This week’s Jury Service turns to future Natal software
Huge interest currently surrounds the 360’s upcoming controllerless peripheral, Natal, with its “late 2010” launch date confirmed on the same week when new revelations were made on the tech behind the device itself.
However, blind-spots still remain in the big Natal picture. What kind of games will be made for the device? What type of game will sell well? Can Natal’s software catalogue stand out from the Wii’s?
In this week’s Jury Service we’re asking the development community to shed light on the issue, our question being:
What kind of gameplay experiences will belong to Natal?
Obviously there are many issues you can raise in your response. Is Microsoft bringing motion controls to a core audience? Will Natal host a Wii-like glut of shovelware? Are you interested in making games for Natal? Are you waiting to see attach rate figures before committing to the device yourself?
Feel free to send your response to rob.crossley@intentmedia.co.uk, or submit your thoughts via the comments section below.
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The deadline for your answers is Wednesday 6PM GMT / 10AM PST. All responses will be compiled as a full report later in the week.
We need to be realistic with this. One of the Wii problems is that everything comes out with 'more waggle' like it's a good thing. I've been playing games for over twenty years and still remember with fondness an old arcade stick I had for the Amiga, it was the best controller I ever used.
If people think that Natal will change all gaming they are wrong. A pad is great because it allows us to do things we couldn't otherwise (dragon punch, play professional football).
Natal will improve some games and not touch others. I'm excited about it but don't think it will add anything to my favourite games.
No controller idea is pants, it won't work with most genre's. It a seriously bad idea. Also the about of lag when using NATAL is a joke.
I'm sure it will work well with some games, and won't really suit others. My only real concern is that the 360 avoids the flood of shovelware that plagues the Wii, which is a distinct risk once you have that first Natal-driven party game hit.
TBH i'm not 100% sure about Natal, apparently the lag issues have been sorted out however, if you are to believe the hype.
personally, i believe that current controllers don't have enough buttons so taking them away altogether won't lend itself to the current status quo, they'll have to think of original applications to get the most out of it.
that said, some of the most fun games i've played, eg LBP and Braid, haven't used all the controller buttons and could potentially translate well, or something on those lines.
i'd like to see voice control improved and more common place, but i thought Milo was a load of BS. Voice control is a hell of a lot more versitile however the software would have to be equally robust.
if i'm honest i think it's all a bit of a waste of time really but with the right devs behind it there could be some gems in there. i'm as interested in the prospect of 3D gaming and Natal/Sony motion controllers then in Natal itself. where the core of the hardware is based around depth perception, having that translated in to 3D would be common sence surely.
It all depends on how it is used. The "Removing the controller" attitude is a mistake but this isn't how all developers are looking at it. It gives the 360 a "best of both worlds" position, the current controller will remain in place for the types of games we expect of the system whilst Natal gives it the chance to reach into Nintendo's current market. It also leaves the option of using both Natal and the current 360 controller together... which could be interesting...
I think The Natal is a fantastic idea but not to replace the controller pad...but used as an option and even better if it could be integrated with voice recognition control. The Natal should be seen as a vision of the future gaming not as a target for backward thinking sceptics.
I've been playing games since Space Invaders, and in my time it's become apparent to me that any hardware innovation (CD ROMS, Steam, the DS) only works when the hardware manufacturer 'leads the way' with its own software.
The DS never really found its 'space' until Brain Training was released. Likewise, the Wii's casual content has been championed by Nintendo, but the company hasn't actually bothered developing hardcore games for mature audiences. As a result, the third-parties are struggling to win on the kinds of gambles that Nintendo wasn't prepared to make.
This brings me to Natal.
If it was worth something to the core game industry, if it were ever considered a device to push the medium forward, Microsoft would have got Bungie, Lionhea, Turn 10 or Epic on the case straight away to deliver a launch tilte.
What we see instead is a vague idea of gaming on Natal, one that's been done before about five years back.
Natal, according to Microsoft videos, is families jumping in front of TVs, Natal is people playing some weird kind of soccer game. Natal is pretending to hold a steering wheel.
To date, no developer has come out and showed us something that's actually original.
The excitement that surounds Natal is exactly like the excitmnt that surrounded the Wii five years ago. In that, people are so interested in the hardware they fail to notice that no solid idea of a 'Natal game' has been developed.
I hope I'm wrong, because motion control has the potential to bring true innovation in the industry. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but with Natal I' don't see "New Gameplay Experiences!", I see "Revised UI to Tap Into Casual Market Revenues!"
Hopefully, with Sony's machine itself being as unfriendly to casuals as you could imagine, the Sony Motion Controller will actually offer us something grand.
-Somby
Natal needs to be bought by at least half of all 360 owners for it to stand a chance and not confuse developers.
PS: Microsoft, keep the Natal name! Everyone is used to it now!
I think people criticising Natal as not working with most genres have a valid point if this proves true. However, I think they are also not seeing the whole picture; it's more about what new genres this will open up to us and I think therein is something I'm most excited about.
Either way, bring it on. :)
Natal is going to be the same as the Wii in that it is a cool technology that is intuitive enough for the non-gaming masses to understand. You'll get parents buying the solo unit it for themselves mostly, finally interested in the XBOX 360 their kids have, as well as the inevitable console bundle. You'll get MS pushing out high quality first party software that really uses the device for UI control + some innovative game design based around it. Then you will have the same unfortunate situation that has afflicted the Wii, that fact that most game designers have no creative ability whatsoever.
The Wii has been out for over three years and there has been the barest trickle of games using the controls in a creative way. I nearly hit the roof with excitement when I saw the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories trailer where you gently shake empty drinks cans to find out which one has a key inside - then tip it upside down to get it. So simple, so integrated into the game, a clever piece of design that uses the control input beautifully, but the only example that springs to my mind immediately. The fact that something so 'obvious' excites me so much, depresses me also.
We have a dearth of proper 'creative' games designers. Designers with imagination. We seem to have plenty that can come up with great traditional controller mechanics, design cool weapons systems, balance bullet/armour damage, create upgrade and progression systems, but when you give them a completely new type of input mechanism the best you get is 'shake it a bit', or they cack-handedly try to impose their preferred mechanism onto the device.
Two other short thoughts:
1. The fact that publishers will push devs to create 'the same as but better/with this licence' as they have done on the Wii doesn't fill me with confidence for the software library a year on either.
2. The Wii remote + nunchuck give you arm ache after less than an hour of typically non-specific movements, but you can usually lower your arms/relax them without worrying how that will impact the game. I wonder how long you could do potentially very specific movements with combinations of your upper arms+lower arms+hands+fingers before they ache, and then when you lower them to shake the stress out the control/interface design had better take this into account.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Lucy
As a control bad, as a cheap mocap device YES :)
I dont want to jump around, at least with the wii you can do micro movements :)
No, it won't be another Wii. The Wii is an outstanding (if somewhat baffling) international success story which makes more money than should be legal.
`Natal' on the other hand is a bolted on peripheral which alienates the core market for the basic machine. It wont get military FPS players off the couch, and nobody else wants to buy that machine - if they want that experience they'll by a Wii instead, where they know they can trust what they're buying. About all we can expect is a sort of enhanced version of EyeToy. The technology might be wizz bang, but will anyone really notice?
It will also miss that 'japanese factor' that turns crazy silly ideas into some sort of must have cool. Instead it will be the 'microsoft cool' - like the geeks in the corner who argue about the noise explosions shouldn't make in space movies.
I disagree somewhat with most of the comments regarding the similarities between Natal and Wii, and my main reason is the fact that it uses two cameras.
While EyeToy provided nice gimmicks which were enjoyable for a day or two, I believe that Natal's two-camera setup will extend beyond the reaches of previous camera based game systems. What people fail to realise is, two cameras isn't just to provide a better quality of transmission, it lets the console interpret more than just an image on a screen, it gives it depth.
I don't believe for one second that there will be any major FPS's which support Natal, instead I think a new set of game genres will emerge from this as a product of innovation from new companies.
I'll give you an example. In the days of Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy (and Metroid, Lunar, etc, etc), all of the games were in 2D. Now, I'd imagine it would be hard to create an FPS using only 2D. What I'm getting at is, there are many games which haven't been thought of yet, because the possibilities aren't there yet. However, Natal will provide more possibilities for innovation, as 3D provided when it was first developed.
Of course, what I have said is merely one possibility. On the other hand, all of the companies may continue to develop gimmicky games for cameras, and choose not to innovate.
The platform on which Natal is would have problems but I think this is one of the things of future gaming.
Yeah I agree that Natal seems to open another door to the gaming industry...is isn't for core gamers however I do think it's direction is more virtual than anything maybe paving a path towards a virtual 3D simulation...What happens when there are 6 camera's?
Although I see how Natal is a different proposition from a Wii, what worries me the most is hearing again the exact same expectations we were hearing back when Nintendo unveiled the Wii : everyone was hoping it would open the door to new genres, new possibilities, great new game mechanics, etc. In my opinion it has happened to a small extent only with the likes of WiiPlay or WiiFit, but it certainly hasn't been the gameplay revolution we were all hoping for. Or maybe the fact that Sony and MS are embracing that road means the revolution is actually still in the process of happening, right before our eyes?
