Bye Bye Wii? - Microsoft's Project Natal

[Nora]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... atal/50014

If this works out as in the ad, Microsoft has dealt Nintendo a fatal blow. I don't see how it could quite work that well, but we'll see.


Edit:
Milo, the most advanced game they're showing off at EA I think with this tech: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... milo/50015

Honestly, kind of creepy. A virtual son? Friend? But, so realistic. Don't know what to think. So many possibilities with this sort of technology.

[Qu Klaani]

Yes, Nintendo's 55 million Wiis will cease to exist in the face of Microsoft's bullshot 3D. I've no doubt such things are possible but theres no way this tech is both imminent and affordable. Remember all the stuff people were thinking/claiming the Wiimote would be capable of?

I'm sturggling to understand how it'll work (enjoyment-wise) without any tangibility. Holding your arms out to pretend you're driving a car will just feel ludicrous, you'll need to hold something circular for there to even be any consistency. Yay for cheap 3rd party plastic tat!

[Darragh]

Project Natal does indeed do everything the Wii should have but it's three years later and the device will not be out until 2010 and will most likely cost 200 dollars. That tech is not cheap. The difference between the two is that Nintendo already have the mindshare and a console that was built around the tech. What MS is offering developers here is an add-on with a limited install base. I think it would have been a better device to launch with a new console. It does look great and I have a feeling it will work pretty well.

As far as E3 goes...ahh smeg it I'll make a new thread. Edit: Tomorrow after the Sony and Nintendo conferences. Although Sony's one will not be full of surprises because it all got leaked. PS3 Slim. PSP Go with lots of software support. Hopefully Trico.

Edit: Holy ~*pineapples*~ new monkey island by Telltale! Wii, 360, P.C. ~*iguana*~ yeah!

[Nora]

True it is late in its arrival, and cost will be a factor that Nintendo seemingly will always have to its advantage. But eventually, it seems inevitable that this "console war" will be won out, and if they can make this Project Natal something affordable to most families as the modern PC is, and produce it to the quality they seem to be aiming, then this could be a killing blow. The 360 could be the console that is in every families' home in a few years.

It's all the features that go above and beyond, the little things that draw in the extra markets that this little device seems to have. For example, the video chat between the two woman, where they can try on virtual clothes and such. That alone I'm sure will sell so many consoles, to a market previously untapped. If MS finds a way to make partnerships with different companies to get their products displayed in features such as that, it could also mean a decrease to the overall cost of the product in the long run. It seems like this has a great potential if they play their cards right.

Unfortunately, I have very little faith they will. But I will keep my hopes up.


Edit: And yes, new Monkey Island

[Qu Klaani]

Nintendo "won" this round of the ever tedious "console war" awhile ago, tech like this in an actually workable form is very much next gen. I find it weird this hasn't been announced as part of a new Xbox 1080 or what have you, but then there does seem to have been something of a transition from the traditional approach of a new console every four to six years.

The 360 could be the console that is in every families' home in a few years.

Pipe dream, no console will ever be that popular. When technology like this becomes sufficiently popular to be considered essentially normal, it won't be in a games console. It might still be Microsoft mind.

[AlexSP]

i love the daughter! MY ONLY TRUE LOVE EVER!!!!! I'D LIKE TO MAKE A PIT STOP THERE, NUDGE NUDGE WINK WINK!!!

oh yeah the other thing looks sweet as well. but in theory a lot of things look sweet. and then in practice it's less sensible. like blazing angels on the wii. hard to dogfight when your plane doesn't turn as sharply as you need it to. just an example. what about when you're locked in a deadly race with that thing, and you need to scratch your nose? they pick unrecognizable pieces of you from the track wall, that's what!

[Darragh]

Microsoft have said that the reason the entered the videogames market was to stop Sony from "owning the living room". It's their hope that they will grow the brand to the stage where they will be the ipod of living room where you play your games, rent and watch your movies, browse the internet, listen to music, communicate and entertain friends.

At the rate at which technology advances this is a lofty dream but they have been extremely sucessful with this brand in the U.K and the U.S. They beat Sony. No small achievement. They threw money at it and are actually making profit per quater in the division but...this generation is over. Nintendo are number one everywhere. This generation they have created some of the best selling games of all time. For reference...(not completely accurate but accurate enough for this discussion)

1. Wii Play (Wii – 22.98 million)[66]
2. Nintendogs (DS – 22.27 million, all 5 versions combined)[66]
3. Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green (Game Boy – 20.08 million approximately: 10.23 million in Japan,[44] 9.85 million in US)[19]
4. New Super Mario Bros. (DS – 18.45 million)[66]
5. Wii Fit (Wii – 18.22 million)[66]
6. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES – 18 million)[41]
7. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (DS – 17.41 million)[66]
8. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS – 16.81 million)[67]
9. Mario Kart Wii (Wii – 15.4 million)[66]
10. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2 – 14.89 million shipped)[95]
11. Mario Kart DS (DS – 14.61 million)[66]
12. Pokémon Gold and Silver (Game Boy Color – 14.51 million approximately: 7.6 million in US,[19] 6.91 million in Japan)[44]
13. Super Mario Land (Game Boy – 14 million)[41]
14. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! (DS – 13.71 million)[66]
15. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (GBA – 13 million)[73]
16. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2 – 12 million)[103]
17. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (GBA – 11.82 million)[67]
18. Super Mario 64 (N64 – 11 million)[41]
19. Gran Turismo (PS1 – 10.85 million shipped)[95][96]
20. Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS – 10.79 million),[67]

Wii Sports (Wii – 45.71 million)
Super Mario Bros. (NES – 40.23 million)
Tetris (Game Boy – 33 million)
Super Mario World (SNES – 20 million)[52]

Those Wii games are not finished selling. You only have to look at the latest charts to see Wii Play, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii still up and around the top 10. This a whole different level than anything in the Playstation 2 era which has an install base of 130 million. Nintendo will top 100 million easy and will have created the 3 best selling console games of all time.

The Wii sold on Wii Sports which in my opinion would be the best selling game of all time non bundled.. Wii Sports 2 releases in July with Wii Motion +.

[Nora]

Oh, I agree. At this point in the game, Nintendo has undeniably "won" in every sense of the word, but there has to be some next step, and this seems like it could be the right path. It doesn't have to be a brand new console, theoretically, just something with all these new features. If you bundled it all together, it could easily take off and be something you see in homes all over the globe. But you make an interesting point, when is it no longer really a game console? A game console on its own could never find a market in every home. However, as they extend the functionality of the system so much, such that it caters to such a wide audience, it almost seems as it really should be classified as much more. A computer? Perhaps, I mean it is a computer, but it's not going to start replacing peoples PCs anytime soon. No, it's something else entirely, but it's the sort of technology that I could see the world becoming very dependent on in the next 10-20 years, just as life as we know it has started to revolve around the PC today.

[Blossom]

Do they want to make every game controlled like this? I wouldn't want to have to get up and move about through an entire game. Short fun games like eye toy it's ok, an entire rpg or something? I find Trauma Centre knackering enough, and that's just holding my arms up.

[Darragh]

Do they want to make every game controlled like this? I wouldn't want to have to get up and move about through an entire game. Short fun games like eye toy it's ok, an entire rpg or something? I find Trauma Centre knackering enough, and that's just holding my arms up.

I think they would have noted the weak armed backlash from Wii and would offer both controls like this and the normal controller.

But you make an interesting point, when is it no longer really a game console?

Both the PS3 and 360 are multimedia hubs which use games as their main selling points. 360's secondary selling points are movies, integrated online community, music, the ability to plug and play media from a memory stick and as time goes on they will improve on this. They will never want to replace the p.c because that is where they make their money. The PS3s secondary selling points are BluRay, free online play, internet browsing, music, he ability to plug and play media from a memory stick. They have no problem replacing some of the functions of a p.c. I think that the follow-ups to both consoles will just improve on these aspects and start to push them as the main selling points of the consoles more as MS have done with those terrible adverts.

[L and M]

I am quick to be sceptical of this. I really don't see how this will work. It seems more and more companies want to cash in on the "ooo, motion sensing!" ideas. However, i will judge no further and we shall see.