Your login information returned multiple users. Please select the user you would like to log in as and re-type in your password.
By this time we have all seen the video. To those who don't know, a writer for Parade Magazine was allowed to demo Natal with his family and the seemingly disastrous video shot that day was released unto the world. From the nutty family, to the horrible 1 to 1 character recognition happening on the screen, the internet became afire with spoof GIFs and the horrific gasps of gamers who've had their worst fears confirmed. Microsoft at this time has now created the most expensive Internet Meme in history.
Someone at Microsoft messed up. This is not the video they wanted to be released one week before their big world premier Natal press conference. How exactly could this happen?
It should be remembered that though Microsoft regards Project Natal as a transformative vehicle for gaming, it certainly doesn't represent a transformation for the character of the company. Microsoft, for a long time, has seen themselves in a position to integrate their software into the daily lives of its customers. From high end computer processing to something as banal as putting on music, Microsoft has always wanted its customers to do it through their products. A bold goal to be sure and before Apple had won the phone wars it was looking like they were getting close to actually making it happen.
Project Natal represents, in many ways, the newest iteration of that goal. Microsoft has never seen the Xbox as a simple gaming machine. They see it as the foundation of the living room's entertainment system. Everything from music to gaming to movies. But to get the entire family to accept the 360 as the foundation of household entertainment they need to get the entire household in front of the machine.
That's what Project Natal is really trying to do.
Will it work? I have my doubts. But no one at Microsoft (at least no one I have spoken to) seems to share them. Even when I bring fears that the rumored $150 price point might be too high I get a simple “They will buy it” response in return. Market saturation making the casual market already called for with Wii sales? “That's arguable.” Its one thing to believe in a product and toe the company line, that it expected. A devotion of this magnitude might be a tad overreaching. Microsoft has known for a long time that to get Natal working properly was going to take a mountain of effort. I reported in August of last year that Microsoft was dumping entire departments into Natal and canceling numerous projects to move resources to its development.
If that video proved anything it was that Project Natal still has a long way to go.
There are beta models out in the hands of Microsoft employees now. After applying for the program and signing an extremely long NDA (non-disclosure agreement which includes, as one of the agreements, to lock up the unit in a safe whenever not in use) these employees are able to take units home and try them out. I was actually able to ride in a car with one of these units though the employee wouldn't even let me look in the box. After a few weeks I'm hearing that Natal is fun though a little “rough around the edges especially when it comes to menu navigation.” I was told nothing more but they are going to have to certainly work in some heavy polish if they are going to be ready for an October release date (so the rumor mill goes).
The video does everything to mirror these concerns and more.
The main problem comes with the fact that now this video, and almost nothing else, will be the only thing on the mind of every person sitting in Sunday's press conference. As if Microsoft didn't have a hard sell before, now they really have their work cut out for them. I'm amazed that anyone involved with Natal would even have a reporter come in with a video camera so close to presentation day. Those offices should have been sealed up tighter that a submarine, especially when they have so much riding on this project. Could it have been that Microsoft Echo-chamber? Or maybe someone took it upon themselves without the proper signing off? Though I have the latter hard to conceive of.
In any case I think its safe to say that Microsoft has just had its “Giant Enemy Crab” moment. Though, to their benefit, it isn't actually happening during the actual presentation. At least not yet.
I'm hoping that all speculation about Project Natal ends in 5 days. Then those of us who will have to eat our words will do so, and those of us who enjoy crowing over the misfortunes of others can belt away at our hearts content.
-Joseph-
Comments
13 years, 10 months ago
My relationship with Microsoft is like a dysfunctional family, I will complain and complain and complain about them non stop, but at the end of the day I still do love them. I do love my PC and my Xbox, it is definitely not fanboyism, I just like them. So part of me really wants to see Natal succeed, but that video.... Well that video just.... Well it was a bit foreboding. Maybe that version was just a rough demo from a while ago, and the one that will be shown on Sunday will be amazing, and maybe this was all a hype marketing campaign, but I doubt it. We will just have to wait till Sunday to see.
13 years, 10 months ago
HAHAHAHA...."They will buy it"...Microsoft has gotten wayy too cocky for their own good, maybe a Natal flop could give them a much needed slap to the face.
I also found 11 more minutes of Natal footage :|
http://www.qj.net/qjnet/xbox-360/new-footage-of-project-natal-11-minutes-in-action.html
13 years, 10 months ago
Microsoft has had a lot of hits and misses this past decade, while some projects did poorly,(Zune) or some projects were executed poorly,(the Red Ring of Death design flaw with Xbox 360) Natal could be their biggest blunder yet coming into this new decade.
While the Zune couldn't compete with Apple's massive Ipod line-up, the Zune itself isn't bad. The Xbox 360 isn't a bad console besides the fact that it has a high rate of failure. Microsoft usually makes pretty good products but there have been many quirks or obstacles that their products have/you run into.
With Natal, it's a bad premise from the start and it's going to be a useless product in the videogame market.
13 years, 10 months ago
At least the embarrassing reputation it's gaining is helping to prevent my biggest concern, which is that Natal (and games that use it) will turn out to be utter crap, but still sell amazingly well with the casual market on the merit that it's a more impressive piece of technology than the equivalent products of its competitors.
I'm not being anti-Natal, but if it's going to sell, it ought to be because it's fun and has fun games, not because people think it's cool, because so far, it's not.
13 years, 10 months ago
Whatever faith I had in Natal (which was very little to begin with) is pretty much gone now. I can understand Microsoft's desire to have the 360 be the center of a family's home entertainment repertoire but I think they have severely missed their demographic on that decision. The vast majority of people who purchased 360's bought them to be a gaming device. Sure the built in Netflix is cool and all but how many other devices are there now that do the same thing?
Natal is in my opinion nothing but a cash grab attempt to take a slice of the motion control pie while giving people something that has little or no real use to the people who purchased the original product (the 360). As I said before its a good ambition to want to be the center of family entertainment, but anyone who would have considered purchasing this already owns a Wii. The motion control boat has been out to sea for a long time and Natal is not the speed boat Microsoft would need to catch up to the competition.
13 years, 10 months ago
the 1 to 1 capture issue in the video seems more due to the kids in front being picked up as the players legs tbh. i dont think we should be that worried from a video of a flailing collection of doofs.
13 years, 10 months ago
I really hope Microsoft at E3 isn't flooded with this. Sure this wireless thing was nifty when it first came out but now it's getting old and ridiculous.
Where's my Virtual Reality, damn it?!
13 years, 10 months ago
[...] Premier EventWhat can I say? Everything I can say about this event I said here. Other than that I mentioned here that Microsoft was about to have their Giant Enemy Crab moment. I would like to take this moment [...]