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Just announced at E3... wow!

yeah my jawdropped when i watched the live coverage yesterday. Thats freaking amazing i cant wait for that kind of technology to replace remotes all together.

That's based on some technology MS bought last year, and it has a lot of limitations. Notice how slow and exaggerated/deliberate most of their movements are?

You couldn't pay me to use those huge gestures as a remote control replacement.

It'll be interesting for some niche games that don't require quick/accurate controls though, like the Wii is.

When?

Someone said around November, but it's not announced for sure yet. I'd bet they do whatever it takes to make it well ahead of Christmas.

yea, got to agree with San.. they say that it supose to work with all new and old 360 games.. but I'm havign trouble seeing that work for alot of the games.. *cough* Halo

I'd love to see something like this fly, but my faith in MicroSoft is rife with skepticism. I think I'd hold off on this until the bugs were worked out.

Now, if this was Nintendo doing this, I'd be on it like a fly on crap! :)

yea, got to agree with San.. they say that it supose to work with all new and old 360 games.. but I'm havign trouble seeing that work for alot of the games.. *cough* Halo

It doesn't work with old games, they are getting development kits to developers on monday.

There's a lot of benefit to a controller. Frankly, I bust my ass at work all day. The last thing I want to do is crawl around my living room to duck bullets in Halo, and jump over obstacles and all that crap.

made me think of minority report

There's a lot of benefit to a controller. Frankly, I bust my ass at work all day. The last thing I want to do is crawl around my living room to duck bullets in Halo, and jump over obstacles and all that crap.This is how I feel about our Wii. I usually want to check out and turn down, not break a sweat after a long day.

Imagine this for an MMO?

In the future... people in raiding guilds will be in phenomenal aerobic shape.

These sorts of things aren't for games that need precise control. You could argue that hitting the same cast sequence five hundred times a day doesn't require that either, but ...

As an addition to your traditional console: Cool

As the only control mechanism: Fail

I think this is absolutely great for kids and people who want to get the exercise while gaming. But not ever gamer is the cliche lardo who does nothing but sitting around gaming all day. If playing a game represents doing more work after you've been hard at work all day, you're not going to want to play said game.

'*cough* Halo'

- Yes?

For the record, I feel the same way about voice chat, and all the new games where voice is more or less a requirement for multiplayer. I don't work hard all day to come home and listen to whiny teenagers. For that matter, at the end of the day the last thing I want is anyone talking to me. But, just like all the game devs seem to be jumping on voice, how long until they all jump on motion driven games of some sort?

For the record, I feel the same way about voice chat, and all the new games where voice is more or less a requirement for multiplayer. I don't work hard all day to come home and listen to whiny teenagers. For that matter, at the end of the day the last thing I want is anyone talking to me. But, just like all the game devs seem to be jumping on voice, how long until they all jump on motion driven games of some sort?

I disagree with this. For one, you can choose who you play with and if someone is an asshat or a whiny teenager you can ignore/mute them. But I find voice chat to add value to the games I play specifically MMOs where voice chat helps raid leaders in that they don't have to type a gazillion lines of text. And even in FPS games I find voice chat to help coordinate planned attacks and defenses. Any team I play on in TF2 where we actually talk we slaughter the other side.

It's your right and option to not listen to voice chat but I think it's shortsighted to not see the value in it. Frankly I no longer need to type tons and tons and tons of text to communicate and can instead just talk and be heard the first time. All inflection, intent, and meaning is in my words and it doesn't require long written explanations. Just my opinon of course :)

F But, just like all the game devs seem to be jumping on voice, how long until they all jump on motion driven games of some sort?

The Xbox and PS3 controllers are already positionally aware and several games annoyingly require you to do retard moves like tilting certain ways or rapidly shaking it -- you know, like little brothers used to yank the controller up when they hit the jump key. It was so cute then, now you have to do it.

several games annoyingly require you to do retard moves like tilting certain ways or rapidly shaking it
You mean like this?:

http://fliiby.com/file/267547/ztslt64d4e.html


Cheers,

This is the technology I mentioned that they acquired last year to do this: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/03/microsofts-project-natal-roots-revealed-3dv-systems-zcam/

Having a Wi, I can honestly say it is both good and frustrating.

Take for instance the Wii boxing. During a boxing match, I will throw lets say 10 punches. Of those 10 punches, 6 of them the controller actually recognizes. It's kind of frustrating when I've got a great combo going on, but it is interrupted because the controller doesn't recognize my movements. I klnow it's the contriller, because I can do the exact same movement a second later, and the Wii will recognize it.

On the good side, it's a great way to keep in shape when I can't get outside and workout due to the weather.

I bought one of the Wii's when they first came out. I kept it for maybe 4months before selling it to someone with kids. It wasn't my cup of tea, I prefer nice looking games with responsive controllers. When this comes out for the 360 I will try it and if I don't like it I will sell it to someone else. Somethings aren't for everyone but I'm a sucker for toys :)

It's your right and option to not listen to voice chat but I think it's shortsighted to not see the value in it. Frankly I no longer need to type tons and tons and tons of text to communicate and can instead just talk and be heard the first time. All inflection, intent, and meaning is in my words and it doesn't require long written explanations. Just my opinon of course :)I see the value, I just don't like that it's become a requirement. I've been playing EVE Online again lately, and good luck finding a decent guild that doesn't require voice chat.

I agree with Kanyli. I don't use voice chat, but even though I'm the *leader* of my guild some of our members are so unable to function without voice chat that I've had to delegate a lot of explanations to an officer who uses it - and in the coalition I raid with, while I'm treated nicely, I'm more or less a pariah because of it (sometimes they remember to explain the fight text, and sometimes they don't ;) ). I can't hear while reading, or read while hearing, so in my case, what would be the point? I've talked to numerous folks who are in the same boat and who lose out because of people's insistence on voice chat in games these days, so we're still primarily a text operation here...

Regards,
Nydia

When I played WoW, the divide between guilds that used voice and those that didn't pretty well spoke for itself. Typing is fine for casual farming or slower paced games like old EQ was, but it's simply impossible to be as effective in faster games if you have to (mostly) stop controlling your character to communicate.

Actually, now that they have all the BigWigs, etc, addons for the game which give you warnings for everything under the sun, plus the ability to macro and broadcast custom raid warnings (complete with a bell and big letters flashing across your screen), it's a lot easier to raid without the use of voice chat - and it helps keep people focused on the screen, where all the actual action is anyway...

Sure, there are occasions where you might need to type/yell something out seat of the pants-wise during an encounter, but we do all the tank transitions, etc, and handle most typical potential crisis moments during raids via raid warnings/macros and it seems to work just fine - it's not that big a deal to type out /rw and whatever you're gurgling out to get the raid's attention.

Regards,
Nydia

If you're doing it color-by-numbers style, sure, and while I realize WoW in specific has largely degenerate to nothing but mimicking someone else's hokey-pokey video, plenty of other games (including ones versus other players) benefit enormously from being able to do short messages vocally while reacting to the unexpected.

In EQ you had lots of spare time to type, and didn't have to be doing multiple chord-keys every second to play either.

Oh sure, like Kanyli, I get the potential benefit, especially for fast-twitch games; but I agree with her that sometimes the benefit is negligible, or a tradeoff - and for games that weren't designed with voice chat in mind, it's annoying to find them becoming required. Maybe I don't want to talk to people while I'm playing an RPG for aesthetic reasons, (or because I'm sick of hearing about their cats or endless lame double entendres!), or worse, having duplication of effort and lost communication because some of the folks use voice (and don't read the screen) and some read the screen (and don't use voice). If I wanted to wear a headset and scream at folks while going full auto, I'd play those kinds of games, but as a methodical, Mario-impaired type, I prefer concentrating on one channel at a time... :)

Regards,
Nydia

If I wanted to wear a headset and scream at folks while going full auto, I'd play those kinds of games

That's exactly what you're doing when you show up to something like a WoW raid.

Oor because I'm sick of hearing about their cats or endless lame double entendres!

You're not seriously saying that this asinine tripe isn't exactly what they talk about on guild-chat. If not for juvenile dick and fart jokes and LOOK WHAT MY CAT KID, most people would never talk about anything!

Sure, but it's so much easier to filter in text, not to mention somehow less asinine for some intangible reason. Also, there's the anonymity issue; I mean, I *know* that most of my guildmates are sweaty middle-aged slobs, but if I'm paying for immersion (which is what drew me into WoW in the first place), I'd rather not be having to be taken out of that experience via hearing folks RL voices. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose...

And re the fast twitch activity that goes on on certain raids, I managed to lock down 10 mob trains in Hate just fine with no-one yelling 'Nydia, get that cleric!' in my ear by way of distraction (which would have just ensured that I'd dropped the ball anyway); if folks are paying attention and doing their jobs, you can talk about it afterwards... :)

Regards,
Nydia

Strange as it may sound during raids no one in my guild yellls at another player, nothing inappropriate is said, if you're having that kind of conversation I'd venture to say it's the atmosphere/env you're in. Pick up groups are another matter, I don't do voice chat in PUGs. I only voice chat with my guildies or friends whom I know will converse inteligently and respectfully.

Even when playing FPS games I'm on a vent server with my friends and we're talking to each other not the idiots in the match. It's all about who you run with and how you present yourself I suppose. I've never had these issues that you're mentioning hun, seriously.

Sure, but it's so much easier to filter in text, not to mention somehow less asinine for some intangible reason. Also, there's the anonymity issue; I mean, I *know* that most of my guildmates are sweaty middle-aged slobs, but if I'm paying for immersion (which is what drew me into WoW in the first place), I'd rather not be having to be taken out of that experience via hearing folks RL voices. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose...

Did you really think they were Orcs and Blood Elves before?

No, but some people like a *little* fantasy in their fantasy roleplaying without having to be cosplay freaks... the same reason we refer to toons in our guild by their character's gender instead of the owner's and that sort of thing, that there's, you know, a *little* bit of RP left in the RPG...

If that's not part of why you play, great, but no reason to disparage those for whom it is. Does 'Nydia' in her current incarnation get a little bit of extra oomph out of killing lich model bosses in WoW (in that 'she' considers them wannabes and enjoys spitting on their traitorous corpses?) Yeah, wanna make something of it? ;)

Regards,
Nydia

No, but some people like a *little* fantasy in their fantasy roleplaying without having to be cosplay freaks... the same reason we refer to toons in our guild by their character's gender instead of the owner's and that sort of thing, that there's, you know, a *little* bit of RP left in the RPG...

If that's not part of why you play, great, but no reason to disparage those for whom it is. Does 'Nydia' in her current incarnation get a little bit of extra oomph out of killing lich model bosses in WoW (in that 'she' considers them wannabes and enjoys spitting on their traitorous corpses?) Yeah, wanna make something of it? ;)

Regards,
Nydia

I never had a problem with people who wanted to roleplay (long as they weren't the types who got mad when I wouldn't play along). Different strokes is fine with me.

There's certainly no room for it at any sort of challenging raid though.

Not that it makes an awful lot of sense to use roleplaying immersion as an excuse when you're using intrusive interface addons like BigWigs anyway...

I see the value, I just don't like that it's become a requirement. I've been playing EVE Online again lately, and good luck finding a decent guild that doesn't require voice chat.

What corp/alliance?

What corp/alliance?Still corpless. Only 4mil skill points, so working on missions for cash atm.

Somewhere back in my MMO history I had a guidmate who was deaf, and was crushed when our guild went to voice chat. For once in her life she'd found an activity with a level playing field...:(

I will say I liked voice chat with SWG when we were dogfighting in space.

SWG space pvp was probably one of the most fun things I ever did in an MMO. Grinding for new slot projects was endlessly dull, but the weird random side conversations that popped up were hilarious. I remember taking my PoB decimator to static spawn points and sitting in the gun turret while my ship was stationary. Voice chat did make it a fair bit easier, if only because it was hard to maneuver and type at the same time. Most of the time if I stopped to type, I got shot repeatedly.

After careful consideration tonight, post-UPS delivery, I have determined that Natal = win. I'm sure a lot of you beat me to trying it already, but if you haven't, do. Its worst games are more fun than the Wii's best.

Its resolution and accuracy is impressive.

Welcome to the club! :o

I'm just worried it's going to end in accidental domestic violence, with these two-player arm waving/flapping games.

haha
biggest issue i've had is that it seems like it wants us to be 8ft not 6ft away so we keep backing up and are almost at the couch. but we've managed to get by without beating each other down. only thing I've ever bumped into someone playing was volleyball, although I sometimes want to tackle my nephew when he whips my butt in boxing :(

What games do you have/have you tried?

We've already smacked hands pretty good while playing doubles ping pong, when the other team hit a ball down the middle and we both went for it. I figure this can only end badly.

We've tried adventures, sports, and fitness so far.

I love watching my wife play the dance game, she's a lovely geek! Boxing is fun.

The dancing is hard but fun. My favorites are the Wii sports. I think I avoid ping pong collisions b/c I'm a lefty and usually position myself on the left side but I can see how it could end badly :)

Other titles I've tried.

Kinectimals - kid oriented but I had fun :o
Game Party - meh, cheap and not well done
Fighters Uncaged - meh
Joy Ride - Fun! I like holding things up to the camera to change my car color
Dance Central - Fun!


I want to try Adrenaline Misfits, Motions Sports, and Zumba.

Zumba.

I was going to get that one for the old lady (read: for my enjoyment), but the reviews were abysmal. Apparently it doesn't really do much of anything to track your movements and is more like a plain exercise DVD disguised as a game.

Never found the Wii fun, and if I'm honest, this sounds lame too.

I do seem to be thoroughly in the minority, however.

Never found the Wii fun, and if I'm honest, this sounds lame too.

I do seem to be thoroughly in the minority, however.

I hate the Wii :)

my daughter has a wii.(shes 6) She loves it. I got her the Just Dance game and we have fun with it.

Never found the Wii fun, and if I'm honest, this sounds lame too.

I do seem to be thoroughly in the minority, however.

I never cared much for the Wii either. The good Kinect games are great though. Just about the only thing directly comparable between the two systems is that you can play them standing up.

'Just about the only thing directly comparable between the two systems is that you can play them standing up.'

- You sure about that?

Pedantry (255)?

Spend less time grousing on the Internet and give it a try instead of imagining what you think you might dislike about it based on videos.

Well I spend about 10 minutes grousing, as opposed to 6 hours playing tennis with a television.

Can't find anyone to play with you?

The big difference between the Wii and the Kinect is that you wouldn't be able to play a sports game on the Kinect for six hours. You can't trick the game with little wrist flicks. What makes it fun is that you find yourself not wanting to trick it.

'What makes it fun is that you find yourself not wanting to trick it.'

- Riiiiight.

Dude I am fat and lazy and I love my Kinect WAY better than the Wii.