Game Harlot

Project: Shiny New Gimmick

In case you have been living under a rock for the last two months, Microsoft did indeed announce their speculated motion-sensing peripheral for the 360, codenamed Project Natal, at E3.  (For your geeky cocktail party needs, it’s pronounced na-TAHL, and it looks kind of like an evil robot head.) And, in case you had any doubts who M’s target market is, check out their simulated use trailer, just bursting at the seams with good clean family fun:

Aww, how utterly wholesome.  Little Timmy can pretend to be a monster, Big Sis Sarah can get fashion advice, and Mom and Dad can snuggle on the couch watching Netflix movies in between all that family bonding!

(Oops, sorry.  Did I get a little bit of cynic on you?  Here, have a tissue.)

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic that motion-cap/facial recognition tech that sensitive will soon available for personal use.  (The live demo from E3 is particularly impressive; bonus points for the blatantly bitchy shot at the Wii.) It’s definitely a revolutionary piece of equipment.  But is revolutionary what their target market (read: casual gamers) really wants?

Let me know what y’all think… my answer will be forthcoming as well.

[Much gratitude to Brian for the inspiration.]

I think it will exceed all my expectations for lameness in its initial offerings, but I’m really excited about the potential here.

It’s marketing is clearly to steal the Wii audience, and I can’t say I blame them. I’m a computer gamer, but there are times when I have friends over and I think, “Wii would be pretty entertaining right now.”

Not all of my friends are interested in spontaneous LAN parties, sadly.

I expect that the family/sports games would quickly move on to the adventure type games. Imagine Dragon’s Lair, Street Fighter, or my personal favorite, Samurai Shodown, rendered for the Natal.

Wow, Dragon’s Lair would be awesome.... You’ll probably have to google it since you were probably 4 when it was popular and super hi-tech.

One of my friends mentioned a marketing point that I failed to recognize. When the girl is picking out dresses… there will probably be a “Buy Now” button and it will be shipped to your house. Creepy.