230°

Project Natal: The Savior of Gaming?

I4U writes: "So what does this downturn mean for you, the humble gamer? Only good things. A steep dive in console sales is going to make manufacturers drop prices to stimulate purchases and improve peripheral sales. I think we'll also see a sharp increase in the number of manufacturers that take to selling their products primarily online."

shocky165387d ago

Infact I'm excited about Natal, but please please.. Sony,MS don't let motion controls become standard..

Gamertags5387d ago

Gaming doesn't need saving. Errr Another article written by some kid who needs some hits on his site.

Gaming is good no matter what! Natal is going to be a very awesome addition to gaming and to the 360. Nice addition, interesting new ways to play but not the savior.

Timesplitter145387d ago (Edited 5387d ago )

I threw up when I read the title of the article.

I'm genuinely sad about the direction gaming takes. It feels cheap and boring , and I don't think having no button at all a good thing. Not only the tools used for gaming but the games aswell , I didn't like a lot of the games this gen and I really think Natal isn't going to help.
I remember a time when gaming was about exploration , skill , strategy ,challenge. Not all games had this but it was different. Most games this gen are about innovation and graphics.
I am sad.

CaptainKratos5387d ago

i threw up, then laughed and then i threw up again!!!haha.

CaptainKratos5386d ago

then laughed.^^^ then guess what boys and girls i threw up.lol.

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Sonyslave35387d ago

Don't worry MS said like a 100 times Natal won't be placeing the xbox 360 controller.

lloyd_sr15387d ago

Natal will go the way of the dinosaur. How am I supposed to play COD with no controller?

whothedog5387d ago (Edited 5387d ago )

Ricochet :)

I think Natel is meant for a more casual experience. or adding on some features to hardcore games like maybe facial recognition.

Greywulf5387d ago

FPS/TPS/RPG all need controls.

DevastationEve5387d ago

Voice command can easily replace menu-driven controls in RPGs and RTSs (as proven with End War) that are normally mapped to cramped controllers. In an FPS game it could be used for interacting with NPCs and environment context features (like light switches).

Motion tracking can be used in scope/zoom views as you aim, instead of mapping that to the 2nd analog. It can also be used for gesture recognition (like Minority Report) in video editing and splitting of clips (like how Cruise navigates the precog composite feedback).

It's true that Natal won't replace the controller...but who ever said that it has to? The two can be fused together to make one awesome experience. Afterall it's pretty much just a machine interpreting your movements and voice commands, it's not like you have to put down the controller to use it.

Timesplitter145387d ago (Edited 5387d ago )

Face it : Natal cannot be used to play hardcore games. Could you play Quake 3 Arena with Natal? You better not, because God would probably kill you for doing that.

Natal can be used for small "let's try something with motion controls!" games. Party games, for example. It's just not versatile/precise/fast enough to play hardcore games.

DevastationEve5387d ago (Edited 5387d ago )

4 disagrees...some PS3 fanboys are already feeling the sweat of Natal shoving more PS3's into lonely closets.

That's cool, bring on the disagrees. It won't stop Natal from succeeding.

Yep! One more disagree, one more fanboy silently marking off a pretend victory.

callahan095386d ago

@ Apocalay...

None of those functions even utilize Natal to the fullest (that is, those functions don't rely on 3D spacial tracking). All of that stuff could be done with the Playstation Eye.

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GiantEnemyCrab5387d ago

I'm excited to see what becomes of it but I wouldn't put any "savior of gaming" tag on it. I think expectations and hype need to be tempered until we see and hear more about it. It's still a ways away.

Omega45387d ago

Natal will give the 360 a lot more variety, but gaming doesnt need saving

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60°

Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX

This could be fun as they make great tables. Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16.

260°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv7223h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle10h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18817h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio7h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning772h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga9h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21838h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga7h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan3h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

romulus232h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv722h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

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purple10112h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos12h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-1h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac11h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple10110h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic8h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead2h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein21h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno18h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k416h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson16h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu17h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson16h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -