All future games from Gears devs to use Natal
- October 09, 2009 00:00 AM PST
Epic's head of public relations has stated that all upcoming games from his company will utilize Microsoft's Project Natal in some fashion.
Marcus Fenix can tell when you're playing Gears in your underwear, thanks to Natal.
On a recent edition of Major Nelson's podcast, Cliffy B voiced his hesitation to integrate Project Natal into future games. Did this mean that Epic games, one of Microsoft's closest allies wasn't backing the project? Not so says Epic's Mark Rein -- the company's lead PR guy.
"I think any future Xbox games we make are going to make will have some Natal support," Rein told OXM. "We always want to have something that exploits the unique capabilities of a platform."
In truth -- Epic is already kind of making Natal games; the E3 demos used to showcase the technology were created using the Unreal 3 engine. Of course, Unreal 3 is a bit dated, but the framework is in place.
Rein didn't speculate on just how Epic would use the technology but did give some insights on how he would like to see it used. Citing the examples of taking your hand off the controller to simulate throwing a grenade or using a hand gesture to signal your squadmates, Rein sees the technology as a way to simplify many control schemes.
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- Oct 09 2009 at 06:29:36:PM PST
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Can someone tell me how you play a fps with natal? How does that work. Do you just pretend walk? Do you pull your pointer finger like cops and robbers? Will mimes and people who went to band camp have an unfair advantage?
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I'm sorry but when the option of choice to use either Motion Control
or not isn't an obsolete factor, I'll be done with gamin' from here on out...
I'm sorry but I'm just not a fan of motion control based gaming, I only prefer
to play with standard controllers in my hands
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To me it is all a matter of how much Natal will cost when it comes out in the end. If Natal turns out to be more expensive than a regular controller (which probably will) I guess I will just not buy the games that require it to play. I am tired of this avalanche of accessories you seem to have to buy in order to have the full experience.
I am not against it. I think that it might be very interesting but I just won't spen another small fortune just so I can play a handful of games. This technology will probably only pick up during the next generation of xboxes when it will probably be a feature that will come with the console rather than being an add on. Until then, I might just do without.
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htown4life wrote:
I'm sorry but when the option of choice to use either Motion Controli completely agree with this
or not isn't an obsolete factor, I'll be done with gamin' from here on out...I'm sorry but I'm just not a fan of motion control based gaming, I only prefer
to play with standard controllers in my hands
screw natal, sony wand, and the wii. not everyone wants motion control.
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I think the Natal is a neat and innovative new way to play games but I have a feeling it's basically gonna feel like a gimmick... Example. The part where this article says that you could take your hand of the controller and do a throwing motion to throw a grenade, sounds cool but... I play COD4 the button to throw a grenade takes just a second to press on the controller but would take more time if you took your hand off the controller to do the motion of throwing the grenade. Seconds count in games like COD4, doesn't sound so useful now. So it might seem like a more ingrossing way to play the game by playing with the Natal but it just seems impractical.... The only kinda games that I can think of that the 360 controllers that doesn't really have enough buttons to map all the controlls are MMORPG's and RTS (C&C:TW did an okay job though)... So to me i'd call this a gimmick...
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They keep talking about Natal like it is about to be released. I want this because it is kool tech. As long as it is responsive, it will be successful. I think most games will be using the controller and Natal will be for additional functionality. Most games could benifit from having fewer buttons. I started playing civilization on 360 recently. It is a really great game and plays well with the controller. But, you have to use ever button. Natal could make things even more fun.
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is it worth $200 to simulate throwing a grenade and swapping virtual outfits among ppl
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weinymew wrote:
anonjpx wrote:
Can someone tell me how you play a fps with natal? How does that work. Do you just pretend walk? Do you pull your pointer finger like cops and robbers? Will mimes and people who went to band camp have an unfair advantage?use your brain....tough challenge but try.....ok, i'll do it for you. You still move with the wireless controller in your hand. If you read the article it clearly said if you motion your hand to throw a grenade it will do it on screen. Natal has a mic. You could say where a threat is on screen and your squad mates would go to the point you say. If you turn your head a certain way , your charcter will look in that direction, handy for looking around corno=ers like in splinter cell or Metal geal. You could even whistle to distract guards and the like. Try a little imagination. If MS decides to copy off of home you can have a sausage fest of your own with your own face, I can see the Natal scanning your face and putting it on a game charcter....
I got a question. If you turned your head during any game,FPS or not,wouldn't that take your immediate vision away from the screen? Natal would have alot to prove when it comes to FPS, IMO
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