Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi, Capcom’s Keiji Inafune and Konami’s Hideo Kojima. discussed the possibilities of Microsoft’s Project Natal during a panel discussion at the Tokyo Game Show. A couple of choice quotes below…
Inafune: “This technology surpasses anything we have at the same time as treasuring the current tradition. I see the potential of Natal, and it’s not just a traditional fad.”
“We have to be role models with Natal and act responsibly. We can lead people and show them the potential of Natal. We [game developers] are serious people, and we can lead the rest of the world to this new technology.”
Kojima: “Using Natal, I’d like to come up with a completely new game that no one has seen before. I know I have lots of fans that are loyal to me, and I don’t want to leave them behind. So maybe I can come up with a car that can fly, so my fans can follow me. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”
The technology certainly is impressive and we’ll likely see it applied in some pretty cool ways. Uses may even extend beyond traditional gaming (minority report style menu interface anyone?) but quite frankly i can’t be arsed throwing kicks and swinging an imaginary sword for a game of Soul Caliber, plus as responsive as it is, it’s hard to imagine that Natal will offer quite the same level of precision as a traditional pad, or keyboard and mouse setup.
As an aside, I can’t help but wish a painful death on the family in Microsoft’s advert (above), but maybe that’s just me.
More at Gamespot, Gamasutra and CVG.
