So Wake Up Hardcore Gamers, Wake Up And Smell The Ashes
Well, it was more like “wake up Mr. Freeman, wake up and smell the ashes”.
Ah, we all remember that line as the G-man ushered us into a new era of FPS games, or more commonly known as Half Life 2. You see, yesterday’s video of a guy playing Half Life 2 on Natal brought chills to my bone. It is eerie how Natal tracks (accurately) all the player’s movement without any controller whatsoever. Will Natal usher us into a new era of FPS gaming?
Imagine playing a frantic Gears of War match with Natal. It just doesn’t seem …… right. I mean how are you supposed to pull off a headshot with other controller wielding opponents who can do that and have your a*s handed to you in a fraction of a second? Call me skeptical but I don’t believe motion sensing technology is mature enough to be that sensitive. And I stand by that claim unless I try it firsthand. Even then I prefer my controller (or mouse and keyboard), thank you very much Heck, a fellow blogger thinks that it is all a stunt pulled off by Microsoft to gather more hype. “Another thing that makes the video less believable is how the user flawlessly plays the game, making it seems like there is no hassle to it. We all know a project is never that perfect in it’s early stages, especially not with a first person shooter like Half-Life 2.”
But are we hardcore gamers being narrow minded? After all, a console that doesn’t even display HD graphics took the crown from Sony and Microsoft. Who would’ve thought that? And that’s where we are mistaken. You see, Microsoft isn’t expecting this to appeal to hardcore gamers. Apparently, casual motion sensing games are all the rage right now and that’s where the money lies. “The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360’s audience beyond its typically hardcore base“ [Wikipedia]
So, don’t expect Half Life 2 Episode 3 (if it’s ever released) to be Natal exclusive. Sure it will be fun to experience the universe from a new angle, but its just that. A toy for hardcore gamers. No wonder Microsoft has Rare working on some “undisclosed” games. “Rare is intimately involved with Project Natal in a number of different dimensions,” The Microsoft Games Studios boss told Kotaku. “They’re doing an awful lot of work, even outside the traditional game space, I would say.” That’s probably something on the lines of “a kid based fun Natal game/platformer” than the “next hardcore Natal-based Halo-killer”. 😉
[Update] Major Nelson has confirmed that Natal won’t replace the Xbox 360 controller.
Dec 31st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Major Nelson is a corporate money grabbing M$ fanboy cunt.
Jan 1st, 2010 at 12:35 am
All those console sales nintendo racked up haven’t translated into sales of software. Casual users tend to buy only a few pieces of software then shelving the console. Micorsoft will find this to be the sad truth and they will pay for it in the end. We drive this market not this new fickle consumer base everyone’s so blindly desperate to acquire but, let them be fools, let them go after the market that doesn’t care. In an all digital world console manufactures are obsolete. If they think they will survive with gimmicky accessories they are sadly mistaken. Like rome everyone will abandoned them and good riddance! Proprietary console and the greed of publishers have stifled this industry long enough. Natal is the death nail of the console.
Jan 1st, 2010 at 1:54 pm
WHAT!
half life 2 epp 3 a natal exclusive?
mate, you got to lay off the shrooms there not good for ya!
there is absolutely NO! freaking way valve would do that.
1 its been in development for almost 4 years, well before anyone knew of natals existence.
2 not sure if its true but its suppose to be using a all new advanced engine, the ps3 would not have enough power to use it let alone the 360.
3 valve are PC developers they would not give the finger to there fans like this.
4 the series started on PC, so it will end on PC, half life is the most famous series in the world and there are millions of PC gamers i included demanding the closure of the series.
in fact i find it more likely for halo reach to come to the ps3 than this being a natal exclusive, and we all know halo is never coming to the ps3.
theres no way, sorry but no freaking way in the entire universe.
not even M$ infinite checkbook could make that happen!
Jan 1st, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Natal is just another reason for M$ to suck your wallet dry and then spend the money on whores, drugs, guns and killing black kids.
MS is an evil greedy corporate money whoring company who doesn’t give a fuck about you. It just wants your money.
And the thing is fanboy pricks and dumb ass wankers will buy it out of loyalty or stupidity. Either way M$ gets to rape you.
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 6:45 pm
and other companies care about you?
seriously, someone needs to wake up and smell the java!
Jan 3rd, 2010 at 1:08 pm
@name
Sorry m8 for the late reply, my internet was fu**ed up for the past three days. No seriously, I’d be really pissed if Valve ever did something like that (which they will never do). I was just trying to stir up a controversy. 😈 “So, don’t expect Half Life 2 Episode 3 (if it’s ever released) to be Natal exclusive.”
Jan 3rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
@ Lord Cancer
I read a long time ago (beginning of 2008) that the Xbox 360 had the biggest attach rates, so for one console gamers were purchasing like 6-7 games on average. Don’t remember the exact figures though, but the Wii came last.