Apparently, Jimmy Fallon is serious about this whole videogame thing. He is, as far as I know, the first late night host to feature multiple games-industry personalities. On last night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, he demonstrated his dedication to games by inviting on Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda to demonstrate Project Natal.
Much of what’s demonstrated is what we saw at the press conference, like the “Breakout with your body” demo. Fallon and company even get into the action, hopping right in and knocking balls around with relative ease. Of particularly hilarious note is the dejected pose one of Fallon’s cohorts makes when he misses a ball, the on-screen Avatar easily picking up on the actions.
Tsunoda also busts about a version of Burnout Paradise that Microsoft re-engineered to work with Natal. It appears to work, for sure, but I question as to whether or not controlling a racing game without anything your hand (a wheel for instance) could feel… right. Regardless, the technology is pretty incredible, and appears to work as advertised.
The question is – when will this “new future of videogames” begin? Microsoft isn’t committing to a time frame, and a reliable source told us “this holiday.” Another source told us “holiday 2010.” So I guess what we’re trying to say is: we have no idea. But we kind of want it.
Contest:
11:20 AM on 06.11.2009
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As for the Burnout stuff: Anybody played Mario Kart Wii with the wheel? I'm pretty sure this plays worse than that.
Kinda like this? ;-D
ITS NOT BURNOUT WITHOUT BOOST?
And aggression cars? Fuck that, only Aggression if you're using the 4x4. Or the Van.
I agree that it looks technically interesting, but from a gameplay perspective it put you right back into the place people didn't want to go with the Wii
Outside of being impressed by the tech, the opportunities for use beyond simple "wave your hands around OMG!" games is interesting. I happen to enjoy holding a controller in my hand, pressing the buttons; I'm not afraid by four face buttons, two sticks, and four "triggers." So imagine marrying that with more subtle motion controls? An obvious example might be with a squad, and directing them with one hand ("Go this way" + pointing, etc.). Or a game which (theoretically) could detect subtle emotions in your voice or face, and the game's NPC would react accordingly.
I still am not interested in ditching a controller in favor of complete motion controlled action (call me "old school"), but there could be some really interesting applications for Natal. They all don't have to be these over-exaggerated mini-games like we're seeing here; it's just easiest to show off the capabilities this way.
Of course 3rd parties are excited about this. Just look at what 3rd parties pump out on the Wii and up the resolution to 720p. I'll eat my words if this isn't the case. I just see the world of gaming being pulled away from us and I don't like the outlook.
He's done it to every game since Black and White.
And lets face it, when this thing comes out a flood of casual Wii style games will be right behind it to make some quick money. We've seen and still do see this with the Wii. Same thing will happen with the PS3s motion sensor.
I guess, if you are a quadriplegic.
I can't imagine they would all wear the same outfit if there wasn't some reason. Maybe it's easier to calibrate with brighter colored clothes?
Makes me wonder how sensitive to lighting conditions this will be. That was always a problem with the EyeToy/PSEye.
Also, I must be the only TrueBlood fan, because I thought it was funny seeing Bill the vampire play.
no deal
Genius!!!
How about Modern Warfare 3 where you control the movement with a thumb stick, but aiming is done using a gun peripheral like a light gun game. The camera is attached to your actual head position, so players can poke their heads around walls to scout the enemy position and fire off a burst from their machine gun, before popping back in to reload. Headshots depend entirely on your skill at aiming the gun and you can use hand signals to communicate silently in multiplayer.
The immersion of that game would be fucking amazing, not to mention how cool it would be to actually throw grenades!
I don't know about playing Breakout by jumping up and down like an idiot - I think that would kill most gamers in about 4 minutes flat - but if it's used subtly to enhance the games we already play it could offer totally new gameplay experiences. Don't knock it til you've tried it, guys!
I love when it gets all fucked up and the legs go for his face.
Hope for the best though, can't judge before trying and guess it's not all done yet either.
As far as motion controls go, it's a controller, we've always had to adapt to them. I didn't like analog triggers for a long time because you only "pushed the button" at the end. I tear people up at Wii Sports Boxing and guess what: it doesn't look like I'm boxing.
that, and eventually standing on a chair and attempting to get achievements in slam ball using only my wang.
Or it just could have been a gimmick of the show since they were branded with the logo and all.