i'm pretty stupid about role-playing games. i think they're the bee's knees, and back in the day i wasted a lot of time on the diablo series and neverwinter nights...days and nights spent hunched over my brother's computer, with a mini-fridge for sustenence and a UV light to maintain a non-vampire level of pastiness. these days, i'm not nearly that lame. i no longer play videogames on my brother's computer, and i no longer hunch. i bought the current generation of video-game consoles to play, and since i have a very nice sofa, i recline more often than not. and while i've grown accustomed to playing videogames on consoles, the RPGs lack a certain something. with titles like mass effect and oblivion, i can't say that what is lacking is scope, story, or playability.

...no, i'm a nerd, and i get weird hang-ups...and there is one hang-up common to each of these stellar titles: poor inventory management. well...alright, poor is kind of a harsh word, but the inventory management systems in each of these titles are far more cumbersome than a PC equivalent. while fallout 3 and oblivion didn't have horrible ways to manage items, mass effect was particularly clunky. it didn't detract too much from the overall game, but i have to say that this particular part of each respective game made it difficult to call any of these games perfect or very nearly.

but when i see demos for project natal tech and implementation, i have hope. i know there are a lot of folks with reservations about gimmicky implementation in their favorite genres (i think the most vocal group are hardcore FPS fans - sure, it's hard to imagine, but what's with all the curses and torches and pitchforks? calm down, broheem). these concerns may be well-founded in some cases, and while i don't think that the next entry in the elder scrolls or mass effect two needs to rely completely upon project natal, i do believe that this technology could not only streamline item management, it could make it a selling point.

the action, of course, will always take the front seat. swapping out pieces of armor or combining herbs should never be more fun that stabbing orcs in the face or gunning down vicious mercenaries in space (that would probably denote poor gameplay). but motion controls would make managing items and manipulating other elements of the interface much more interactive. pinch your fingers to grab a particular item...toss it to the side to trash it, or over the vendor to sell it. throw a few different herbs in a pot and stir that bad boy until it bubbles. drop the hammer on that old breastplate to repair it. a million other things...or maybe ten. i don't know.

i would have to see proper implementation before i got on bored with using project natal as the foundation for the entire control scheme for an RPG...but it seems to make sense for all parts of the game that feel cumbersome with a controller. i believe that it would be a good way of introducing motion controls into a game without being extremely risky. and while some would say that it would be a waste of time to implement natal in a high-profile game - but only for waving through menus and changing your avatar's clothes - i think that it's necessary to dip your toes in first. that way...when the sharks come for you, you're only coming up short a few toes.

and holy crap it has to be said...i don't care if i'm flipping through my netflix queue on the dashboard, changing the gamma settings in game, or walking through the doors at target - i will play anything or do anything that makes me feel like a freakin' jedi.