Molyneux: Natal enhances Fable III, but you "don't need it"

The Lost Gamer writes "Peter Molyneux has revealed that Natal will not be implemented into the entire Fable 3 experience."

[raiden_93]

"Cute and funny"....oh dear.

[captain-obvious]

lol
i gotta say that was F*ked up

any way on topic
im glad to hear that

[RealityCheck]

Making it optional is great, I hope they do so for all traditional games, they don't want to make a Lair-type mistake. (I know Lair's control choice was fixed later, much later, too late in fact)

[poontab]

Right there with you, with Lair, they took a half decent game and made sure it was terrible. By the time that controller patch came out I was past the point of being able to stomach anymore.

[RealityCheck]

@1.3 I actually kept the game for a short while, convinced that they would release a regular control patch quickly. Then I gave up and traded it in.

[Foxgod]

Thats the way i like it.
Natal should improve gameplay, not assimilate it.
No need to replace the gamepad, but every extension that makes games even more fun is very welcome.

To me this is a very strong pro over the wii and the move, because with those systems you use either the remote, or the gamepad, Natal allows both.

Now besides motion tracking, they should come with aroma sensors, that make us smell the game =)
Smell the gunpowder while shooting whole army's down!

[Seedhouse]

Agree, I'm glad that it expands the experience rather than be integral to it :)

[Foxgod]

Now if MS would tell lionhead to make a Zelda like rpg, or even better, let Rare do a zelda styled action rpg :D

It would also be awesome if Sega would do a new a new Wonderboy game, in the style of Zelda, Wonderboy was so awesome.

[leila01]

"Now if MS would tell lionhead to make a Zelda like rpg..."
Hmm... F..a..b..l..e.?

[AngryFork]

How exactly can you use Natal and a controller at the same time? Wave your feet around while using the controller? It's the same thing as Move and Wii in regards that you have to use one or the other, trying to use both at the same time will be uncomfortable.

[Clap Your Hands]

Almost at least:

"Some advice for any Xbox 360 owners thinking ahead to the launch of Microsoft's Project Natal later this year: You might want to see if you'll need to reconfigure your living room.
(...)
To be precise, you'll want to clear an area extending at least 4 meters (a little more than 13 feet) away from the television"

http://www.techflash.com/se...

MS really seams to have dropped the ball on this part.

[Foxgod]

Isnt that the recommended viewing distance for HDTV's?
I dont know much people who sit closer then 4 meters to their HDtv.

Maybe itl be a bit crampy for people in Asia, but we all know the 360 is all about the USA and EU anyway.

On top of that, that article is a bit fishy, it contains too little details, just a few lines and a whole story written around it, it could be hugely ripped out of context.

[Clap Your Hands]

On a 35" screen you will effectively loose all HD picture benefits (1080P, 720P and even 480P), if you sit more then 4 meters away (13 feet). http://carltonbale.com/1080...

So no, it's not the recommended viewing distance for HDTV's ;-)

And remeber, its not just 4 meters in a straight line.

80% of gamers (casual as well as hardcore) wont have that kind of room to move around in. Hell I have tons of stuff (couch, table etc.) that i need to move if i just want to play the simple Natal ball game...

[Foxgod]

Well, for me it would be no problem, but i dont want to play the ball game.
Id rather use Natal for the extra gameplay enhancements in hardcore games.
And i doubt youl need 4 meter for that.

Besides, you said HDTV is not recommended for more then 4 meter, Natal is for 4 meter, not more then 4 meter.

[leila01]

You guys should check out the video of the guy breakdancing with Natal, he did it while standing less than a meter away from the device.

Some of you are really trying to hard bash Natal and the X360 it's just funny.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

THX recommendations are that the viewing distanc9e should be about 1.5 times the diagonal screen size for HDTV's, eg. for a 40" TV you should sit about 60" (5 ft) away. A 4m viewing distance would be for a 118" TV.

@ Clap your hands: I think that quote refers to the maximum area that Natal covers, it doesn't say it's a minimum. You just have to be somewhere in that area for Natal to see you.

[The Maxx]

I for one am actually really looking forward to the ball game. I work out everyday and part of my routine is the boring run on the treadmill for 1/2 hour to do my cardio. With the ball game, I could play a 1/2 hour of that and let that be my cardio. it would be a hell of a lot more exciting and I would actually get a better cardio workout than just the treadmill.

[Clap Your Hands]

MS big selling point has from the start been the full body tracking. It's what separate them from the Eyetoy (even though it's already been done on the old EyeToy back in 2004. Full body motion tracking - 7:26 in the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watc... )

But yes, for the games that don't require your full body you probably wont have to be 4 meters away.

In regard to this:

"Besides, you said HDTV is not recommended for more then 4 meter, Natal is for 4 meter, not more then 4 meter"

Let me be a bit more precise.
If you sit more the 10 feet away from your 35" television (natal requires that you sit more then 13 feet away), then you will effectively loose all picture benefits from even 480P outputs.

If you sit more than 7-8 feet away you'll loose all HD picture benefits from 720P outputs.

If you sit more then 4-5 feet away you'll loose all HD picture benefits from 720P outputs.

[Clap Your Hands]

"To be precise, you'll want to clear an area extending at least 4 meters (a little more than 13 feet) away from the television. That's the back edge of the space to be taken into account by the Natal sensors. In terms of width and height, the field of vision naturally expands as it moves from the Natal device to that back edge, ending up a little more than 4 meters wide and 2.7 meters high (about 8 feet, 10 inches)"

http://www.techflash.com/se...

[Clap Your Hands]

Actually he stands 1 meter away from the television. The devise (Natal) is nowhere to be seen.

[The Maxx]

So techically..you are saying you can be as close to the TV as you want, but the Natal doesn't have to be on the TV but rather it can be further back behind the TV.

This way, you won't lose visual resolution when looking at the TV.

[leila01]

re-read what you wrote Clap Your Hands, you're not even making any sense.

[Clap Your Hands]

Well of course.

The reason we talk about the television is because 99% of the consumers will have Natal on the television or below the television.

Also, this is what MS recommends.

[Clap Your Hands]

What part didn't make any sense?

The Natal-camera is no were to be seen in the breakdancing-video.

[Wrathman]

thats good news.

[jdktech2010]

Plus, let's be honest.....to be safe, you're supposed to clear a space for the Wii (and I assume the move since it's a similar mechanic) anyway.....this is no different.

Sounds like your nitpicking to me to tear down Natal when it's really not that big of an issue

Edit: Supposed to be replying to clap your hands

[poontab]

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised to see a headline like, "360 should Only be Played 1 Hour at a Time due to Seizure Warnings in Instruction Manual".

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

I hope its not a tacked on feature :(
Not that I even like Fable in the first place.

[Arnon]

This is the sole reason why I was happy for Natal. It's a device that can either be used as a complete controller, or an add-on to the already existing Xbox 360 controller and game being played. It also tells me that we will almost never have to worry about sacrificing the controller for hardcore games, like I said from the start.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

The hit to the processor would kill the graphics and/or physics, A.I., etc., so Natal will be used in isolated, mini-game type situations. Natal will do some really neat things, but not core gameplay of games like Fable. Imagine, though, something like a lock-picking mini-game using Natal. Thinks like that will add to the experience in cool ways.

[anonymouse111335]

For some reason I want to know what he means by this, good you don't have to have it since I don't plan on buying it since I have the room but I would have to re-arrange everything into a setup that would suck :( It also doesn't seem that interesting to me really, the eye toy was boring, if MS can't bring anything new to this it will be the same.