There are some very exciting goings-on over at Xbox which promise to have serious impacts on the gaming industry.
Announced during Microsoft’s annual E3 press conference, Project Natal is the new hands-free control system for the Xbox. The motion sensing camera allows users to direct action within games by moving their hands or body, without the need for a controller. In this way Natal becomes one step more advanced than the Nintendo Wii.
It has huge implications on the Xbox’s appeal to a key hard-to-reach market – notably those who don’t consider themselves ‘gamers.’ Nintendo first tapped into this market with the launch of the Nintendo Wii, and games such as WiiFit and RockBand, demonstrating that the traditional two-hand controller is itself perhaps the biggest barrier to preventing people from taking up gaming.
The innovation isn’t solely limited to gaming though – users will be able to make use of the technology in the films and anything else they have on their Xbox, without touching any hardware. The introduction of Project Natal, which will apparently be compatible with every Xbox 360, clearly frees up people’s perception of gaming and the opportunities available.
- Sam
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