HEAD BLOG

It’s coming soon and the way Microsoft seem to be promoting it, you’d be fooled into thinking this is an upgrade to Nintendo’s groundbreaking Wii. All the elements pioneered by Nintendo are there. The sofa, the smiling family playing nicely together, the bright lights, the large living room – everything has been designed to make you reach for your Wii-mote. Even the style of gaming is less of the hardcore action normally associated with Microsoft and more of the Grandparent/Kid friendly barnstorming Nintendo throw out.

It makes you think that all those Wii owners (and would-be Wii owners) will soon be upgrading on the promise of a controller free, gaming heaven.

I’m not so sure.

I think Nintendo is more than just a company producing games consoles. It is an approach and its philosophy goes beyond the sofa. When a non-gamer (or casual gamer as we all call them these days) sees a Wii they see simplicity. The Wii box is elegant but it’s unobtrusive. It’s something they can identify with because, unlike the Xbox 360, it doesn’t look challenging. I love the Xbox, it’s a great machine. But as someone with decreasing amounts of time to spend playing games it does throw up barriers to entry. An XBox game, by and large, has to be deeper and more satisfying than (say) Carnival Games on the Wii (great game by the way).

It may just be down to perception but the casual gamer doesn’t see the Xbox as a quick time filler. It’s an investment in time and energy. That’s not a bad thing of course. Millions of gamers wouldn’t want it any other way. Wii is just a different beast.

Flying in the face of convergence, a games console seems to be more than just the software it offers. Of course Carnival Games would work on Natal. It would work on most platforms. But delivering the right experience to the right audience is more than just a software issue. It’s a perception issue also and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft become grandparent friendly without alienating the more hardcore gamers out there.

An eye on the future

Natal is exciting.

I was excited when the Wii was announced (and remain so to this day) but Natal is something else entirely. A hands-free approach to gaming which can change everything.

At Head First, where we strive to find what is exciting about any product, that’s something to sit up and pay attention to.

What’s more exciting, however, is how Microsoft are beginning to crank up the interest in it.

On Wednesday, Sony issued a press release to inform the world that their version of the Wii motion sensor was delayed. For those of you who aren’t glued to video games, Sony are entering the same market as Nintendo Wii motion and Microsoft’s Natal system. Their answer, announced last year will arrive in the form of a wand device which would be tracked by cameras similar to those on the Nintendo Wii.

On its own that would have been impressive.

But then Microsoft blew everyone out of the water with Natal. If that were me, I’d have taken my wand home and sulked for a while, muttering about not being understood.

To their credit, Sony haven’t done that and without getting a hands-on experience I can’t tell whether it won’t be even more successful than Natal. I certainly hope it competes because I love what Sony does.

So what’s exciting about Microsoft’s approach?

Apart from the technology, which sounds amazing, it comes down to Wednesday and Sony’s press release.

Microsoft took their time, all of a handful of hours, and responded with a bold claim about Natal.

It was, they said, “fraught with risk“.

This is a great thing to say. Put yourself in a movie for a minute and listen to the dialogue when two heroes are faced with an almost impossible situation. They think of a plan. “It’s risky, ” they say, “but it might just work”.

That’s what Microsoft have effectively done. Showing great confidence in their product by making claims to the contrary.

It sounds like they aren’t going in quiet on this one.

Followers of The Guardian’s Games Blog will have picked up on its coverage of E3 – a vital event in the gaming year. Microsoft have surprised all (coming after having the wind taken out of their Bing sails slightly by Google Wave) with Project Natal. Certainly whilst I was raving about Wave, everyone else in the office  – being more serious gamers than I – were clucking about Natal. Read more…