Gaming of the Future - Its all about Motion
So the big electronics industry conference went down this weekend - and other than the fact that you cant now get a iPhone for only $99 (and $2,000 a year) - the most interesting news comes from Sony and the Xbox team.
Turns out that the runaway success of the Wii has drawn their attention. The Wii has far outsold either of the other two consoles while having guts (processor, memory etc) more competitive to the original Xbox and the PS2.
In response, PS3 will basically be getting a Wiimote, albeit one with a glowing ball on the end. In classic Sony style it is highly engineered and will have even greater accuracy that the Wiimote with the Wii Motion Plus (which is already far better than the original and pretty sloppy Wiimote). Sony's answer to the Wii should be shipping sometime in next March or thereabouts. However, I dont really think that this is such a big deal. My reasons are this: the PS3 has generally been bought by the hardcore gamers (it has the best technical specs and is the most expensive) or those really into their hi-def surround-sound blue-ray blah-blah setups. This is not the crowd, in my opinion, who will be going crazy over a Wiimote. Plus, the PS3 is not likely to be picked up in everything from retirement homes to daycare like the Wii has when it costs twice as much.
The more interesting one is Project Natal. This is the Xbox effort, and is in effect motion capture 2.0. Instead of waving around a wand, even a very accurate wand, this actually takes a look at your whole body as you move. It is more or less a slim box that sits in front of your TV (like the capture bar for the Wii) but it has a couple of cameras built in. As you move, it captures those movements, and plugs them into the game. The initial response from those who have demoed the system is very good.
I think Microsoft may actually be the one to win in the long run - much as the Wii is a good piece of hardware, and it changed the game, the Xbox has the content delivery, the Media Center capabilities, and with Natal - the best motion capture out there. The thing is, its a long way from showing up at your local Best Buy, so Nintendo has an opportunity to capitalize on its succcess. Of course, Nintendo has a long history of doing exactly the opposite of that, so we'll have to see how it goes.
Turns out that the runaway success of the Wii has drawn their attention. The Wii has far outsold either of the other two consoles while having guts (processor, memory etc) more competitive to the original Xbox and the PS2.
In response, PS3 will basically be getting a Wiimote, albeit one with a glowing ball on the end. In classic Sony style it is highly engineered and will have even greater accuracy that the Wiimote with the Wii Motion Plus (which is already far better than the original and pretty sloppy Wiimote). Sony's answer to the Wii should be shipping sometime in next March or thereabouts. However, I dont really think that this is such a big deal. My reasons are this: the PS3 has generally been bought by the hardcore gamers (it has the best technical specs and is the most expensive) or those really into their hi-def surround-sound blue-ray blah-blah setups. This is not the crowd, in my opinion, who will be going crazy over a Wiimote. Plus, the PS3 is not likely to be picked up in everything from retirement homes to daycare like the Wii has when it costs twice as much.
The more interesting one is Project Natal. This is the Xbox effort, and is in effect motion capture 2.0. Instead of waving around a wand, even a very accurate wand, this actually takes a look at your whole body as you move. It is more or less a slim box that sits in front of your TV (like the capture bar for the Wii) but it has a couple of cameras built in. As you move, it captures those movements, and plugs them into the game. The initial response from those who have demoed the system is very good.
I think Microsoft may actually be the one to win in the long run - much as the Wii is a good piece of hardware, and it changed the game, the Xbox has the content delivery, the Media Center capabilities, and with Natal - the best motion capture out there. The thing is, its a long way from showing up at your local Best Buy, so Nintendo has an opportunity to capitalize on its succcess. Of course, Nintendo has a long history of doing exactly the opposite of that, so we'll have to see how it goes.
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