Halo: Reach Could Use Natal

[bue519]

I think this is a pretty freaking great idea.

Think about it: You use the controller to move your guy as per the norm, right?
But you come up to a corner, and lean right on the couch and your guy leans right to peak around the corner. Lean left to peak left!
You run up behind an enemy and, while sitting on the couch, you kick your leg! On-screen, your characters leg comes up and boots the enemy right off a cliff.
Get a sweet kill in multiplayer? Press a button to enter 'free taunt' mode, which allows for 3 seconds of your character mimicing your 'booyah' happy dance.
(That last one would also be sweet for machinima)

As long as they don't over do it, and use to add and enhance an already solid mechanic, I think this could work very well.

That would be cool. What I was thinking, though, was them tracking our eyes, and aiming accordingly. Probably won't happen - or work - but it would be awesome.

I doubt people would want Microsoft knowing what they're looking at.

Also if they tracked your head movements in coordination of the screen, the slightest motion would probably jostle your aim and probably end up causing a lot of needless deaths.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I could give it a try but full motion control would be a bugger. Besides why mess with a control system that really worked?

Every title that has been released was solid, why not try to test it out now, rather than later at a point where the franchise may be at it's lowest? I see this as a good thing because they are taking their tech seriously and are backing it.

Yeah I guess, it does show that they are ready to do something unique and original I suppose.

Definitely. At this point they've refined that series to the point where they have to change it. Also changing it means that you will get the people who weren't a huge fan of halo, seeing what it does with Natal, and start to be coloured interested.

And I just thought I'd say this:

Sure, Xbox 360 is the most (commercially) successful gaming platform on the market

Nah, it's second in a commercial success sense.

At the moment the Wii has the most gimmicks (motionplus, nunchuck, classic contoller, fitness board, bowling ball etc.) with xbox probably last if anything.

The only gimmick there is the bowling ball. The balance board has a library of titles for it already, at least four or five of those titles aren't fitness titles. The Nunchuck is a motion controller, it's stock control and came with the console, and is an analogue controller with motion, like the SIXAXIS. And Wii Motion Plus aims to fix the shortcomings of the original controller. None of those are gimmicks save for the bowling ball.

EDIT: Whoa whoa whoa now, did you just say the classic controller is a gimmick? Are you aware of what a gimmick is?

 

[lostclause]

The only gimmick there is the bowling ball. The balance board has a library of titles for it already, at least four or five of those titles aren't fitness titles. The Nunchuck is a motion controller, it's stock control and came with the console, and is an analogue controller with motion, like the SIXAXIS. And Wii Motion Plus aims to fix the shortcomings of the original controller. None of those are gimmicks save for the bowling ball.

EDIT: Whoa whoa whoa now, did you just say the classic controller is a gimmick? Are you aware of what a gimmick is?

Yes I'm aware what a gimmick is. That was really just to prove a point(see context), I know that the classic controller is better for some games and essential for others, same as the nunchuck. But you have to agree that the fitness board is quite weird and gimmicky. The only games it's really suitable for is wiifitness and maybe a skateboarding game or something. Also I'm a wee bit disappointed with motion plus (excuse the pun) that it costs so much for such a minor upgrade when they could simply intergrate it into the existing controls.
Anyway, if you read my original post you'll agree with me that the Wii is the gimmicky one compared to the 360.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

The only gimmick there is the bowling ball. The balance board has a library of titles for it already, at least four or five of those titles aren't fitness titles. The Nunchuck is a motion controller, it's stock control and came with the console, and is an analogue controller with motion, like the SIXAXIS. And Wii Motion Plus aims to fix the shortcomings of the original controller. None of those are gimmicks save for the bowling ball.

EDIT: Whoa whoa whoa now, did you just say the classic controller is a gimmick? Are you aware of what a gimmick is?

Yes I'm aware what a gimmick is. That was really just to prove a point(see context), I know that the classic controller is better for some games and essential for others, same as the nunchuck. But you have to agree that the fitness board is quite weird and gimmicky. The only games it's really suitable for is wiifitness and maybe a skateboarding game or something. Also I'm a wee bit disappointed with motion plus (excuse the pun) that it costs so much for such a minor upgrade when they could simply intergrate it into the existing controls.
Anyway, if you read my original post you'll agree with me that the Wii is the gimmicky one compared to the 360.

It's a Balance Board, and weird doesn't mean gimmicky. Games are being released for it and it's not being tacked onto titles, it's being integrated as a play style, like Shaun White 1 and 2, Skate It, among others as well as fitness titles. Integrating it into existing controls would have probably caused problems, it is what it is I guess, but it's optional unless it's needed for a game, and then it would probably come bundled.

 

[lostclause]

It's a Balance Board[/i], and weird doesn't mean gimmicky. Games are being released for it and it's not being tacked onto titles, it's being integrated as a play style, like Shaun White 1 and 2, Skate It, among others as well as fitness titles. Integrating it into existing controls would have probably caused problems, it is what it is I guess, but it's optional unless it's needed for a game, and then it would probably come bundled.

Yes but I'm saying it had a very limited place in gaming. The titles you suggest are about the only way it can be used apart from say surfing without it interfering with the game too much. And inevitably someone will shoehorn irrelevant tech into something else (e.g. the DS's mike which is used about twice in the whole of phantom hourglass or shaking the controller when getting airbourne in mariokart, or even the stearing wheels from the same game).
It really depends on the game whether it's a gimmick or not i suppose. Anyway sorry to derail your thread with this.
Also there's another poll going on at the moment with ideas for reach, you might want to have a look.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

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[lostclause]

You do realize I was being sarcastic when I said "groundbreaking?" You shouldn't be so quick to attack my opinion ("idiot?" "amnesiac?"). And when I said XBL was the best, I mean it does what it's supposed to do - connect gamers with other gamers across the world - the most effectively out of XBL, PSN, and whatever the Wii's online capabilities are called.

Yes. In case you missed it I was agreeing with you, natal is not new it's been done before. Hence the amnesiac and the idiot is for anyone who think that motion sensors are new stuff. I'm not attacking your opinions, I was agreeing with you and also wondering if they could improve on Sony's previous achievements, i.e having actual full games work in conjunction with natal.
Although I don't agree with your comments about quantity vs. quality.
Xbox Live works best, you said that yourself, in which case how can you possibly complain about quality if it's the best? They obviously haven't forgotten quality if it 'puts Microsoft way ahead'. There may be still room for improvement but you should be satisfied with the best. Besides natal I don't see much else coming for xbox so quantity is pretty poor at the moment.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

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[lostclause]

Oh, okay, I see.

What I meant to say about XBL was that it was one of the Xbox's best selling points. I would like the quantity of gimmicks and copycatting (Avatars, Natal) toned down and the quality of actual selling points raised. While XBL is the best of the three different console networks (it isn't hard to outdo utter crap), it isn't perfect. I would rejoice if Microsoft announced plans to, say, increase connectivity capabilities over XBL or decrease the cost of XBL.

I'm not saying I demand that Microsoft improve something I'm satisfied with, I just don't want more gimmicks to be added; i.e., I'd rather have Microsoft do absolutely nothing to improve anything about the Xbox 360 than have them release gimmick after gimmick.

The only thing I absolutely demand from Microsoft is the heads of the idiots who thought blatantly ripping off Mii's was a good idea.

The avatar's are a waste of time I agree. I had mine randomly generated and haven't looked at it since. Unlike the mii's they never appear in games so it's even less useful (although me and a friend made a mii that looked like a fish, seeing it play tennis was great.)
I don't use XBL much so I have no idea how good the connectivity is (but for me living in NZ it will probably be useless). I agree about the cost of live too, I might be interested if that went down but it's unlikely because microsoft is really struggling in the games department and live is a breadwinner.
I think natal is worth a chance, if they use it right. If it's just a pitiful attempt to make gamers splash out money for something that doesn't add to the experience I think we'll hear about it quickly enough (and hopefully they'd learn a lesson). But natal has the potential to enhance gaming with a new flavour, like the ds touch screen which is usually used to good effect.
Anyway, sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

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[lostclause]

It's all about implementation. Natal is a good idea, but from what I've seen, Microsoft might be going about it all wrong. Personally, I think Natal is next-gen material.

What makes you say that?
Also, if you believe the press releases, this is going to be the last generation for consoles. It seems like they're working on natal instead of the next-gen (although I think that that's a lie for everyone excpet maybe Sony).