The Potential of Project Natal

1. Introduction
2. The Boring Part – My Recent VG History
3. Adventures of the Dorkateers
4. The Interesting Part – Potential
5. (view all at once)

Introduction

The ailing economy will make the next few years very interesting for the Video Game Industry, a juggernaut in paid entertainment, as it balances consumer cost with an exponential increase in technological innovation.  Though we are a few years into the life cycle of the current generation of video game systems – Nintendo (Wii), Sony (Playstation 3) and Microsoft (Xbox 360) have stated thus far that they are not going to release a new gaming console for the 2010 Holiday season.  Though the Xbox 720 won’t be coming out, Microsoft will be taking a half step, releasing Project Natal; a camera hardware add-on for the Xbox 360 that senses motion without requiring any hand held controller.

The Natal systems uses its camera and some kind of crazy 3D spatial recognition technology to separate you from your background and record the movements of your entire body. Despite some creepy implications, it sounds pretty cool.  That is, of course, as long as you’re a Casual Gamer.

Hardcore Gamers are the industry’s term for people who tend to enjoy traditional, challenging and usually classically controlled games.  Casual Gamers are the elderly people who tend to enjoy more accessible, simpler and likely motion controlled games.  But what about people with a foot in both camps? Is that demographic considered important?  (And what about about people who love good old fashioned board games; Hard-board Gamers?)

I enjoy casual games from time to time, like Wii Sports, but I definitely worship in the church of Video Game Orthodoxy.  Yet, there is something that motion control tech adds to games that can’t be imitated on a traditional controller.  I tend to take three steps before “releasing” the ball to get my speed and curve correct in Wii Sports: Bowling.  Though I know I look like a complete idiot, almost punching a hole through my TV with the Wiimote on multiple occasions, it’s still kind of fun.  So, besides helping to reduce Wiimote-Television related accidents, how is Project Natal going to capture a gamer like me?

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