Gaming Tech Part 2

I said I would introduce the next "big thing" in gaming and I will. As the Wii has forced us to become an active population of gamers who actually burn serious calories while playing video games, it only allows us to use our hands. We can get the WiiFit pad and that will allow us to use our feet and maybe our hands at the same time. But what if there was a way where we could use our entire body without buying extra controllers.

What if we didn't even need a controller.

What if the controller as we know it, became obsolete. I'm sure you're wondering if this might be a new mind control device or something like that. I can assure you otherwise. If you have been keeping up with E3, the huge gaming and electronics convention held every year in Las Vegas, you might know what I am talking about it. For everyone else...ever heard of some company called Microsoft? Those goofs in Redmond might actually make something worth fighting for...finally.

Introducing the soon-to-be-released Microsoft Natal.

The Microsoft Natal for Xbox 360 is a revolutionary new way of gaming to the likes of nothing we have seen before, except in science-fiction movies.



With Natal, you can not only use either your hands or your legs bu rather, your entire body. The website Obsessable.com states that "According to Microsoft, Natal is precise enough to recognize facial expressions and emotion." This means that, when you walk up towards Natal, it will be able to recognize you by not only your voice but also by 'seeing' your face. Also, by analyzing facial expressions and vocal qualities, (which we will get into later) it can figure out if you're having a bad day, among other things.

The possibilities for Natal are endless at the least and its going to be interesting to see the type of games that studios develop for such hardware such as the E3 demo of an intriguing character called Milo who interacts with a person almost as if there were no TV screen at all. See the related youtube videos for more information on what I am talking about.

Gaming Tech Part 1

It seems that the console wars tend to rage on from one generation to the next. It started with the likes of Sega, Dreamcast, Nintendo, Playstation, etc. However, they all had one thing in common: their basic design, which usually consisted of a console and the controller. The Nintendo DS and the PSP revolutionized the meaning of the controller by putting the screen in the palm of your hand.

This was a deciding factor between gaming fans. Would you go for the fun, but poor (in comparison) graphics of the DS or go for the bulkier but great graphics of the PSP? The battle lines were drawn and people picked their sides. On the console side, after Microsoft entered the gaming scene with the Xbox, Sony and Nintendo knew they had to redesign their consoles as well and out came the Xbox 360, the bulkier Playstation 3, and the Wii.

As the wars raged on, it was clear that Nintendo had hit the lottery with their new system and method of gameplay. People didn't care if the graphics were poor in comparison or if the games were limited. All they cared about was that the Wii brought them off the couch and on their feet. As a result, the Wii was a runaway success and is still popular today that Nintendo still can't make them fast enough. As Microsoft and Sony went head to head in a battle of brains to produce better microprocessors and screamingly fast bus speeds, hardcore gamers rejoiced at the better graphics and moaned about the exorbitant prices but it was clear that the general consumer did not want to spend a lot of money on what is perceived as a trivial activity to pass the time.

The Wii began to dominate the market in a way that seemed almost foolhardy. You put decent graphics, provide a widely available DVD drive but change the most simplistic of gaming devices, the controller, and it gives you a formula for success that no one expected. As more people want to get up and interact with video games, it seems clear that the days of staying in the same seat for hours on end is drawing to a close. Surely there will still be those hardcore gamers, but they will soon become the minority rather than the norm. How exactly is this going to happen? You're going to have to wait to find out.