted to call for a resurgance of the two button and joystick days.
Amnestic: Shouldn't it generally be released first before they start putting it on lists of top inventions?
You know, that was kind of my reaction.
And mine as well. They must have been grabbing for whatever was left at the bottom of the barrel.
Natal's technology is apparently over a year old. I heard on a tech podcast that it was done by an Isreali company, and was shopped around since 2008 until MS purchased it in 09.
I really don't like moving when I play games. Even when I play the Wii I stay as stationary as possible and don't touch Wii Fit or it's ilk. I really hope this remains a fun for a while gimmick rather than a whole new way of playing games. What next, movies that require you to pedal to keep the plot going?
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Why didn't they just say character.....but it would be nice to have a fake weapon and pull the trigger on the fake gun to shoot and when you move around masterchief moves with your movement...a man can dream
Also, why would you want such a thing (outside of military training simulators of course). I've no idea how to load and fire a real gun, why should I have to learn that so I can load a fake gun with Natal?
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Why didn't they just say character.....but it would be nice to have a fake weapon and pull the trigger on the fake gun to shoot and when you move around masterchief moves with your movement...a man can dream
Also, why would you want such a thing (outside of military training simulators of course). I've no idea how to load and fire a real gun, why should I have to learn that so I can load a fake gun with Natal?
I didn't imagine it like that, maybe a button on the side of the gun to reload instead of the actual way to do it and just a simple trigger to shoot, You know something similar to the old time crisis game on the PSone
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Why didn't they just say character.....but it would be nice to have a fake weapon and pull the trigger on the fake gun to shoot and when you move around masterchief moves with your movement...a man can dream
Also, why would you want such a thing (outside of military training simulators of course). I've no idea how to load and fire a real gun, why should I have to learn that so I can load a fake gun with Natal?
Not to mention that you are effectively holding air unless you have some sort of props (which will likely be purchasable from retailers for a high price low, low price).
Reloading an invisible gun! Just what I always wanted to do with my spare time.
Ok if I want to look like an idiot while I play games I'll bash my head against the table while doing so. It's cheaper and probably, after you've done it for sometime, more fun!
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Why didn't they just say character.....but it would be nice to have a fake weapon and pull the trigger on the fake gun to shoot and when you move around masterchief moves with your movement...a man can dream
Also, why would you want such a thing (outside of military training simulators of course). I've no idea how to load and fire a real gun, why should I have to learn that so I can load a fake gun with Natal?
I didn't imagine it like that, maybe a button on the side of the gun to reload instead of the actual way to do it and just a simple trigger to shoot, You know something similar to the old time crisis game on the PSone
What gun? Natal is 'controller-less'. If you have a gun prop, thats a controller. And it raises the question of why you'd want 'full body' control in an FPS, given no-one has a 360-degree vision TV (i.e. If you lean to look around a corner, all you're going to see is the wall been your TV) or full body feedback.
Sorry, but Natal, and Sony's motion controller seem like gimmicks for their audiences - the Wii at least is honest in its appeal towards the Casual audience, and has games built around the controller.
Here's why I didn't buy a Wii: I play games to relax. To chill. To forget about my day. I don't play games so I can wave my arms around like a fucking moron who has a tarantula crawling up his back. I also don't invite my friends over so we can all do said fucking moron dance together. That's a good way to lose friends. And so while Microsoft greedily attempts to jump on the motion-sensing bandwagon by taking it one step further then the Wii, the unfortunate thing is that the one step forward leads into a pit of used needles and condoms.
Call me crazy, but doesn't more than 70% of that list belong far, FAR ahead of Natal? Like the $20 prosthetic knee that works better than its multi-thousand-dollar counterparts, or the potential savior of our planet, Vertical Farming?
How does a stupid gaming device of a gimmicky nature, which hasn't even had a day in the hands of its end-user, rate higher than actual scientific progress?
whether it turns out to be an actual effective gaming implement. I don't think anyone can deny that it's a huge leap forward in technology. it's incredibly complex and lightyears ahead of the eyetoy and such.
Also, it's fully possible to be finished but not released. the list is the 2009s top inventions, not 2009s top consumer products.
Its not even out yet. Also its a bit stupid to make bold claims of it being the awesome because it eliminates the controller since the EYE-toy did this years and years ago back on the PS2.
This is why I have an utter lack of faith in journalism.
This will be great for Microsoft and they will be very happy and make many other people very happy, though I will probably get this just to try it out I suspect I will not like it unless they mainly implement it in a hardcore manner (i.e. in combination with gamepad for precision).
Overall, I support any move by Microsoft to towards the Wii style casual market...
Malygris: Controller-free gaming, perhaps better known to you and me as the slightly darker and crusted bits of ketchup around the lid of a bottle.
Hey, perhaps they saw in it the potential to cure cancer too, that's why they put it on the list. Oh wait, Time magazine's last shred of dignity and reputation died for me when they had that internet survey that was rigged and spelled 'the game'. Atleast I think that was Time...
Project Natal Makes Time's List of Top Inventions for 2009
Time has published its list of the Top 50 Inventions of 2009 and running near the front of the pack is one that's near and dear to our hearts: Controller-free gaming, perhaps better known to you and me as Project Natal.
What earns Microsoft's new motion control system a place on a list that includes the Ares Rocket, an AIDS vaccine and mouse levitation? Simple: The elimination of the controller, which Time says is the one fundamental barrier to "Tron-like immersion" in videogames. Project Natal requires nothing but a willingness to wave various parts of your body around as required by the game; as the list puts it, "the gamer's body becomes the controller."
"You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand," the site says. "It's that simple. And that cool."
Of course, whether or not Project Natal (and yes, fanboys, Sony's motion controller too, although the "wand" would seem to run contrary to the idea of truly controller-free gaming) becomes the Next Big Thing remains an open question, but even if it should tank, the technology and the potential it represents isn't going away. Someday we'll be able to ride Light Cycles by straddling our coffee tables and when that magic moment arrives, there will be no denying it: It really will be that cool.
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