I’ve found in life that whenever a product bends over backwards to tell you that it is a certain way… it is most likely just the opposite. Project Natal demonstrates this nicely.

It is billed as giving gamers unprecedented control over their games by doing away with hand-held controllers in favor of full-body motion sensing. Sounds interesting except for one small problem. Motion sensing sucks and it always has. Motion sending control is crude and inaccurate. Fine details are lost and the system introduces a lag delay in your movements which is incredibly distracting.

This is clearly Microsoft’s answer to the Nintendo Wii. Their attempt to product games that “anyone can play without reading any rules or learning any controls”. Games that “provide a healthy workout while you play”. In other words, games that suck ass. Just another stone in the road leading to the dumbing down of society.

I think this is why I’ve always liked PC games and Euro board games. They are complicated. They are detailed. They require investment and understanding. The payoff is intense satisfaction and a sense of real accomplishment. They exercise the brain.

I mean, if you’re going to play a game like Natal’s Ricochet, just go outside and friggin’ kick a ball around! Seems almost idiotic to simulate such a common activity that is immediately available to any mobile human on the planet free of charge.  Okay, the ball costs a few bucks.

Regarding Ricochet, Edge.com says…

…our initial difficulties betray the separation that still remains between player and game. It’s hard to sense where the ball would exist in the real world, making it a challenge to reach out into real space in order to hit a virtual one. Moreover, once we manage to get it bouncing around, our reactions tend to lag a split second after the ball’s out of our reach.

Yep, exactly.

And then there’s Milo.

This is actually pretty frickin’ cool except for a couple of key things…

1. I don’t believe for a second that this segment is unscripted.
2. This game appears to be incredibly boring.
3. Once again, this technology grants the user the amazing ability to do something that they can do at virtually any minute of the day with any other human being, at no additional charge and with no technology required.

As someone commented on another blog… “Boy, video games of the future sure are boring!”

Update!

Turns out I was right.  Apparently the Milo demo is mostly smoke and mirrors.