Thu, Sep 24, 2009 | 09:08 BST
Kojima: Natal is the next “2D to 3D shift”
Dropping bombs. Hideo Kojima’s just told a TGS press conference that Natal is something “like the 2D to 3D shift, or the first time that I ever played with Family Computer [NES],” as reported by Gamasutra.
He said that when he first saw Natal, “I wanted to share my surprise to everybody… but I had to restrain myself.”
He went on, saying that Natal “has the potential to change everyone’s lifestyle dramatically” – extending to everyday tasks.
Kojima warned, however, that there will be some users who are “nervous without any physical controller”, he believes that we can and should accommodate those people through a transition period.
Talking about the type of games he’s excited about making on Natal, Kojima said that he wanted to make “a completely innovative game [with a very new control method] that nobody has thought of in the past.. but I have core users who are my fans, so I do not want to leave them behind.”
Heavy shit. Hit the link for the full thing.
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Posted in: Hot, Microsoft, TGS 2009, Xbox 360
Tags: hideo kojima, natal, project natal
12 comments
#1
Blerk
24/09/09, 9:11 am
Gah! I hope Microsoft paid you to say that, Hideo.
#2
Talyis
24/09/09, 9:18 am
I’m sure they did now that they got Konami under there thumb!
#3
Talyis
24/09/09, 9:23 am
Also I swear has no one heard of the Eye Toy seriously it’s the same thing except it track more things and has voice recognition now doesn’t that sound like the Playstation Eye I Microsoft is going to act like they invented this whole new way of gaming well then they need to do some actual research now Sony on the other hand first comes the Eye Toy then Playstation Eye now there finally finishing there long awaited motion controller which they started around the Eye Toy and next there working on actual 3D gaming Sony knows what there doing!
#4
Jadeskye
24/09/09, 9:35 am
MGS5: Home stealth action. you need to install an interior wall in front of your natal to hide behind while clasping your hands together like a gun.
#5
Blerk
24/09/09, 9:37 am
It’ll ship with a real cardboard box, no doubt.
#6
JonFE
24/09/09, 9:40 am
If there was ever a time to meaningfully use your “Kojima-with-x360-logo-background” stock photo, this was it and you’ve missed it
Joking aside, I hope that Microsoft’s Natal bet pays off, if only to annoy the naysayers
#7
Jadeskye
24/09/09, 9:49 am
lol @ Blerk. Damn that would be a fantastic marketing strategy.
Buy our game, it comes with a man-sized cardboard box!
it’ll be the first non-peripheral game with a weight limit.
#8
Eon
24/09/09, 11:53 am
Talyis, cry much?
#9
Scyrenn
24/09/09, 12:14 pm
Like the 2D to 3D shift?
So no big deal then? :p
#10
bytemap
24/09/09, 3:00 pm
Wow, so much animosity. I wonder if it was this way when Nintendo came out with their Motion Controller and people didn’t believe it, even me. Yet it sold millions and it’s fun, no matter what you may think. Just look at the numbers. Take it for what you will.
I understand Sony has the PS Eye, yet I’ve never used it for many games or any games for that fact. Yet, the potential with Natal is going beyond gaming. That’s what I think Hideo meant, but then again that can and sometimes falls on deaf ears.
oh well…
#11
Roybott
24/09/09, 3:07 pm
Audio from this panel is available at http://tr.im/tgsnatal via: http://twitter.com/RareLtd/status/4340730450
#12
Michael O'Connor
24/09/09, 3:14 pm
“Also I swear has no one heard of the Eye Toy seriously it’s the same thing.”
Except for the fact that… shock horror… it’s not!
The Eye Toy is capable of extrapolating 2D data (changes in light and colour, basically) and allowing the screen to react to it. The Xbox Vision Cam is capable of everything the Eye Toy is, except for sound.
The Natal, on the other hand, is essentially a motion capturing device. It is capable of scanning a person’s placement (using infra-red, a pretty basic technology), and transplanting that data straight into the game.
The *potential* for that is huge.
Whether or not the Natal will *live* up to that potential is another thing, but there’s no reason to be automatically dismissive until we actually see the results.
Also, while people argue about the lack of any sort of tangible object to use, there is technically no reason why the Natal couldn’t also physical props and peripherals, and report that information back to the 360.
Examples: Imagine a baseball bat whose power is measure by how hard you swing, or the ability for an avatar on the stage to move as you do in Guitar Hero, while you’re also using the guitar to play the music. And those are just ideas off the top of my head.