The Time Magazine Tech blog weighs in on The Xbox Motion Camera Thingy:

I’m not really the target audience for Natal, as a member of the hardcore set who actually likes the Xbox controller. But playing Burnout with no controller, just holding up your empty hands like a steering wheel and pushing your foot forward to accelerate, that is an intense experience. And this is just straight Burnout code, in no way optimized or adapted for Natal. When people start dedicating teams to writing for Natal, very interesting things will happen. I don’t think it’s particularly an exaggeration to say that this is a potentially Wii-killing innovation. That guy Alex Kipman, the Brazilian engineer who walked me through how Natal works, is seriously clever. Microsoft as corporation doesn’t get much credit for innovating, but you gotta hand it to the Xbox division: between that and Live, they do bring significant new tech to market.

via Thoughts About Microsoft’s Project Natal, E3, Halo, etc. – Nerd World – TIME.com.

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Richard Clark

Richard Clark is the Founding Editor of Christ and Pop Culture. He is also the managing editor of Gamechurch and a freelance writer for Unwinnable, Paste, and other outlets. He lives with his wife in Louisville, KY and has a MA in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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2 Comments

  1. I’m interested to see what people think about the Natal controller. Is it too immersive? Personally, I think it will only be as immersive as people let it become. Some seem concerned that it will replace the outdoors since you can now effectively be “totally immersed.” Personally, I think it has a TON of potential, but it’s not going to turn us into a race of boneless slugs. =P

    To see some of the arguments on both sides, I’d recommend Newsy.com’s new video about it (it’s the third video on their homepage, I think). They’ve got some pretty polarized comments there, but I do think it’s important we at least look at both sides.

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  2. Pingback: Wii-killing? | TechnoSwarm.com

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