Peter Molyneux: Natal Bigger Than The Mouse

[sheogoraththemad]

we'll see peter, we'll see....

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Peter, Peter, dear love, what have we told you before about getting over-excited?

Remember how Black and White was world-breaking? And Fable, and Fable 2, and Fable 3?

If you let people in gently, they'll be amazed by it. If you hype it up before it starts, they can only be dissapointed.

 

[addeB]

Peter Molyneux, on the other hand, should focus his efforts on his true passion and develop the Molyneux Everlasting Hyperbole Machine: based on a design by Willy Wonka, this green machine runs on the dreams of fanboys and outputs a constant stream of heightened expectations followed by harrowing disappointment.

I thought he gave up that idea when he got the wrong parts?

"The green dream machine is going to delayed, it's hard to say this but there is the chance that it will never be finished, I will never order my parts from Wonka plastic spare parts again to prevent further incidents"

 

[Neosage]

Fuck off Peter Molyneux, all you do is hype stuff up, and then when it comes out it's terrible average. What happened to 4-player awesome co-op in fable, eh? Well if a PM's previous tales are anything to go on, Natal will be "okay". I am still of the opinion that Natal is a blatent cash-in on the wii's success. My prediction is that there will be a bunch of poorly-made shovelware items just ready to be spewed out.

Edit: Do you guys reckon he does this for a bet or something?

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Aaaaand it begins. Oh well, hype is necessary, after all no one wants to lose money, do they?

 

[darthzew]

He just loves to run his mouth doesn't he?

 

[Nerf Ninja]

What a complete tosser! if this man just kept his shiney bonced mush shut everything he did wouldn't end up being derided as a pile of wank. He makes good stuff but what he promises is not even in the same timezone as what he delivers.

 

[Abedeus]

People still care about Molyneux? Give him a rest, he hasn't done a single non-overhyped game in a decade or so.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

And, of course, Peter Molyneux is always spot-on with his hype.

You sir, win three Internets.

Believe it or not, I didn't even think Fables 1 and 2 were that bad when they eventually came out. In fact they were rather enjoyable. But Molyneux's biggest problem is that he always, always, always promises more than he can feasibly deliver. He's not a bad guy, or a bad designer. He just has a serious problem with hype-building.

I expect Natal will be quite interesting, though. I'm eager to see what can be done with it. But just forgive me if I don't start acting like it's the second coming of Jesus.

 

[BloodyThoughts]

And, of course, Peter Molyneux is always spot-on with his hype.

...I see what you do there. You gain 100000000 respect points

 

[NamesAreHardToPick]

Molyneux doesn't just blow sunshine regarding Natal. He cautions that designers may not be ready for its greatness at first, and that it may take time to shift to the new paradigm.

translation: we don't really know what it'll be good for

Now that it's got Molyneux's stamp of approval there's no chance Natal will do anything but flop. Motion control, we hardly knew ye. I even sort of hate my mouse now, just by association.

 

[DigitalSushi]

The mouse was the real revolution of the PC - not the Intel processor. And who's to say Natal couldn't end up creating something you and I can't even imagine now.

You know what I'm shocked about, is that Peter Moulinex is the "Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios", which is odd considering he presents his wares with "Apple" style hand waving.

He cautions that designers may not be ready for its greatness at first, and that it may take time to shift to the new paradigm.

"The first wave of titles that come out will be really good and really polished and great, but they'll be kind of the obvious stuff," he said. "Even when a new console comes out it takes us a while to get used to it and get our heads around it. I think when something like Natal comes out it really takes a while."

The "covering your arse" school of PR.

 

[T3chn0s1s]

Y'know, it could be more successful because of the console it's supporting, as well. Just sayin'.

Fanboys. They're powerful stuff.

I think this is a bit biased by the news title, since it doesn't seem he's saying the Natal is bigger than the mouse, he just appears to be likening the potential change to gaming assuming the screaming fanboys defend it the way they defend their precious 'box. For all I'm worth, I know I most certainly can't shake a dead walrus on a college campus without having someone tell me how microsoft beat me to it, and did it better, on the xbox... Which is kind of comical, for many obvious reasons.

Ah well! I actually do hope some developers will use this technology. Hell, I hope that fable 3 uses it almost elusively just so people have a drug to get them to buy the damn thing in the first place. Then, we'll release "Halo 4: Lol, the fight's on again!" and have it purely natal controlled as well, which will lead to even more people getting it, which will make developers certain that developing software to work with a gimmick won't put them under.

It's funny how many people don't seem to want to accept that no one releases a game on a gimmick with any kind of work put into it, because there's no guarantee of a return on that investment. You kind of have to be working for the company developing the hardware to get the funding to make the software. I mean, Twilight Princess could of easily JUST been on the gamecube. Honestly I preferred it on the gamecube, but that's because I've never played a wii where the location you're pointing at is actually what you're pointing at, requiring awkward ass readjustments mid-game when you switch to something that requires aim versus your sword.

Now I'm ranting...

Good show guys! Keep up the good work! Good luck with your gimmick, I hope it pans out and people develop new content for it besides yourselves.

 

[Hallow'sEve]

I really do hate that man

 

[Brotherofwill]

How can he top himself now? What's next?

Molyneux: Natal bigger than my Ego.

Yes, we all remember the 'Eye Toy'. But one bad implementation of technology doesn't mean it will absolutely happen again. It certainly has that possibility, no doubt, but I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would spend this much time, energy, and money on something only to make the same mistakes that their competitors made less then 10 years ago.

Again: I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.
But I will agree that Peter loves to talk, and should probably keep his head down and work.

How exactly was the Eye-Toy a bad implementation? The Eye-toy was never more than a gimmick to sideline the PS2 games and it did just that. It wasn't terribly succesful but sold around 10 million peripherals or so, and it actually was the first motion sensoring technology, atleast in the realm of innovation of the big 3 which did gave it some wow effects. By the way, MS stole the idea all the way back in 2006 when they released a similar motion camera that had similar capabilities but was never really supported.

I'm not saying that the Eye-toy was great. It wasn't, but it also wasn't badly implemented. Sony never promised the chosen land or a revolution, it was more of a side attraction and for this it was adequate.

I'm slightly troubled how much emphasis MS is placing on this. It looks promising but the company is basically shifting almost the entire focus on it which is troublesome if it bombs. I just don't get the appeal I guess, maybe kids dig it more. I'll remain cautiously optimistic until I can actually see a revolutionary game or revolutionary app for it with my own eyes. All I know it could rock the world until then I won't get my hopes up.

True that if they spend so much effort and money on it then it will probably be atleast solid, but all this money could have been spent elsewhere better in my opinion.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

Molyneux doesn't just blow sunshine regarding Natal. He cautions that designers may not be ready for its greatness at first, and that it may take time to shift to the new paradigm.

...Fable 3, however, will be utterly amazing, and will use Natal's possibilities to the fullest.

/sarcasm.

Dear ol' shiny-headed Peter's been spouting off all over recently, hasn't he? What I wouldn't give for an irremovable gag to shut. him. UP!

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Come on now, everybody, he's got a point. It's true that the mouse changed the way we use computers. You spoiled bastards have never been forced to work in a command line environment exclusively so you don't know what a pain in the ass computers used to be, let alone how limited the games were. The Natal does have lots of potential, although there's an equal chance of it succeeding as there is of it failing. And whether or not the Natal will eventually offer us anything of worth will ultimately be up to the creative minds of developers.

This is what I came in to say, since I just knew there would be much anti-Petey talk.

Natal could end up being really very awesome.
It could end up being very bad.
It could also end up filling a niche-want in the market, and see limited success.

The creative door is wide open, and the uses of Natal could range from complete controller replacement (Which I, personally, don't think anyone is ready for), to helpful addition to an already solid formula (Using your body to lean your character in an FPS or something). It's all in the implementation, and I, for one, am excited to see how Natal will turn out.

Yes, we all remember the 'Eye Toy'. But one bad implementation of technology doesn't mean it will absolutely happen again. It certainly has that possibility, no doubt, but I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would spend this much time, energy, and money on something only to make the same mistakes that their competitors made less then 10 years ago.

Again: I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.
But I will agree that Peter loves to talk, and should probably keep his head down and work.

Well, he's not going to do that any time soon. I'm sure that as Microsoft's creative lead it's one of his largest responsibilities right now to get developers and fans sold on this idea. He's not gonna shut his gob anytime soon (he dismantled the Gobstopper machine to make his Hyperbole machine.)

When I think of useful Natal applications, I think of stuff similar to Minority Report [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVBzx0LMNQ], where the device would translate hand-gestures into menu commands and other responses. In fact we've already seen a game canceled that planned to include this type of interaction, the finger-puppet fighter (whatever it was called). But this is something that could be included for use along side traditional controller controls - your character walks up to a keypad in the game, the screen tightens in on it and you use your own hand to punch in the keycode. Imagine solving the puzzles in Assassin's Creed 2 using hand gestures to rotate the pieces or select/reject pictures. Another thing Natal could excel at: sign language training. The possibilities are there and they are endless, but it's all going to come down to how this device is marketed and whether or not Molyneux's Death Star of Hype doesn't ruin the whole thing by over-saturating our expectations.

BTW, thank you for knowing how to punctuate.

EDIT: people comparing this to Eye Toy are really missing the whole point. The Eye Toy was just a fucking camera, Natal is considerably more than just a 3D web cam.

 

[dalek sec]

I don't hate the man and there's nothing wrong with having some ambition but the man has the habit of promising the world and falling short.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Remember guys that his games aren't on the PS3. He just bumlicks Microsoft.

 

[Treblaine]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_arm#Gorilla_Arm

Choice quotes:
''Designers of touch-menu systems failed to notice that humans are not built to hold their arms at waist- or head-height, making small and precise motions.''

''This is now considered a classic cautionary tale to human-factors designers; "Remember the gorilla arm!" ''

Yep, Natal will get VERY old, VERY quickly. Even Nintendo's Wii-mote + nunchuck don't have to be held up, I've seen loads of people rest their forearms on their knees/thighs when playing wii, only the hands positioned so they can still roll around to point, shake, etc

Natal only stands a chance as a BRIEF casual interface or for the OCCASIONAL gesture and variety of input would be very limited in it's precision or complexity.