Controller-less Gaming: Project Natal

Yes indeed, the control pad, which has seen us through years of fun-filled gaming, may soon be merely a memory; something our grandchildren will find laughable, because a new brand of technology is almost certain to alter gaming as we know it.

Microsoft’s Project Natal, which will be renamed before its launch in late 2010 or early 2011, has already excited many people not just in the gaming industry, but further afield. For example, it has caught the eye of film director Steven Spielberg who has spoken publicly about his enthusiasm for the system and his conviction that it will attract non-gamers as well as the committed techheads.

It is true, the Xbox 360 Natal will be very different from anything currently available, even the Wii, which is the most popular console, has fiddly combinations of buttons to learn and a Wiimote to hold. However, a controller-less system will be more accessible to those with an aversion to technology.

So, if there is no controller, how does it work? Well, Project Natal has motion-sensory technology, similar to that used by Nintendo Wii, but the infrared camera is far more sophisticated, making whole body interface possible. In other words, players will use the entire body to swerve, hit, slide, steer, and punch…whatever the game requires.

For example, one of the games that have been rolled out in demonstrations is a dodge ball-like game in which players must bounce red balls into 3D bricks to destroy a wall. Sounds simple, but a player is forced to move from side-to-side, forwards and backwards to deflect the balls into the wall.

Perhaps the most intriguing demo, from a controller-less point of view, is the Natal version of Burnout Paradise, which has also been showcased by Microsoft at various gaming functions. In Natal Burnout Paradise, a player must steer his, or her, car without the use of a steering wheel, while accelerating and breaking without the use of a pedal. All of these actions are ‘mimed’, which may sound peculiar, but the response from a player’s movements is incredible, the gameplay is out of this world and the graphics are more impressive than any Wii game.

If nothing else, this new system has game developers very excited about the endless possibilities that it offers.

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