Here's a comment I had when natal was announced about what control possibilities are possible with what we know about natal right now. I think it's a good spitball for how controls could work:
I'd love a Myst type game. Where you could actually reach in and grab objects and pick them up. I think Myst would actually be perfect for Natal because of it's original point and click / drag and drop nature.
What would be the coolest would be a FPS where you hold your hand like you're carrying a gun. move your finger like you're pulling the trigger to fire. Melee would be you kicking (ofcourse not high). Reload would be you acting as if you're putting a new clip in the gun. I think I even have movement worked out as well. Have a standard position that you start the game in, take a step forward and your character starts moving forward. Strife right to move right. Strife left to move left. Back up by taking a step back. To move your camera you move your "gun" as if you're turning and the camera follows the gun. Grenades would be you acting like you're pulling the pin out and throwing it.
Honestly though I think project natal would be best suited for hybrid games. For example you have a FPS that actuallys comes with a gun that you hold in your hand. The gun also has a stick that controls only the camera. Project Natal still controls all the other actions. Grenades / strifing / movement / melee / reloading. I think that's the biggest problem with people who see it can't wrap their head around. They think if you put a gun in your hand that Project Natal = Wiimote. This however is completely false. Project Natal can map your entire movements in 3d space. Current RPG's would work fine for Project Natal. They normally give you a top down or high angled view anyway.
I could see current RPG's working simply the same way as the DS controlled Link. Move your hand to show which direction the character should move. Once combat starts you can use voice commands to tell them what to do / hand commands like scrolling through the actions and selecting one / or full body commands to attack or cast spells. Need a potion? Act like you're drinking one. Need to be healed? Hollar out "Heal Me, (insert character's name)!" Boss fights could be really cool because they could require you actually "reach" into the environment to give your party the upperhand. Let's say you're fighting a boss and there are powerlines above you. You could actually move your hand forward, reach into the screen and pull the powerlines down hitting the boss and doing massive damage. Oh and who could forget. . .Want to open a treasure chest? Kick it open with your foot.
Heck, even games that require cover could be done. Want to stick to a wall or behind some crates? Turn your body sideways (granted not perfect for viewing angle but still very possible). And I just came up with these ideas sitting here over the past few minutes typing this up.
And I honestly think most of them are quiet possible. They won't require small precise movements so I think they'd be pretty accurate in registering your commands. And especially when merged in a hybrid type system.
What if some mystery games required you to help out the character by "scanning in" household items that you have laying around to help him progress his story. For instances, you're stuck in some old mansion and you know your back up is coming but you've got to get out of there now. So the character in game asks you "Hey, do you have a piece of paper so I can leave a message for them?" You say "Sure." and grab some paper, scan it using the camera and he then takes it and leaves his message.
Or, he says "I really need a phone to make a call." And you "hand" him your phone using the camera. The scanner really does make a lot of things possible and yeah, I don't see why you couldn't scan in one of those Wii wheels or a tennis racket or really anything to use in game.mythrol
Ok. Here you go. Read, enjoy, comment on the possibilities.
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