My problem with Project Natal.

[WereKitten]

Cueil said:

WereKitten said:

The difference is that when you discover a strange phenomenon in nature you have to cope with it, even if it's counterintuitive. Usually when you invent/build something, on the other hand, it's because you have an itch to scratch i.e. a predating need that must be satisfied and that you know already.

What itch would you say Natal was born to scratch? That controllers - all controllers - are too hard to use? Or that interacting with your whole body in a less abstract manner opens up new possibilities?

Isn't it a little strange that we are here even asking how a tool will be used?

 

Or the itch to move towards what we all want... a Holodeck

That's quite an assumption you're making there, that games should necessarily tend to strictly emulate reality (or some subjective reality) and that "we all" would like it.

That's quite restrictive in my opinion, as games can be made of abstraction as much as simulation. Monopoly works by throwing dice and moving on squares, its essence is not in simulating people walking around a town. In classic,non-action RPGs the damage you inflict does not depend on a timed and precise input about how you swing your sword, but on abstract concepts such as stats, turns, actions etc. In an RTS the essence of game is about coordination and queuing of abstract orders over an expansion of space, very far from what a person experiences with his/her body actions in any simulated physical reality.

And I don't want to get into technicalities about how motion controls are supposed to work when it comes to speed, scope, interaction with virtual objects etc. I'm still not sold on the idea that rejecting abstractions entirely (and controller's buttons are abstractions made physical, as they map an idea to the simplest physical action) does fulfill a real, non-niche need.

@JaggedSac: this also pertains to your comment