Oggie

I didn't know if I should have put this as a story on the frontpage or as a thread so I just decided to make it into a thread.

Unveiled at E3, Project Natal for Xbox 360 is what Microsoft believes is the ultimate motion-sensitive gaming experience. But can Natal (pronounced like Nadal, but not as good on clay) beat the Wii at its own game? Here are ten reasons why it just might…

1. No controller necessary
That’s right folks, Project Natal for the Xbox 360 will allow you to control what’s going on onscreen without the need for a controller. No need to splash out on extra Wiimotes here, your body is the controller! This is done via camera, sensors and a microphone built-in to the Natal bar, which then track your body’s movements.

2. No batteries
No controllers means no batteries means saving money. The only battery you’ll need is in the form of food, to keep your energy up so you can continue playing the motion-sensitive games.

3. You can use your feet
We’ve always wanted to be able to use our feet in some Xbox games. The clip Microsoft showed at E3 showed a girl kicking a ‘football’ and a boy performing a martial arts high kick in a fighting game. We envisage plenty of smashed lights! Oh, and you can use your feet without having to pay £60 for the privilege of Wii Fit.

4. It recognises your voice and face
The Project Natal sensor is the world’s first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device. Unlike 2D cameras and controllers, this sensor tracks your full body movement in 3D, while responding to commands, directions and even a shift of emotion in your voice.This was shown off by the computer-generated character Mylo interacting with a real person, holding conversations and ‘recognising’ players in a startlingly realistic way.

5. Scan objects into the game
You’ll be able to scan real-world objects for use in the game. Microsoft’s demo for instance, showed a boy scanning a skateboard into the Natal sensor. Likewise, the girl talking to Mylo ‘handed’ him a piece of paper that took on virtual form.

6. Lets lots of people play at once
Multiplayer, without the need for splashing out on more controllers than you can afford, is a very real possibility judging by the E3 video. Natal will recognise each player individually, so while one person drives a car say, another can perform the pit stops. And so on…

7. It follows you around the room.
Whereas the Wiimote loses efficacy when it’s not directly in front of the sensor, Natal looks like it’ll work fine from most angles: the demo showed it following a kid around. Whether this is by using sound or by tracking him in video we’re not sure, but it’s very clever stuff!

8. It’ll work under any light
The Wiimote gets confused if you use it under harsh light, because it uses infra red. That means it’s best used in a low lighting situation. No such problemns for Natal, which uses proper video cameras to track your movement. So it’ll work under any light, but obviously the brighter it is, the better!

9. Engage deeper
From Microsoft’s video at E3 it looks like you’ll be able to engage deeper with your Xbox 360. Interacting with characters in games such as Mylo is one way. But imagine walking into your living room, saying “Morrissey” and your Xbox (recognising your voice) switching on, logging into your last.fm profile and playing Morrissey songs. A media hub, just a voice command away.

10. It’s compatible with any Xbox 360 system
How rubbish would it have been if you’d needed to buy a new Xbox to go with your Natal sensor? Thankfully Microsoft has announced that the Project Natal sensor will work with any Xbox 360 system.

Source: 10 reasons why Project Natal will be better than Wii - mirror.co.uk

What do you guys think about this?

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Aaron

sounds interesting, mainly for the voice activated media hub.

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nothere413

All the games will be casual crap.

Wii already has good games.

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Oggie

The Wii is the most overated piece of crap on the Earth.

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Littaly

Sounds like a heap of hype if you ask me. I don't know if you wrote this or if you ripped it from another page, in any case it seems very shallow and not through thought.

Saying Natal will be "better than the Wii" is like saying chocolate is "better than ice cream". Better at what? Number of features? Utility in games? Appealing to the wide non-gamer audience? What this list is doing is basically just mirroring what was shown at the E3 press conference adding "the Wii doesn't have this".

But more importantly, we're forgetting that the Wii is here and now, Natal is t the very least a year in the future. No use arguing over something when all we have to go on is some hype and some videos.

Aaron

We talking about the same wii that I have? cause all the wii games(except for maybe 7) are casual crap. And the best wii games are just ports from older systems. .Res evil 4, Okami, Bully, Twilight Princess.

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Jedi Sasquatch

There are a few Wii exclusives that are good. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Smash Bros. Brawl. But that's about it.

I think Natal will be better than the Wii, but I'm still not sure how good it'll really be.

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Psychophysicotherapeutics

Totally agree.

This is such a rip of the ps 2's eye toy though.

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Jedi Sasquatch

The 'eye toy' wasn't even the first though, a lot of different companies (mostly smaller companies) have attempted things like this in the past.

Project Natal is said to make them all look like pieces of junk. But we will see...

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AMHB

Power glove copycat.

Except it's like Power suit without the suit.

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Aaron

Those games arent enough to justify buying a wii

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Ace

Ahh Same ol' stuff. Remember when the Wii demos came out and everyone thought it was gonna be so cool and work so well with motion tracing and all that jazz? Then they release it and it turned out a you could just hand your infant the Wii-mote and have him/her shake the hell out of it and win most games?

Yeah... Demos.. pfff.

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nothere413

Jesus Christ... all this Wii hate is unneeded. It has good games, but some ***s are just too stupid to look for them.

House of the Dead: Overkill, No More Heroes, Super Smash Bros., Zack and Wiki, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Baroque...

And the list can go on.

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Blue

^Ok, we know who smokes crack^

360>wii

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Jorgz

?

Oh yeah you mean this?:

High School Musical Dance! Video Game, Japanese Debut Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

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nothere413

I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS.


I'm gonna get Andrex in here to tear you all new ones...

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AMHB

Nobody compared the 360 to the Wii you ignorant twat. He said the Wii will be much better than NATAL, I didn't know Natal was the new ****ing 360. I could have sworn it was a ****ty addon copying the Wii.

No, he meant this.

House Of The Dead: Overkill Video Game, Launch Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

I agree with Nothere on this, I don't know why there is so much Wii hate.

Yes, Nintendo took a different curve and is trying to appeal to casual audiences but why hate on them for it? It's working and isn't that one MS is trying to do with all the partnership ****?

How come because the 360 has more M games it's automatically the better more advanced system?

The Wii has plenty of great M titles, House of the Dead: Overkill, No More Heroes, Madworld. AND it has great AND ORIGINAL games otherwise, like Super Mario Galaxy, Geometry Wars, Smash Bros. Brawl, Fire Emblem, Resident Evil, I mean COME ON. DO you want the game industry to be reduced to milking the Unreal engine out of every damn fps it can make or do you want developers to move in a new direction creating new interesting titles?

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Blue

Original?........ Nah, Nintendo comes out with the same games after every system it creates. The games jus get a little upgrade graphically, Whoa..... 10 points for originality there~

I think Porject Natal is gonna be better, in my opinion.

wii<dirt

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Blue

Original?........ Nah, Nintendo comes out with the same games after every system it creates. The games jus get a little upgrade graphically, Whoa..... 10 points for originality there~ I mean, all those games up there have been around for years........they jus look a little better now

I vote for a change from repetitive gaming too supreme awsumness

I vote Project Natal

I vote for the future

*salutes furiously*

wii<dirt

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nothere413

You're adopted and no one has ever loved you.

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Jedi Sasquatch

Good God, what a painful blend of immaturity and fanboyism.

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nothere413

I'm defending the Wii from the "fanboys".

Get down off your pedestal, Mr. Big Stuff...

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Jedi Sasquatch

Mr. Big Stuff? And there you go, talking about that 'pedestal' again...

I'm not trying to act like I'm the voice of reason or anything. Just pissed me off a bit the way you acted. And after reading everything a second time, I can see that it was not you that pissed me off, but the fanboyism in general.

360 haters, Wii haters, and PS3 haters, all of them need to get a new life and a new hobby. Fanboyism needs to crawl into a corner and die. I always figured it was a matter of opinion and taste, but on the Internet, it's apparently okay to be a nazi.

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Oggie

So you are gonna get someone to get in here and fight your battles for you? If you think the Wii is as good as you say it is, then do this, give me 10 reasons why the Wii is better than Project Natal.

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AMHB

Just ignore my post with all the reasons...

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