Kinect and it's effects on the WORLD.

[Soapy]

I arrived at that conclusion through the use of logic and common sense.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

I arrived at that conclusion through the use of logic and common sense.

And your logic and common sense say that a company is making a new peripheral just for casual gamers...
A company is making a million dollar peripheral just for a small part of the market....

Unless you think that Sony made the Playstation Move only for casual gamers too, i see no logic in your logic.

 

[Crook]

The Wii's vast success and primary focus on motion controls would tell you that the 'casual gamer' is far from a small market. There are more hardcore gamers on both 360 and PS3, but Nintendo has both of them beat combined.

 

[Havok83]

i dont really see how this will work in actual REAL games, not stupid party games and painting ur screen/blocking balls i have no interest in that stuff. Unless they want us to physically run/walk in place to make our character move, im guessin theyll end up releasing some joystick you have to hold in ur hand while u play a game. Also how will it detect you pulling a gun trigger in shooters, so many questions there will most likely be all these extra accessories youll have to buy to play normal games, im still very very skeptical that this will appeal to anyone other than casual gamers.

we'll definetly have to wait to see MS demo this thing some more, bc I fail to see how it will be implemented in more traditional games as well

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

The Wii's vast success and primary focus on motion controls would tell you that the 'casual gamer' is far from a small market. There are more hardcore gamers on both 360 and PS3, but Nintendo has both of them beat combined.

Sure, and that´s what Sony and Microsoft are making, a peripheral that supports both types of gamers.
Of course, that it´s easier to see it at something for the casual, more even with Natal, because no one can imagine how to move a character without a "nunchuck" or "PS Move subcontroller", but that´s for them (developers) to know and we to find out.

But i don´t care, i just don´t care about what Microsoft does until they give me something to think otherwise.
Between the lack of first party studios, and the games being released multiplatform (360 and PC), i just don´t care anymore, imo, either the 360 is Microsoft´s last console or they just lost it.
Now, there are talks that Project Natal is going to the PC, the same happening with Fable III....there are even rumors that 360 will be ported to the Iphone and Android smartphones, it´s just ridiculous.

http://www.cooltechzone.com/2010/03/13/microsoft-xbox-360-games-coming-to-iphone-soon/

The more the time passes, the more i see no reason to buy a 360, because everything they have will end of another platform, and more than not, a better version of it.
I´m just waiting for the 360 game to go to the PS3....

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

One thing i can say and really believe, if Natal ends on sucking, it´s the end of Microsoft in the console business.

 

[Addendum]

It didn't bother at all when Bioshock appeared on the PS3, nor did it bother me when it was announced that the GTA 4 DLC that was "exclusive" for the 360 was also going to be on the PS3. I certainly don't care if Natal appears on PC.

I'll just continue to play the games that interest me.

 

[Fading]

About Natal not being for more than casual games, I agree to a point. I think party games and games that otherwise don't need complex controls will be it's mainstay. I can also see mixing it in with the regular controller working some like how the sixaxis motion controls are occasionally used. Heavy Rain would be a good example, you're walking in Fable and then something happens and maybe you have to wave your hand to make something happen. Other than that, I honestly never saw Natal as a gaming tool as much as an immersion tool.

Take an FPS for example, how would you point and shoot? I'd imagine you'd point your finger out towards the target and then tap your fingers towards the target repeatedly until it registered. Would that be as fast and accurate as pressing a button tho? Would it be as fun? I can't see it being more fun or accurate. I can't imagine playing something like the torture scenes in MGS where you had to rapidly press the X button for an extended period of time, unless they drasitcally lowered the amounts of times you needed to press it.

I know Natal will be accurate, but I also think you'll have to clear out a large space to play some of the games, and will have to be careful about scratching your nose or ear while playing. I think Natal will hit a similar casual nerve that the Wii hits, but not to the same extent. I also think the hardcore crowd will mainly skip over it. I could be wrong, but I don't see it being as major of a hit as many made it out to be during it's unveiling (revolutionary, next step in gaming, and other terms like that).

None of that is a knock tho, I think it'll sell well enough to cover it's R&D expenses. I just don't think it'll do what a lot of ppl think it will.

 

[Fading]

One thing i can say and really believe, if Natal ends on sucking, it´s the end of Microsoft in the console business.

I don't think it'll be the end, the 360 still sells too well in the US and does so well in software sales I don't see anything short of some major disaster halting sales (tho I do think they could very well slow down). I think it just despends on how much MS is banking on Natal. Lately they've released a few good exclusives (like ME2), but more and more ppl are complaining about the 360 falling behind in exclusives. If it turns out they pushed off support behind non Natal related IP's in order to focus entirely on Natal as the future of the Xbox, and sales of Natal don't do very well, I think the Xbox brand will be fine but MS will have to scramble a bit to recover some of the losses.

To try and clarify a bit more, I mean if they (for whatever reason) decided to make Mass Effect 3 or Fable a pure Natal title, and Natal bombs, they'll have a Lair situation. Ppl will complain about the controls, MS will continue to push support for the title, and eventually a patch will come out fixing the controls to be more in line with the normal controller. By then sales will not have been as good as they could have been, and word of mouth and reviews will put ppl off to the series. Not saying that will happen, but if MS sees Natal as that huge, I wouldn't be surprised to see atleast one of their major exclusives being tied to Natal to push it.

 

[Soapy]

Good grief Isildur's Heir, you're such a chicken little about this stuff.

 

[KALEL114]

Quick question. Can Natal detect more than one person at a time or would players have to take turns using it? For example, a fighting game where I can fight a friend or just an offline co-op game.

 

[StrainedEyes]

One thing i can say and really believe, if Natal ends on sucking, it´s the end of Microsoft in the console business.

The 360 is a success, despite massive hardware issues. I doubt Natal failing will force MS out of the console business.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

The 360 is a success, despite massive hardware issues. I doubt Natal failing will force MS out of the console business.

You guys are missing the point.
If Natal fails, Microsoft will not be forced out of the console business; if Natal fails, Microsoft loses the small credibility they still have, they became nothing more than a joke.
Microsoft is already one of the most hated companies in the world, so, for them to became a joke is not that difficult, all it takes is a failure on a extremely hyped peripheral.

 

[Soapy]

No, if Natal fails it will just be the most recent in long line of failed peripherals from every console manufacturer.

 

[StrainedEyes]

You guys are missing the point.
If Natal fails, Microsoft will not be forced out of the console business; if Natal fails, Microsoft loses the small credibility they still have, they became nothing more than a joke.
Microsoft is already one of the most hated companies in the world, so, for them to became a joke is not that difficult, all it takes is a failure on a extremely hyped peripheral.

You're funny.

 

[Addendum]

No, if Natal fails it will just be the most recent in long line of failed peripherals from every console manufacturer.

Exactly.

 

[Cth]

You guys are missing the point.
If Natal fails, Microsoft will not be forced out of the console business; if Natal fails, Microsoft loses the small credibility they still have, they became nothing more than a joke.

Microsoft is already one of the most hated companies in the world, so, for them to became a joke is not that difficult, all it takes is a failure on a extremely hyped peripheral.

They said the same thing about the Zune and the leap year bug. The same one that hit the PS3 this year

If Natal does bomb, here's the most likely scenario. Apple is emboldened enough to enter the market with their own gaming system. They've been dabbling with the idea for a while now and if MS falters, it'd give them an opening to chip away at.

Especially since they're paranoid about Google entering into their territory (phones) so they've been poaching other markets (ebooks/tablets) to expand.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

I don´t know if Project Natal will be big or not, but, it will have it´s own press conference day on June 13, with Microsoft´s main media briefing on June 14.
E3 officially starts on June 15 and ends on June 17.
So, for the first time, a company will have two press conferences on E3.

http://kotaku.com/5502117/project-natal-world-premiere-starts-this-years-e3-on-a-sunday

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Double post

 

[Flash Facts]

That's good news to me. With the rumors of how natal focused E3 was going to be for Microsoft I thought there may not have been much news that would interest "core" gamers. With Natal having a separate conferences that leave a lot of room to show off other kinds of software.

 

[KALEL114]

River Rush leaked by filmmaker.

On his personal blog, Gunn describes River Rush as two player kayaking type game where both participants steer the boat by stepping right or left.

As you rush down right rapids, you have to jump up and slap floating stars in the air – the whole raft jumps up every time you do," he says. Sounds like high potential for midair collisions.

More after the jump.

http://kotaku.com/5519934/filmmakers-blog-outs-canoeing+style-project-natal-game

 

[Timstuff]

I'm pretty much convinced that Natal is turning into a high-tech eyetoy. It could offer some fun novelty games, but I really don't see it being a viable platform for serious gaming since there's a lot of limitations on what can be done with it. Buttons and stuff are kind of a necessity, because there's only so much you can do with just body gestures. Sony looked at this same technology years ago but decided that it wasn't enough of a leap over current eyetoy tech. Maybe MS figured something out with it that Sony didn't, but I'm unsure of what kind of future there is for controller-free gaming at this point.

 

[Grommers]

You guys are missing the point.
If Natal fails, Microsoft will not be forced out of the console business; if Natal fails, Microsoft loses the small credibility they still have, they became nothing more than a joke.
Microsoft is already one of the most hated companies in the world, so, for them to became a joke is not that difficult, all it takes is a failure on a extremely hyped peripheral.

there is just so much wrong with this.
hell, i dont even want to reply to this as it seems like a blatant troll..but for the chance it isn't a troll..

Microsoft is not a hated company..if it was, people would not buy from it. ps3 to 360 sales..360 is still winning..despite red rings.

if natal fails, it fails, i know tons of people that are xbox 4 life, as they have some big hitters for there systems.


a peripheral is a relatively irrelevelant thing..it will limit some games, but you know that there is no way that halo 4 (when it comes or if it does) will still be using a controller to ensure competitive play or if its done on natal, that it has the same reaction times that a controller would have.

Thats just very basic thinking on my part, I would hate to see all the stuff the developers who get paid to sit there and think about this think about, in terms of issues and problems.

 

[Raiden]

I'm pretty much convinced that Natal is turning into a high-tech eyetoy. It could offer some fun novelty games, but I really don't see it being a viable platform for serious gaming since there's a lot of limitations on what can be done with it. Buttons and stuff are kind of a necessity, because there's only so much you can do with just body gestures. Sony looked at this same technology years ago but decided that it wasn't enough of a leap over current eyetoy tech. Maybe MS figured something out with it that Sony didn't, but I'm unsure of what kind of future there is for controller-free gaming at this point.

That's my feelings as well. Natal imo will not be able to offer games that have real depths in the future, due to the absence of traditional buttons and apparatus (like the Playstation Move does). We may get a driving game out of it, but games like Socom (which will have a Playstation Move edition) will not be possible on Natal. Hopefully Microsoft will figure out a way to make it more viable for hardcore gamers.

 

[KALEL114]

Behold a manual

http://kotaku.com/5520812/project-natal--its-instruction-manual-in-the-wild