Natal Effect: How Project Natal is the Way Forward for Controller-Based Games

Imagine Mass Effect 3 used Project Natal. I bet you are screaming in terror right now but hear me through.

You boot up the game, load your save and you're in the game world. No motion control so far, you are just sitting on your couch with your controller, playing Mass Effect. You see an enemy Geth on a walkway. You say, "Hey Rex, stun that guy on the top left." Natal's microphone picks up what you are saying, registers Rex, stun, top left and tells the A.I to cast whatever spell the developer has tagged stun in the game's language. It might be really called "Mass Lock Down" but really it is your average stun spell. Instead of pausing the game and issuing orders, you communicate with your squad like a real squad leader; with your voice.

You then pick up some new equipment and want to use it. Mass Effect had some awful inventory management but now imagine if instead the inventory screen has your paper doll of Sheppard on the right and you drag equipment on to him, like the dress in the sizzle reel for Natal, from your set of equipment on the left with your hand. All you have to do is lift one hand off the controller and Natal can see it and knows that you are in a menu. Maybe there is a little hand on screen like on the Wii as a point of reference. But you also need to change up some audio options, the sound effects are too loud, but rather than clicking through to a menu you say, "Let's go to the audio options" and right away you switch over to the audio options screen. You change your settings and say, "Alright I'm done.", and the game resumes.

When I saw Project Natal at Microsoft's press conference it was instantly apparent to me what could be its killer feature; using its features, a microphone and 3-D motion control, with a controller in your hand. It was not shown at the press conference and no one talked about it, but it could be the most awesome and useful thing about Natal.

The biggest problem I have with motion control is that it doesn't integrate well with current controllers. You either have a dedicated motion controller like the Wiimote and lose some of the functionality for more traditional games or you half ass it and you get the Sixaxis that doesn't really add anything. Natal allows you to hold a traditional controller for regular play but you could put it aside for those small things that could be enhanced for motion control.

Another example is the God of War games. Instead of quick time events, which have grown old, you have quick motion control events where you mimic on screen commands. You rip the horn out and use it to gouge out enemies' eyes. Maybe you stay on the couch for the regular enemies, but once you finish off the boss' health bar you get off the couch and do a whole two minute long event to truly get the satisfaction of killing those giant beasts. In a perfect world it would be un-loseable, just a two minute empowerment kick.

To finish off this giant wall of texts some caveats. Firstly, I do not know if Microsoft is even considering the possibilities of using Natal to enhance controller based experiences, I hope they are. Secondly, is this just a pipe dream? Maybe, but I think not. End War and PC dictation software show it is possible to talk to your PC naturally, without saying, "POWER... ON... REX.... CAST... MASS... LOCK... DOWN... ON.... GETH.... TROOPER.... 4... etc." Also Gizmodo, Will Tuttle and Engadget are reputable sources, that I know of, that have seen the motion tech and been impressed. There seems to be substance to Microsoft's claims.

In conclusion, I hope that Natal's microphone and motion camera are truly the way forward not just for controller free games but also for more traditional games. I feel that where the control hits it's limits Natal can take over and enhance already great games in a myriad of small but exciting ways.

(2)

Alexei GB

June 04, 2009

Yes, yes, Yes! And no.

I love all your ideas about the added functionality that the Natal could bring to ordinary games. Surely, this is the future. However, I don't think it's a really revolutionary suggestion on your part. Yes, when the XBox 3 comes out and Natal is built in, every single game will make use of the then-proven technology towards fun, exciting, and convenient ends. However, that is several years away.

At some point down the line, all of this motion sensor tech will be a given. Nintendo's bursting bank account has shown that there is something to this "motion control" that has everyone motioning towards their wallets. When the next generation of game consoles comes around, having only the option of a traditional controller will simply be out of the question. By then, these motion technologies will be further tested, tuned, and vetted, and will be included from day one in these next-next-gen systems.

However, Natal is being designed as an addition to this current generation that will cost at least $100 and be sold as an add-on that must be purchased along side the XBox 360. This is something of a logistical nightmare in that it means that future software (like Mass Effect 2) will have to be able to function with the controller alone, and Natal functionality will have to be added on top of that more traditional control set. We're talking about a whole bunch of extra work for the developer for no apparent reward. The ability to navigate menus and equip your character in a cleaner way (with your voice and hands) may seem like a bonus to you, but it's not going to drive people who don't own an XBox, Natal, and ME2 to go out and buy all of those things, which is the ultimate goal. Nor is lack of Natal functionality going to stop purchases of ME2, which will have its controls tightened and its inventory system streamlined anyway.

If MS wants to sell more consoles and more Natals, they have to have a killer application which relies on the Natal completely and is otherwise unusable, forcing gamers to cough up that extra dough for the new hardware. In my opinion, this is where you are going to see a focus in the short term, strictly based on the economics of it. MS is in the money-making business, and you do that by straight up wowing the cash out of peoples hands. These wows will come in ways that you and I haven't even thought about, in one-of-a-kind experiences. Think Milo, not dashboard navigation. Regardless of how fun or polished they actually are, they will be unique to Natal and that will be the major selling point that gets this technology established as must-have. Only then, as it sells more units and gets more of a foothold on the market will it make fiscal sense to include it in other software such as you've described.

But this is all just my opinion, I'm only a blogger like you. ;)

Great piece, I'm happy to see thoughtful, long-form essays showing up all over BitMob. Hope I didn't overwhelm with my long reply.

I want to thank you for inspiring me to write that loooong reply, and to then go on and write my own posts about what type of games I see in the future of Natal. I won't spam links on your post, but I welcome you to check em out and see what I mean about Natal-specific games and tell me what you think!