Project Natal Exercise Video could be the killer ap

[daroamer]

Khuutra said:

daroamer said:

You're arguing semantics.  Something that is more complex is often synonymous with "more advanced".  For example, if you poll 100 people on the street as to which is more advanced, a computer or a hammer, I would think that almost if not all the people would say "the computer" even though they are 2 different technologies paths completely.  A computer is not part of the linear development of hammer technology yet it is clearly far more advanced.

In this case it's even more true since both deviced are motion control systems for video game platforms.  That the way they achieve the results is different doesn't preclude the fact the Natal system is more advanced because it can do things that WM+ can't.

The problem with reductio ad absurdum arguments is how easy they are to screw up.

Case in point: one cannot compare a "hammer" to a "computer" in the context of the argument I'm making, which is that different technological means that achieve the same ends cannot necessarily be said to be more or less advanced than one another if they do not use the same means to achieve those ends. A hammer cannot be said to be more or less advanced than a wrench, nor can a pair of pliers be said to be more or less advanced than, say, a nutcracker.

The idea of something being more advanced because it can "do things that [blank] can't" is equally absurd: it's like saying the Wright brothers plane is more advanced than a hydrogen cell automobile because it can fly while the hydrogen cell automobile cannot.

Further than that, the WM+ is capable of functions that Natal isn't capable of, either, including operating as a more sensitive tilt sensor (we've seen nothing that suggests Natal is particularly capable of this, much less as sensitive as the Wii remote), providing tacticle feedback,  and incorporating buttons so that different gametypes can be experienced without extra hardware. It's true that the Wiimote can't recognize when I'm frowning at it, as I may do, but it is also true that Natal has no way of telling when I'm trying to pull a trigger, or press the gas in a car, or change the angle of a camera.

I cannot see a reasonable argument for Natal being more advanced - it is just different.

Again, you're just arguing semantics.  In common speech "more complex" and "more advanced" are often synonymous.  To use your own example, an F16 would be considered far more advanced than the Wright brothers plane despite both achieving flight in different ways.  The WM+ and Natal both use motion to control video games, they both use different methods for achieving that, yet it's perfectly valid to compare the complexity of those two approaches in terms of technology.

I'll concede that the WM+ does have some advantages to Natal and would be a better choice in some situations but I don't think you can argue that the technology with Natal is more advanced.  My hammer is better at hammering nails than my computer is but I still consider my computer far more advanced. 

Would you not say a nail gun is more advanced than a hammer?  They work on very different principles to achieve the same result.