A coming revolution in home gaming will bring an end to furiously pressing those buttons, writes BRIAN BOYD
AFTER THE European sneak preview of the top secret “Project Natal” in London last Monday night, Jonathan Ross was so impressed he hasn’t stopped breathlessly tweeting about it, and has allowed a video of him using it to go up on YouTube.
Models Jodie Kidd and Jade Jagger were similarly enthused, while the geeky “seen it all” gaming media present were throwing the word “genius” around with giddy abandon.
They were all referring to the much-anticipated new hardware device from Microsoft for use on their XBox 360 console: Natal means you throw away your traditional hand-held controller and play instead with your body, your voice and even your facial expressions. This futuristic feeling device will be available to buy in Ireland next October – just in time for the expected Christmas rush.
Natal, which will have a different name by the time it goes to retail, represents a paradigm shift in the hugely popular gaming world. Say goodbye to having to furiously press buttons with your fingers – and goodbye to all the messy wires associated with controllers.
The hardware is expected to retail at about €65 (this figure is only based on industry rumour) and is compatible with existing XBox 360 consoles.
Such is the instant hype already being generated by Natal that it is believed one of Microsoft’s big rivals in the gaming world, Sony (PlayStation manufacturers), are fast forwarding their own “controller-free” hardware. To spice things up, Sony are already criticising Microsoft’s “PR barrage” on Natal, and referring to the hardware as being little more than “smoke and mirrors”.
This PR barrage includes an almost over-the-top endorsement of Natal by director Stephen Spielberg, who late last year at a games conference in the US said (actually, shouted excitedly): “When I saw what was going on with Natal, the gamer in me went out of my mind. I think what Microsoft is doing is not simply a case of reinventing the wheel. It’s a case of no wheel at all.”
Spielberg is a close personal friend of Don Mattrick, one of the “creatives” behind Natal.
Potentially, Natal can change home entertainment as we now know it. Looking like a webcam, the hardware contains a camera, a body sensor and a microphone – all of which enable it to take “instructions” from your body, face and voice – with nothing else between you and the video screen.
In a sense it returns gaming to a level playing field, as seasoned controller users will no longer be able to rely on their quick fingerwork to play a game with their past proficiency. And this will be part of Natal’s great appeal: the slightly older demographic who are averse to gaming because of the somewhat fiddly nature of hand-held controllers are an XBox 360 target market.
One of Natal’s great strengths may also be a weakness. Media were given a demonstration of it in London last Monday, and playing Dodgeball with Natal – where all your body is in use and you can move closer to or further away from the screen as desired – proved to be a bit of an aerobic workout after 15 minutes.
You are jumping, punching and kicking instead of just pressing your fingers against buttons. Then again, to some, the physical work-out possibilities afforded by Natal will be a drawing point – and obviously not all XBox 360 games require such physical exertion.
It’s quite clear that Microsoft have designed Natal to attract people away from the big-selling Nintendo Wii console. The Wii has an enviable market share due to its ease of use. How Nintendo will respond to Natal remains to be seen.
With XBox’s 360 now linked up to Twitter, Facebook and Sky TV, Microsoft are hoping that Natal will be a further inducement to non-gamers to join their “home entertainment revolution”. It should be noted though that most of the superlatives being thrown Natal’s way have only come from people with access to a not yet completely finished version of the hardware. A more robust form of critique will only emerge when it becomes commercially available next October.
Certainly though, during the limited time allocated to media at the preview launch this week, you couldn’t but be impressed by Natal’s almost sci-fi features: you felt like a character in Star Trek, as you could just wave your hand to switch between XBox menus, and by just talking to the screen you could pause and play both video and music. Come October though, the paying consumer will have the final verdict.
See more at the official Project Natal YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/9aVpw
See Jonathan Ross wheeze his way around Natal at the media preview last Monday night: http://bit.ly/cZiH2z
