I’m curious … why do so many people dismiss Microsoft’s Project Natal as being casual? Of course it’s casual. Remember: we as “hardcore gamers” are an absolute minority. We aren’t even the tip of the iceberg, we are merely the ice cube put on the tip of the iceberg. Plus, we actually happen to enjoy the casual stuff as well – if only we weren’t so dickheaded and would actually admit it. First and foremost to ourselves.
And in this light Penny Arcade’s comic hits it straight on (pun intended):
UPDATE: i find it interesting how many people find my blog and specifically this post in search for the keyphrases Natal sucks. Wow, you just really hate the fact that Microsoft is about to release an additional device for your Xbox360! How about just ignoring Natal if you don’t like it? There’s no need to buy it then, right? It won’t affect your gaming experience. It doesn’t have to if you don’t allow it. It’s completely optional. Or do you hate the thought that suddenly your mom might want to occupy your Xbox360? And did you also search for “pink Xbox 360 controller sucks”? No, according to google you did not.
In a way it reminds me of the all too common criticism against EA’s sports titles. It’s the same every year and costs as much as any other game. I’m not going to buy it. Whine, whine. So, you don’t buy it, maybe only every other year as i did most of the time. Then you get enough fresh new material for your money. In the meantime, shut up. It’s just a business model that works, it doesn’t mean that the millions of players buying the same game every year are the same buyers. There are a lot of them, and if that’s what they do, let them. But there’s also a lot more who don’t buy the same sports game each and every year but when they buy it, they want to buy the current version. Not the one that’s two or three years old.
Gaming Horror - stay a while, stayyy forever!
the typical question here is: what is “casual”?
does fast and simple fun means “casual”? is “serious sam” therefore a casual game? or is “world of warcraft” a casual game, because it has a cute, bright graphic that runs fast on old computers?
in my opinion “project natal” is not casual – it’s a revolution! for everybody!
Lol, but Project Niple looks mighty crap. Another attempt by Microshit to steal the market from Playstation and Nintendo
“it’s a revolution! for everybody!”
… with the emphasis on BODY …
Project natal is no a revolution, its just a hyped up eyetoy from ps2.
So? That doesn’t mean it sucks. If it turns out it doesn’t work, if it were inaccurate for example, then it would suck. But evolving a concept and re-selling it is commonplace in any business.
My beef with natal is not the fact that i dont want to use it, as a hardcore gamer… I am worried all these new controllers will be so much of a hit, that no one buys regular controlled games anymore, thus forcing game developers to abandon promising titles and big-budgetted games because they wont sell without “natal-support”. think about it. Production costs have been raised by about tenfold, since the dawn of 3d… My point is, Natal is a bad thing because it is going to obliberate hardcore games in general, so while people play “destruct mania 34 hdplus” because it has natalsupport, id software, valve and all self-respecting gaming company will go bankrupt.
It seems like gaming is being dumbed down. I don’t own an XBOX. I’m just concerned about the trends. Does this make me dickheaded?
That end piece about people searching natal sucks? I’m one of those. I did it to try and find what kind of smack people were talking about it. I can’t imagine I’m the only one. Can’t wait for Natal, a little for the games, mostly so I can manipulate netflix with my hands.
You know, there’s only two good things I can think of for Natal – video chat and Zune/Netflix/Windows Media Extender/future media services. Games using Natal are going to lose their novelty factor fast – who really wants to play a racing game without an actual controller to use, be it a joystick, a motion-sensitive remote, or a dedicated racing wheel? And fighting games – the Wii already proved that the controller is better than emulating punches and sword motions. As far as first person shooters go, I’ll be the first to tell you that mouse and keyboard are the way to go, followed by the Wii Remote and Nunchuck (Metroid and Conduit are easy to control because of this pairing), followed by the joystick (though I’m reluctant to use this method due to loss of my accuracy).
I don’t think Natal is going to obliterate hardcore gaming; on the contrary, I think the hardcore gaming market is going to explode or The 360 market is going to be completely destroyed because people buying a brand new 360 JUST FOR NATAL are going to find the only game that works properly with the technology are ping-pong/tennis/badminton type games. Some of the more technology-savvy end users with media cabinets able to mask the noise of a warm 360 may keep their consoles for media playback purposes (Netflix, Windows Media Extender, DLNA, and things of that nature), but most people are of the “Keep It Simple, Silly” lifestyle where the concepts of movies streaming from the computer to the TV set or from the internet are still futuristic and not happening in their lifetime.