Microsoft has finally, officially given a release date for its full body motion sensing Project Natal, saying it will hit the Xbox 360 "in time" for the holidays 2010, likely meaning November.
Says Steve Ballmer, CEO: "2010 is going to be a landmark year for all Xbox customers."
Ballmer also noted that there have been about 39 million Xbox 360 consoles sold globally, and over 500 million ... [ read the full article ]
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Natal: Another great idea from the company that brought you WinMe and Vista.
After working all day, do I want to jump around in front of my monitor?
No. I want to recline, relax, and use a controller.
Sometimes I really think they haven't a clue.
There's a good reason why lightpens never caught on.
The technology may be impressive - but: Hey Microsoft! I DON'T WANT IT!
Yeah.. this sounds like fun.. I liked the winter sports game on my friends wii last year for the same reason.. lots of jumping around and acting the idiot.
Originally posted by brockjc8: You two up there are nuts and most likely over weight or lazy natal great can't wait to get it and play
I would have to agree with you.
Quote:After working all day, do I want to jump around in front of my monitor?
No. I want to recline, relax, and use a controller.
Sometimes I really think they haven't a clue.
There's a good reason why lightpens never caught on.
The technology may be impressive - but: Hey Microsoft! I DON'T WANT IT!
Yeah, right, they have no clue, the same way the guys that made millions selling Wii didn't have a clue, right?
You don't want it, don't get it, can't get any simpler than that!!!
I'm going to predict that Natal will only be slightly more popular than the eyetoy was for the PS2. I don't think sony ever really advertised the eyetoy, but you know microsoft will advertise the hell out of natal.
When i first heard about this project it really caught my eye but with a stupid name that home's in on the Pre stage of birth..I got quite put off by it.
Another Wii type system with useless games to throw yourelf round on. Unless they bring out a game where i can put myself in the game and run round The Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3 im not buying it!
When I'm feeling energetic I go cycling, and get some fresh air too.
I've cycled 2000km solo - just me, my bike and a tent. I don't play want to games to get exercise.
Natal will only be good for dopey family-friendly games and I think it's too late for Microsoft to steal that user base away from Nintendo.
I've used the Wii and it's fun for a while, but that kind of control is of no use to the sort of games I play - it doesn't add any value.
The idea of playing e.g. a motor racing sim by holding your hands out in front of you is exceedingly dumb and counter-productive - with nothing to rest your hands on, your arms will get tired after a short while. How could that be better than a controller or a wheel?
That's why lightpens and touchscreens never caught on with vertical monitors: interesting tech but a dumb idea.
Here's a quote from a Wiki article:
Gorilla arm was a side-effect that destroyed vertically-oriented touch-screens as a mainstream input technology despite a promising start in the early 1980s. Designers of touch-menu systems failed to notice that humans are not built to hold their arms at waist- or head-height, making small and precise motions. After a short period of time, cramping may begin to set in, and arm movement
becomes painful and clumsy. This is now considered a classic cautionary tale to human-factors designers; "Remember the gorilla arm!" is an industry term for "How is this going to fly in real use?"
We already have a solution for controlling gaming consoles: it's called a controller, and it already works really really well.
We don't need another bogus solution thought up by the marketing department or gee-whizzery addicts.
But what does it matter? Microsoft can afford to burn a billion bucks and it won't hurt them.
I would much rather they spent the money during 360 development and spared so many users the RROD. That would have been money well spent.
