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HappySqurriel on 05 June 2009
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ironman said:
HappySqurriel said:
ironman said:
You are grasping straws now. NATAL is more technologically advanced than what either of the other two are doing hands down.

Suppose we just assume that newer technology is the same as a more advanced technology, does being based on newer technology make something better? If you're looking for the fastest land vehicle for one person would a more advanced 1-Ton truck that is built on state of the art technology be as good of a choice as a Super-Bike built off of 1980s technology?

When it comes to gaming input devices, it doesn't matter if a product is based on technology from the 1960s or if something is based off of technology that comes from the future, all that matters is which system allows for the simplest, most intuitive and most expressive controls at a price that is acceptable for consumers. We know that Wii MotionPlus allows for some very simple, intuitive and expressive controls at a very reasonable price and it has yet to be demonstrated that the NATAL can even come close to matching those controls in real gaming situations.

Now you are really grasping straws. Newer technology is not always better, just look at Sony's new motion detecting setup. But when you ask me to compair a 1-ton truck to a Superbike built off of 1980s tech, it is like asking me to compair a computer joystick with a gaming controller from the 80s, it just can't be done in this application. NATAL has been played in real games by press members, and as far as the reviews were showing, it definatly was exceeding all known standards as far as console controllers go. Just the E3 demo alone (Milo is an actual game) showed that it surpassed Wii and PS3.

I don't know what video you watched, but I noticed a 1/4 to 1/2 second delay in mapping a person's movements to their avatar on screen which wasn't necessarily an awful thing when it comes to a trivial game like kicking balls but is deadly in more complicated skill based games. I also have seen no one explain how Natal can work with adventure games or FPS (or countless other game genres) which begs the question of how good is Natal in reality?

Its very easy to make simple demos look amazing 18 months to two years before you intend to release a product, it is much more difficult to make real world products that demonstrate that this technology is in any way superior to what we already have in more than a couple (very simple) applications.

Edit: I'm done for the night, and the only thing I want to say is that people are getting insane with the Hype over products that were demonstrated using very simple applications under perfect conditions (possibly with hardware which is higher quality than what will go into production) 18 to 24 months before it will be released. I'm reminded of the pre-launch Wii hype where everyone (including myself) assumed that the Wiimote was capable of the kinds of input that seem to now be possible through Wii MotionPlus. It is quite possible (and highly likely) that these expectations are far beyond what will actually be delivered, and the "Super Advanced" control systems could be only as good (or potentially worse than) the Wiimote was at launch.