In this article from the LA Times you can see that Microsoft is giving a sneak peek pre E3 for it’s somewhat anticipated new hands free gaming system for the 360: Project Natal.
Four demos have been given to the press:
River Rush: which begs the question, “How fun is it to pretend to paddle a canoe?”
Ricochet: which comes with the warning in the article as “Prepare to break a sweat.”
Living Statue: which allows you to animate your avatar, and send that animation to your friends.
Obstacle Course: which is exactly as it sounds, a summer camp obstacle course.
Which of these four titles sounds crappier than the previous one? The answer is “all of them”. If the is what Project Natal is, I hope they are selling it at smartphone app prices, as I don’t see paying more than $1.99 for any of these. Wait…What? I have to buy hardware, too?
Here’s the pre-review problem: What do the two guys in the picture above look like? If you came up with “d-bags” then we are riding the same train of thought. (If your answer was “bald d-bags” then we are sitting next to each other on the train.)
I love playing games just like the next guy, and I really like the advanced properties of Wii Motion Plus, but at least with the Wii you don’t feel like a Marcel Marceau School dropout. You’ve got something in your hands. This is where Project Natal may find its problem. You may be paying more for less.
We will see more next week as E3 begins.
By Sci-Guy-John
June 14th, 2010 - 1:01 am
the name is Kinect. and they are saying $150. I’m not really worried about looking “cool” when I’m playing a video game, I’m more worried about fun.
but none of these titles sound very good to me.
Like I’ve said before, it is all about content, how the tech is used. The tech is impressive. the application? From what we’ve seen leaked and rumored? not so much.
June 14th, 2010 - 6:49 am
They sound like intro title cobbled together to simply demonstrate the tech. The fun games are probably still in top secret development!
June 14th, 2010 - 3:46 pm
I agree, no one looks “cool” when playing a video game, and I don’t mind getting a bit of a workout. But take the driving game announced today. Holding your arms out for my than 10 minutes is almost impossible.