Many mango seasons ago, a Japanese company promised a revolution to the gaming populace with a tiny white box and its magical motion-sensing controller. The day finally arrived when the heavens opened, and Nintendo's console finally revealed itself. It was definitely different. Most of us received it with open arms and welcomed our newfound messiah. But for some of us, the glitter soon went away and it wasn't long until we came to terms with the "waggling" truth. Dominant worldwide sales aside, the Wii is not for everybody.
Scenarios like these can leave a horrible taste in any cynical gamer's mouth. So when Sony and Microsoft announced they'd follow Nintendo's lead while claiming to perfect the motion-sensing phenomenon, I was scrambling to the nearest exit, demanding this awful nightmare to come to an end. Then Project Natal was finally announced. Great. Neato. Here we go again.
After Microsoft's E3 2009 keynote, two different factions sprouted that summer day. You either joined the Natal cult, or died of laughter. I was part of the latter. Months later, I find myself standing in a perfectly lit fluorescent room, with green and white body parts across the walls, and Project Natal comes to life right in front of me.
Damn it. I really wanted to hate Project Natal.
Contest:
3:50 PM on 09.25.2009
| 
BTW, how long IS a mango season?
Well, Jim Sterling won't be reviewing any games then.
Anything that gets more fun and orginality out there I suppose.
LMAO!
Exactly
I just want everyone to know, that I love dancing on Neptune.
I don't see it getting much use if they don't develop some physical controller, though. There's no way to maneuver a character in a first or third-person game without either 1) making some kind of stomping motion, 2) on-rails gameplay (no thanks) or 3) falling back on a traditional controller's analog sticks.
You can't even point and shoot like you can with the Wiimote because you have no trigger to pull or button to press (other than yelling PEW PEW PEW into the Natal's built-in mic across the room). It's just reminds me of a slightly more precise Eyetoy: a half-baked means of control.
Combine that with no force feedback and I'm currently not sold on Natal.
On a side note. What is the music in that video? I loved it.
If you're serious forget my earlier comment. You just completely sold me on NATAL. All Microsoft is advertising for it is the crappy VR stunts where it's just like going outside but inside but I would shut up about everything if promised interplanetary dancefests. Why is it that everyone who works in PR always does crappier jobs at it than people on the internet?
See? Now I hate Natal.
/s
Like Kojima said, Natal is better of for camera security or something else other that gaming.
Its a step forward that they're trying something like this,but I'll wait and see how this turns out.
And yes, I still use my Wii. I don't care enough about my image to worry about looking like a "douche" when I slice someone in half in No More Heroes.
But hey, that's just me.
lol, now I'm envisioning a Natal game with an escort mission and accidentally shooting the escortee (?) when all I did was sneeze. :D
I think the bigger picture here is... if you flip the word Natal backwards and replace the L with an S... we can all see what is really going on here.
I still need to see more inventive uses. If new ways to play old games that already work well is the best they can throw at me, I won't be impressed. And I don't think the ball reflecting thing is even mildly enticing. Wii Fit has done it before to a lesser degree. What I mean is that they show stop focusing on how wonderful and revollutionary their invent is(and you can beat each inch of your ass that it is) and start developing things that would actually make me go "ooooooh now I get it. Indeed it is unique". That's my main gripe with it, most people like it even though they don't seem to really get it, get it? The most impressive thing so far is a voice-motion recognizing child that, if Molyneux's past is of any indication, will fall short of its promises, despite it being a great idea.
I'm not hating. Just not buying it yet. And hoping they can grip me by the balls and make me forget about my previous red ring as I buy a 360-Natal bundle.
Because you can't possibly form an opinion without completely going through every single nook and crannie.
Seriously why do people say this? Surely you form an opinion on a game based on a trailer or previews. THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE FOR!
"I really wanted to hate Natal." Doesn't tell me much...what didn't you hate?
Wow, I wonder how this will actually be any different. There's no way Milo is real. I think the ball-bouncing demo is the best you'll see outta this one.
And +1 for finding out what the music is for the vid. Best damn part of it.
But I don't know if it would work well in my bedroom.
I think a lot of the people claiming it's "embarassing" to use are just uptight. Maybe they don't mind being told what to do when it's just using a controller, but it feels embarrassing putting physical effort into a video game and they just don't feel "cool" doing it. If you have a crowd of chill people, then it could be a blast. It also seems like a way to REALLY get a workout, at least far more than the Wii really gives you.
And IMO I really believe this will be done infinitely better than the Wii
BrainLazy is back! Where ya guys been, man?
also, @sylphx, nice reference!