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Milo, Burnout, and Balls: Body-on with Project Natal
- June 02, 2009 07:23 AM PST
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Project Natal may look intruiging, but how does it play? We got to try out the potential Wii-killer.
Well, it certainly captured the attention of everyone who viewed it. Microsoft seemed to out-Wii the Wii with Project Natal, the body-recognizing, game-changing, controller-shattering uber-device they revealed at their press conference. But videos and tightly-controlled conference demos are one thing-trying it out is something entirely different. I got to try out Project Natal, and the results are promising.
My first taste of Natal was Ricochet, the hyper-active block-breaking game, demoed by the face of Natal and former Fight Night developer, Kudo Tsunoda. Kudo gave us a brief intro and showed us the ropes before letting the press serve up some damage. I didn't quite get as active as the hyperactive Microsoft employee, or even the surprisingly nimble Kudo, but my first taste of Natal served as proof-this device works. It recognized how far I was from the TV, and limb and head movements were almost instantaneously recognized on TV. Plus, the game once again rocked Ratatat on the soundtrack-they're a very gaming-influenced instrumental band that are definitely work checking out.
After the last block was broken, I moved on to a tricked-out version of Burnout Paradise. The rep working the station made sure to point out that this was a retail 360 with a retail game, reverse-engineered to incorporate Natal controls-I spotted a Platinum Hits version of the game randomly laying in a box in the doorway, so I'm inclined to believe him. Playing a racing game with the Wii wheel took enough of a leap of faith, but one without a wheel at all? We were told that a real Natal racer would include looser controls, as BurNatal required a very un-extreme precision steering, but this very raw demo still had a lot of promise. A more basic racer-like the recently announced Joy Ride could easily work with the "steer with your hands and put your right foot in for gas" scheme.
If Project Natal is a success, could this be the next Xbox bundle?
Finally, my group got to see him. Milo. And Peter Molyneux, if you're keeping score. The boy's creator and the father of Fable put forth Milo's primary objective-he wants to create a character that you believe is real, and that you believe understands you. The cute, chipper British gal that chatted up Milo at the press conference handled the initial interaction, before I got the chance to play. I stepped up as Milo headed to the pond. He tossed me the goggles, and yep, I grasped for them and reached to the ground to get them-just like Molyneux had predicted. I tried to interact with the boy, saying I couldn't swim (a lie), but he didn't reply. Maybe he knew the truth. Maybe he didn't care. Maybe he didn't recognize my tone of voice. But it didn't matter. I helped him fish for a few seconds and made my way out when the demo ended, hoping to have more time with the poster child of a strange new gaming movement.
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Comments [38]
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- Jun 02 2009 at 06:05:45:AM PST
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Flame all you want.
I thought Natal looked to be very promising, and it was a pleasant surprise.
Obviously they were just showing tech demos, but they gave gamers a picture of what MS plans for the future of gaming.
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The eye toy was a piece of shit. It put you on the screen. Natal doesn't put you on the screen. Just your movements. The eye toy failed. I don't think this will. This is way more advanced than that piece of shit. It looks very intriguing I'd like to play it. If it plays as well as they make it seem it will be a huge success.
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TheMisfit138 wrote:
The eye toy was a piece of shit. It put you on the screen. Natal doesn't put you on the screen. Just your movements. The eye toy failed. I don't think this will. This is way more advanced than that piece of shit. It looks very intriguing I'd like to play it. If it plays as well as they make it seem it will be a huge success.
True, I had the eye toy. It was a gimmick and a piece of shit. It did not do anything Natal is going to do. It was nothing more then a camera. These idiot fanboys need to go fuck a disc drive and get the fuck off Gamepro.
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With this new way of playing becomes successful(I hope it really does.)Sony and Nintendo are in trouble!!!!Also wants up with Sony and their new motion controller?It looks like they copied from nintendo.At least God of war 3 look good.
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My question is will MS include a fast enough image as well as interpreter processor to make actions 1:1? Otherwise, game play could be impaired.
Maybe MS should license the Cell from Sony for this.
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Shadowfox186 wrote:
This has been done by Sony. It's called an Eye Toy. They made Eye of Judgement and some fish aquarium screen savers and some minor other applications for it but it never took off. THis is not revolutionary its been done before.
Dude the eyetoy was junk.Don't deny it.If this Natal works when it's release you know it's gonna kickass!
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why didn't anybody push the kid in the water if you can interact and touch the water you surely could torture the child haha
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There is a lot of potential here but I think we are maybe a generation or so from it being fully realized. The latency in the dodgeball game will have to be shortened to make it more 1-1. Still, Natal opens up a whole host of capabilities that aren't going to only be for the casual gamer. For some funny views look at newsy's video one of the opinions is ridiculous.
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