@atrus123: I saw a tv show where they demoed this on a guy in a blindfold. They told him to walk in a straight line and pretty much drove him like a remote controlled car. He wasn't even aware he was turning. #robots
@Grey_Area: Funny thing, my first attempt to run that line through Google Translate the word "sleeve" came out as Hungarian for "vagina". That would be very different scene indeed.
We still have quite some ways to go before the Universal Translator is ready.
@Grey_Area: Bwa ha ha ha! The second clip is playing fine for me, and I'm on a crappy copy of Firefox on an ancient PC. Let me know if it's still not playing. The music, and the bathtub chick, are pretty great.
This was a great show. The story and production value was way above what I was expecting. I just can't see Fox getting behind a "cerebral" sci-fi show but I sure hope they do.
@Annalee Newitz: Actually, I take that back. There is one mixed-race couple - an African American and an Asian American. All we really know about them is that they love each other, and they might make babies.
As this is an NBC-Universal show, I choose to hope that the studio will try to shop this to its sister station, Syfy. As an inhouse production, this is actually one realistic situation where Syfy could be motivated to save the series (rather than TSCC, for example, which was a WB production). Maybe if this gets great DVD sales the network will be motivated.
@ManchuCandidate: "Share your feelings on camera or we will detonate the bomb!"
Either that, or aliens are very amused by our antics and demand we keep it up, or they disintegrate us. I'm hoping there isn't any other reason why we would need to depend on reality TV.
Trainwreck on Livejournal? Isn't that what happens everyday there anyway?
I'm wondering why Fox would show a two hour pilot without even indicating whether or not they'll continue showing the series. I guess we need more talent shows after all.
I think your jumping the gun there on Natal. I'm not trying to be a hater, but nobody has any idea if Natal will work well when it's released and even if it does, what it will mean for VR. All Natal is is another way to experience a 2D or 3D game on a flat surface. My Wii doesn't give me an incredible sense of depth, and if I wasn't holding the controller it would do even less. The whole point of VR is to immerse yourself in something that isn't real but is tangible. Playing a game without a controller is just that, nothing more. Additionally I think a lot of people won't be drawn to the idea of NOT using a controller because your playing a game. A controller is something that helps connect you to that that world, and taking it away will just create another form of dissonance between gamers, much like the Wii has. I think the Wii is great, but I don't play it as much as my PS3 or 360. As a core gamer I think the idea of motion controls are ludicrous, and no controller at all is even worse. It's one thing to play a fighting sim without a controller in your hands and your body is that method, but driving games, FPS', TPS', sports games would be fine. But your still playing a game inside your living room, and that's where the actual problem lies. If Microsoft(or any console manufacturer) can take away the living room, then there truly is no need for a controller and Natal will be much more effective. Otherwise it's just going to water down the experience of gaming for 99.99% of core gamers and that's pretty much everyone who owns a 360 or PS3. And that's assuming that Natal works incredibly well on ALL it's games. Until it's relased and there are more than simulated, pre-recorded(sometimes) tech showings, that's all it is. I hope for the sake of future gaming its the most extraordinary thing ever to help get that push but it probably won't be, and it will way too expensive.
I didn't get a chance to try out the more advanced E3 builds but I've had access to a devkit for the past few months. Like Wii remotes, the Balance Board, light guns, analog sticks, triggers, and having more than two face buttons, the success of Natal is inextricably linked to whether game developers embrace it as a gimmick or a legitimate control scheme.
Since almost nothing has been written ground-up for Natal, it's important to remember that most of the demonstrated usages have been shoe-horning Natal's control scheme into games that were designed to be played with controllers.
This is analogous to the early days of the Wii, where many games simply replaced a button push with a waggle. And, like with the Wii, I predict that the first batch of games to come out will exploit the novelty of non-traditional control without focusing on designing programs that fit. Established companies are terrified of being upstaged by anything perceived as "disruptive." Professionally speaking, some of the people designing Wii games simply don't have the creativity or ability to adapt to full leverage the platform. They just can't ignore such a huge installed base.
"As a core gamer I think the idea of motion controls are ludicrous, and no controller at all is even worse."
As a core gamer, I think this attitude hinders progress. Some games, though admittedly not many yet, are better controlled by motion, the difficulty is both capturing the input precisely as well as managing expectations of "core" gamers. Analog stick skills do not translate perfectly to motion control, just like mouse & keyboard FPS skills didn't translate 1:1 to consoles back when Halo first came out.
10/23/09
Mandatory Serenity quote. #robots
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
Thank you, Japan. #robots
10/23/09
Brought to you by, The Space Pope #robots
10/23/09
10/23/09
07/01/09
06/30/09
To which the stalwart engineer, Hunny, replies, "SajnΓ‘lom, kapitΓ‘ny, de az ujjΓΊ nem veheti meg!"
06/30/09
We still have quite some ways to go before the Universal Translator is ready.
06/30/09
06/30/09
07/01/09
06/27/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
Either that, or aliens are very amused by our antics and demand we keep it up, or they disintegrate us. I'm hoping there isn't any other reason why we would need to depend on reality TV.
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
I'm wondering why Fox would show a two hour pilot without even indicating whether or not they'll continue showing the series. I guess we need more talent shows after all.
06/13/09
In SL, perhaps it's more apt to say that you choose your own goals - there are roleplaying game experiences within the virtual world, tho.
I gotta let Pathfinder know one of his pics made it to io9! :D
06/12/09
06/12/09
06/12/09
06/15/09
I didn't get a chance to try out the more advanced E3 builds but I've had access to a devkit for the past few months. Like Wii remotes, the Balance Board, light guns, analog sticks, triggers, and having more than two face buttons, the success of Natal is inextricably linked to whether game developers embrace it as a gimmick or a legitimate control scheme.
Since almost nothing has been written ground-up for Natal, it's important to remember that most of the demonstrated usages have been shoe-horning Natal's control scheme into games that were designed to be played with controllers.
This is analogous to the early days of the Wii, where many games simply replaced a button push with a waggle. And, like with the Wii, I predict that the first batch of games to come out will exploit the novelty of non-traditional control without focusing on designing programs that fit. Established companies are terrified of being upstaged by anything perceived as "disruptive." Professionally speaking, some of the people designing Wii games simply don't have the creativity or ability to adapt to full leverage the platform. They just can't ignore such a huge installed base.
"As a core gamer I think the idea of motion controls are ludicrous, and no controller at all is even worse."
As a core gamer, I think this attitude hinders progress. Some games, though admittedly not many yet, are better controlled by motion, the difficulty is both capturing the input precisely as well as managing expectations of "core" gamers. Analog stick skills do not translate perfectly to motion control, just like mouse & keyboard FPS skills didn't translate 1:1 to consoles back when Halo first came out.
06/09/09
06/09/09