Hmm. Probably you are right. I posted to quickly. MS made a good job connecting the word Natal with 3d camera. So everyone says Natal instead of stereocamera or 3dCamera. I should have reacted differently.

I hope natal succeeds, but I have very little confidence in the product. Are they going to be able to produce good hardcore games for it within a year?

for a 3D natal system, you would have to have a 3D type of camera...that would be very expensive and thus an automatic fail.

The thing of it is though, with 3d, Sony isnt the only one to reward from it. We'll have 3d enabled blu-rays, 3d enabled players, 3d enabled Tv's, and glasses. You'll need a lor more for it, but this makes it more likely to happen, because more hands will get paid. So, in 4-5 years, I look forward to Sony making some $$$ with this 3-d stuff just lke I expect them to make moer on Blu-ray then too.

I agree, but even the ideas I came up with in the thread were using techniques that are definitely available to Natal.  Hopefully they make their SDK documentation publicly available.  It would be a very fascinating read.

Interesting thread.

The question I would ask in return is what type of time frame are you talking about?

It seems some posters are talking about the relatively short term (5-10 years) and others are talking about the very long term (50-100 years or longer).

From what I have seen of Natal and 3D gaming right now, operating virtual controls in front of you would not work well. However, I have heard that some researchers are working on 3D images which provide tactile feedback. Until we get to that point on a commercial scale, I don't think what you are talking about will be very popular.

Even then, there are some hurdles to overcome. One that sticks out in my mind is the movement problem. To my knowledge, it is never really explained how the people in the Holodeck move around those virtual environments. Does the whole floor move like a giant treadmill to keep them in the center of the room? What about when there is more than one person in the Holodeck and they move in opposite directions?

Until that stuff is sorted out, it is likely going to be non-traditional games which fair best with motion control devices. Those games can be tailored to the device, instead of shoehorning a traditional game into a new control method.

Oh I love you for that statement.  Too true.  So many sit behind the computers and rag on this when they probably don't have a creative bone in their fat, greasy bodies. 

Personally I get excited about the potential of new technology, especially paradigm shaking tech.  The reality about any tech is that if it offers a compelling experience at a reasonable price, then consumers take notice.  Project Natal has people's attention.  3D entertainment has people's attention.  They just need to follow through with the experience and then we'll see what happens next.  I'm excited.

Heres my take on the OP. Natal is at least part of the future. I'l tell you why i think so. 1. It gives developers the space to develop games they couldnt imagine possible like Peter Molyneux's Milo. Even some popular japanese devs such as Hideo Kojima said it'll be a revolution. And 2. Lets say Microsoft's Natal fails as a tech and doesnt deliver as it says. Then other companies will use that blueprint to make it better. Like the wii motes. There were motion controllers before Wii and the upcoming PS3 wands and they didnt deliver, but look now how they made the Wii what it is and such. Gaming with your body movements has always been a dream for some of us gamers whe we were little and it starts with Natal. And 3D picture to go along with that is the cherry on top. Not only am i moving to control the game, im actually feeling like im in the game.

When did I say Natal would be a failure? I am just pointing out it has some very real limits that will prevent it from being the default control scheme. Depending on how it is received it could easily remain a part of it moving forward. Well at least the basic tech idea.

@Jagged
That idea really is cool. Natal definitely has the potential to start making games like that, but I have my doubts that it could fully execute it. Mostly because this is the first major wave of hardware, and those always get built up to be far grander than they actually are. Still, Steel Battalion without the ridiculous cost would be wicked fun.

In think the point of the "fat, greasy bodies" is that Natal by itself have a lot of limit, it is clearly aiming for the casual market. Now if they would combine Natal with 3d and motion controller its a very different thing.