A Date With The Future: Project Natal

Anyone that knows me or even reads the blag.blog.big. knows that I’m obsessed with anything related to the future and technology. It sounds corny – but I’m absolutely loving being old enough to witness the growth of how we interact, communicate and use technology, yet still relate to the days of no Atari and no internet. Cornball Moment over with – last night was a dream come true at the premier event for the new Xbox: Project Natal.

Wikipedia says:
Project Natal (pronounced [naˈtal], nah-tahl) is the code name for a “controller-free gaming and entertainment experience” by Microsoft for the Xbox 360. It enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands,[1] or presented objects and images.

Sidenote: You weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the screens hence lack of actual game play images BUT Matty Ho took some wicked footage of Mr Sean G having a good old fashioned boogie down. (HA! catch it while you can)

I’m not gonna lie…Xbox know how to throw a party. “Green” cucumber and vodka concoctions, to-die-for sliders, brilliant beats from DJ Gatsby, good friends, a Flip Cam to document the maneuvers (eeeeeee!!!) and of course Project Natal = “dont want to go home” (seriously – we were the last ones there).

Good time party vibes aside, having just shelled out a small fortune for Wii accessories, I’m gutted. I love Nintendo I really do, but having to constantly get out the numchucks, the Mario Kart wheel (and don’t get me started on the Rock Band gear) is a pain in the arse – never mind putting it all away and storing it.
With Project Natal there’s non of that. Just turn it on and go. I was a bit dubious at first having watched the official vid. Come on…there’s no way in hell that you can really “interact” with a game properly without controllers. It would feel weird right? Wrong.

Yes there was a SLIGHT delay in response time (apparently the version from last night is from months ago, so they’ve ramped up the interaction speed since then). BUT this shizz is no joke. The game on hand was Dodgeball (yeah yeah American) you basically had to kick and hit the balls at blocks to score. I think the thing I loved the most was the kicking – sounds simple enough but think about it – when have you really been able to do that in a video game? Drum? yes. Play guitar? yes. Even boxing – yes…but kicking? Next level.

It’s perhaps not for serious gamers but DEFINITELY ridiculous fun for a group of friends or even family. I think the best thing about it is that you don’t need a new Xbox to use it – it’s an add on to your Xbox 360 (if you’ve got one) AND as long as you clear the floor – you can pretty much do what you want. (Exhibit A – Sean dancing instead of Dodgeball).
Your avatar basically does everything you do – which is fascinating, the only thing it couldn’t do was turn 360º, but I think that might have just been the game. I got my sweat on (documented by Matty Ho) and had a bit too much fun.

I can’t wait for it to come out. Any kind of dancing games and IT IS MOST DEFINITELY ON. I’m PSYCHED for any kind of fighting games (you have no idea how much I’m praying for a Street Fighter x Project Natal combo). It’s supposedly out Xmas 2010 and the price is TBD – which I think will be a definite deciding factor for me. As an Apple lover, I’m not even trying to drink the Microsoft Koolaid BUT Project Natal is the real deal and I reckon it’s totally going to change the way we “play” video games.

I just want to give A MASSIVE THANK YOU to the amazing Jessica (fellow LLNYer and Xbox goddess) for inviting me. I had a wicked night!! If you’ve got time watch the promo vid here and follow the Xbox Tumblr here for all the latest updates.