Project Natal and the MMO, building worlds and better bodys

XKhallusX

So imagine you load up everquest 3 for Project Natal. you create your character and you're thrown into the middle of Qeynos. you want to go explore however you have no keyboard to move with, you actually have to move your character by walking, jogging or running in place.

 

fighting would be done again not by pressing a button but by movements with your hands. sword and shield you use one hand to block with your imaginary shield and the other to slash with a sword. Caster - you move your arms in different motions to cast different spells, Monk ... do punches and kicks.

 

now obviously most gamers would probably look at this game and say "omg you mean i might have to sweat in order to be successful?!?! screw that.". however in my opinion MMOs would be the perfect genre for the workout game. think about it you could have instance for Beginner, intermediate and Expert level conditioning.

 

Beginner - would have few mobs and lots of rest areas

Intermediate - would have a lot more mobs for more action

expert would make you fight tons of mobs while running and jump through obstacles.

 

now obviously the game design would have to reflect the fact that people CAN'T work out for hours upon hours. however i don't see why that would be an issue.

 

think about this the hardcore players wouldn't be the losers in many eyes since they would probably be the ones in the best shape lol.

 

trancejeremy

While it's true SoE isn't exactly supportive of Sony's consoles/platforms, I really doubt they would put Everquest 3 on the 360 (or its successor)

Anyway, if I wanted to do that sort of thing, I'd LARP. I don't.

Amathe

I don't want a game that needs for me to exercise to play. We already have that - sports. I want a game where I can run and jump and swing a sword while drinking beer and eating Cheese-Its.

uquipu

The Wii has something like this.

youtube wii bleach video

MMO's might be the most fit people on the planet one day. Imagine hopping around like this for an 8 hour black rock run.

JaggaSpikes

if people wanted to actually swing swords, wouldn't they go train kendo or something? not even considering people with disabilities, gamers in general are more into effects, and less into causes.

nice concept, but not for everyone.

astoria

Could really change the bunny hopping and circle strafing norm.

Zhqrxt

Imagine doing around 10 quests where you have to kill 5-12 mobs for each quest on a Natal? Suddenly the whole concept of mouse and keyboard would seem p0retty darn advanced...

Im not buying the whole Natal game/console thingie concept, except for party games and as a fun way to excersize. As a intelligent media center however, it might be a decent step forward.

michaelmnn

I personally enjoy the idea of games being more intereactive. But there comes a case of  how well will it be executed. 

How much movement is needed to do the skills correctly?

How much movement would one really have to put in order for the game to go smoothly?

Will i actually have to walk in place? and will i look like a jackass at home...?

Small shit like that, But im a fan of new innoventive ways of playing any game. Im curious to see how it turns out 

Annwyn

From what I recall, there was a new thing in development that looked like a Giant ball (similar to the balls you can put mouses in, but 20x larger). You'd put some special goggles on, get in the ball and you'd run around in a virtual world. Looked pretty neat.

 

(I believe the guys at GiantBomb tried the engine at GDC2010 so look it up)

XKhallusX

Originally posted by uquipu

The Wii has something like this.

youtube wii bleach video

MMO's might be the most fit people on the planet one day. Imagine hopping around like this for an 8 hour black rock run.

lol well like i said obviously some of the mechanics seen in MMOs would have to change, obviously dedicating huge amount of hours a day to this game would be out of the question for most gamers.

Buttermilch

Originally posted by uquipu

The Wii has something like this.

youtube wii bleach video

MMO's might be the most fit people on the planet one day. Imagine hopping around like this for an 8 hour black rock run.

Red Steel 2 for Wii works pretty much the same as Bleach.

And actually I can play it for hours without getting exhausted or tired. It's not that hard.

 

I would really love to try an MMO with project Natal, but I'm sure it would pretty much fail as most people don't want to move.

Fat people might cancel their subscriptions within the first 10 minutes because they are covered in their own sweat after doing the combat tutorial. xD

Bad thing about it is you cannot eat while gaming. :-(

 

Edit:

I forgot to add that we most certainly couldn't even produce an MMO game with project natal. The traffic needed (plus other technical stuff) is an issue for an MMO.

Reklaw

Would'nt play MMORPG's anymore if they go the way of OP.

Would like something like Milo interaction between the game and the gamer, but the whole movement thing does not appeal to my gamers need.

neceo

Shouldn't be so hyped about natal really ... as of yet MS hasn't shown anything great with it ( might change on E3 ) but allt hey show is that ball game .. which is stuff the eyetoy ( on ps1 ) could of done

Sovrath

Originally posted by spinner_vis

if people wanted to actually swing swords, wouldn't they go train kendo or something? not even considering people with disabilities, gamers in general are more into effects, and less into causes.

nice concept, but not for everyone.

I agree.

It's not like I completely disagree with the OP's assessment of this technology but long has humanity sought to merge different technologies with the hopes of doing something "new".

How about aroma and movies?

this has been attempted numerous times but never successfully and arguably doesn't add anything to the experience.

Not that I think one has to always use a controller to play games (at least one that is mouse/keyboard or held in the hands) but if one were to make it so that a player was fully immersed, had to run is place, etc then it would easily cut out the populace that couldn't do this type of physcial exertion for one reason or another. Missing legs, weak heart, nerve damage in arms, etc.

Not that game developers should develop their games for every physical issue that a person might have but keeping the barrier for entry at a low means that more people can play and experience the game.

And in the end does it add anything?

In Oblivion I use a combat mod that makes the enemies make better fighting choices. so when I fight I'm not concentrating on my hand on keyboard and mouse but can really feel a sense of combat going on in front of me. This is due to the animations and the sounds used in game but also the "decisions" that the opponents make.

There was one time in shivering isles where I was fighting some sort of bipedal frog guy and the battle was literally going on for over a minute because he was tough, I was tough and we were just bashing and responding to each other's moviements. At one point both of us had raised shields and were slowly moving to find an opening.

Now, obviously this is just my perception because the program is essentially doing what programs do. But I was completely immersed and didnt't think of my actual situation sitting in my chair, coffee at an arms length away.

So again, will something like this actually work as intended?

In a recent review of Red Dawn 2, yahtzee of Zero Punctuation offers that while the game works fairly well on the wii, other than sword fighting, what other type of combat can really feel as natural as holding a long object in your hand that you swing (paraphrase).

 

Where I think this technology will really come in handy is in practical applications. having soliders controlling remote devices, planetary exploration, surgery to remote corners of the world perhaps?

And in the end, when all is said and done, if I really want to swing a sword or fire a gun I an just take up a martial art or go to a shooting range.