Wow, Microsoft's prototype new operating system :D

[albhum]

MikeB said:

agree with virtually your entire list, but I can think of one product - well, Microsoft may not have been the very first to develop it, but I think they were the very first to (unsuccessfully) commercialize motion-sensing in their Sidewinder gamepad.

Motion sensing has been implemented in games way before that. For example in a pre-Doom world, even in a pre-Wolfenstein 3D world actually, there was the an Amiga based arcade games system called "The 1000CS Virtuality System" developed by Virtuality. The players would stand inside a "pod" and wear a helmet (headtracking) and gloves which sensed the players movements and translated them into actions in the virtual world.



Well before Wolfenstein 3D was released for the PC, people could already play deathmatch and capture the flag games in 3D multiplayer FPSs like Dactyl Nightmare with this system. With later technologies from this company would allow you to hold a tennis racket to play tennis games or wear boxing gloves to fight in boxing games.

See the Dactyl Nightmare game in action in this lcheesy GamePro video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ybu7Q5uK6k

 

  

 

Virtuality were really bad games.  Once the novelty factor passed nobody would play them.  Besides, technology existed before virtuality made their machines.  As far as I know I agree with Sidewinder being innovative. But they didn't know how to create a market for it.  MS succeeds once somebody else created the market, then they refine (arguably), expand and dominate.   Could we call it the cuckoo strategy?