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[yoopoo]

From Matt Castlevania http://wii.ign.com/articles/107/1077008p1.html

Speaking of Nintendo, everyone seems to be waiting for word on the company's next system. It's the go-to question in interviews. "Yes, I understand Wii sold a bazillion units in December alone, but hey -- when's Wii HD coming?" Yeah -- I'm guilty of that one, too. And it's no different when I talk to developers and publishers, nearly all of whom receive the obligatory query about new hardware -- what and when? I always resign myself to the no comment or the no idea, but at GDC I struck a bit of a niblet when a developer said Nintendo told him it would be ready to roll with Wii 2 in 2012. Anybody with a brain would probably guess as much, but it is even so always refreshing to hear so from a semi-official source.

And some other minor tidbit on Natal..

Natal, though -- the motion offering from Microsoft -- not so much. The same studio rep calls Natal a big, buggy mess. "It's sh*t," he adds, saying that it just doesn't work as promised. That it's slow and that the camera is imprecise, which he notes, is causing some major development woes.

He refers to a development conference Microsoft held not so long ago in which Peter Molyneux of Fable fame (presently, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios) took the stage and attempted to demo the publisher's much-publicized Milo Natal project. Molyneux apparently called someone from the audience to the stage and asked them to interact with the virtual boy, but it didn't go to plan. Natal's camera failed to see the person accurately because he was wearing a black trench coat. After some fiddling, he was asked to remove his trench coat and -- whoops -- wore a black shirt underneath. When it still didn't work, he was invited to take his seat again.

Next, Molyneux said that Milo could interact with illustrations drawn to paper and scanned by the camera. He asked the audience for suggestions. "You could see him cocking his head and listening for the right key words, and then finally he heard something the game would recognize," my development source explains. It was a cat. So he invited someone from the audience to ascend the steps to the stage and illustrate the feline on paper. When Natal attempted to scan the horribly scribbled drawing, it instead picked up the Abercrombie & Fitch logo on the person's sweater.

I laugh at this but try to play devil's advocate. Okay, I say, so it's obvious you're not a fan, but somebody must be getting this thing to work well or it wouldn't be on the slate to ship this year. I ask if he knows of any other studios struggling with Natal.

"How about Rare and Lionhead? They're just going to try to make launch and then they're going to patch everything later," he says, laughing.

I'm very interested in the platform, but I haven't entrenched myself in Natal development. Later, when I bump into a colleague, I ask them if they have heard any behind-the-scenes rumblings about development trouble with Microsoft's casual entry device. He turns to me and says that yes, he has -- that studios are telling him they're struggling to get it working.

Takeaways so far: Sony has made a dildo-controller that feels like a gimped Wii remote. Natal sucks. And Wii 2 is in no rush.

 

[Gattsu25]

Takeaways so far: Sony has made a dildo-controller that feels like a gimped Wii remote. Natal sucks. And Wii 2 is in no rush. At least, that's how it goes in pure black and white and if you believe everything you hear at this year's Game Developers Conference. Of course, if you do, then maybe you'll also believe that GameCube's fill rate is much better than Xbox's and therefore Nintendo's hardware is superior. Right?

Full quote for better context.

Not nearly as ridiculous or controversial

 

[BlazingDarkness]

popcorn.gif

 

[ColonelColon]

Wait....
are you telling me that Nintendo will release a new home console within 6 years of their last?!

 

[Razor210]

Any word on who that developer is?

 

[Jin34]

This whole thing can simply be summarized by "Iwata: laughs"

 

[Rapping Granny]

LOL Motion control.

 

[AceBandage]

You know, I stayed away from making this topic simply because I knew it'd be locked within 5 minutes.

 

[Gattsu25]

LOL Motion control.

Probably not what you were going for but: Agreed.

Motion control, in all its implementations, has been pretty laughable.

 

[Haunted]

I'm literally overwhelmed by the possibilities to make fun of everything in the OP.

 

[Y2Kev]

Neonatal joke here

 

[slider]

I'll ignore most of this (esp the Natal stuff) but new Wii in 2012? Hmm.

This dude's a right downer. Give me cheery news.

 

[Haunted]

"How about Rare and Lionhead? They're just going to try to make launch and then they're going to patch everything later," he says, laughing.

postnatal confirmed

 

[Linkified]

Yet a year ago John Davision spoke to developers who said Natal just worked.

Hmm, interesting - maybe Matt should tell us which dev he spoke to?

 

[Drkirby]

Will it have Kid Icarus on it?

 

[Razor210]

If anything, the Natal comment hints at a sub-par E3 showing.

Nothing conclusive, but it's another perspective other than Molyneux.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

LOL Motion control.

THIS.

 

[KZObsessed]

postnatal confirmed

:lol That was bad but you got me!

 

[yoopoo]

We get to talking about Sony's motion controller, recently unveiled. I played with it at publisher's event and as something of a Wii veteran with a firm understanding of how pointer and gestural controls work and how games should feel when they are properly finessed. I'm not impressed, I say. PS3 Move features almost no latency -- just one frame -- but that paper truth didn't seem to translate to reality as I played with the controller at Sony's event. Most of the stuff played like first-generation Wii efforts from third-parties.

Obviously, I'm not making games and I'm sure some software creators will note that with the roll of the eyes and claim that it's all too easy for me to bitch and moan from the backseat, or the sidelines, as it were. But playing the armchair role for a minute, it seems an unavoidable conclusion to me that Sony should have at least examined the very best genre-leaders on Nintendo's platform and then duplicated if not surpassed them with its own Move-controlled experiences. For instance, Medal of Honor, The Conduit and Red Steel 2 offer fantastic controls for first-person shooters. Anything less than these will be considered substandard by the informed masses -- at least those with knowledge of Wii's library. Unfortunately, Move doesn't yet compete. The company's shooter feels laggy and unresponsive as I attempt to gun down robotic targets. The boxing game is not one-to-one, but gestural-based, and slow. Nearly everything feels redone, but somehow half-baked.

 

[Leatherface]

I have to be honest, Natal doesn't interest me in the least. Sony's offering has a lot more promise to me but I've been hearing negative things lately. What to believe GAF?!

 

[TacticalFox88]

Where's that plane takeoff and crash gif when you need it. :lol What a fucking joke this has become.

 

[Insane Metal]

LOL Motion control.

.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

A gimped Wii-remote indeed. It does everything the Motion+ peripheral has done just as well. Matt proving again how much of a clown he is when he tries to play 'insider journalist' especially with Mr "Oh yeh, Wii 2, I know all about that" source :lol .

 

[schuelma]

I don't even know where to start

 

[TheVampire]

I still believe that natal will be great.
Althought if there is annoying lag.......

 

[wizword]

Going by this is from Matt Cassamaia I would say he doesn't know what good controls or good games are by what he has reviewed and previewed.

 

[Scythesurge]

Gotta love Matt Castlevania!

 

[Eteric Rice]

A gimped Wii-remote indeed. It does everything the Motion+ peripheral has done just as well. Matt proving again how much of a clown he is when he tries to play 'insider journalist' especially with Mr "Oh yeh, Wii 2, I know all about that" source :lol .

Nah, supposedly has latency issues and the pointer isn't as accurate.

Seems they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully this shit is ironed out next gen.

 

[cacildo]

Yeah, its a bad week for motion control.

Sony and Microsoft should get Jason Vandejgegwilkner from Ubisoft France

He looks sexy in this picture

 

[Y2Kev]

Nah, supposedly has latency issues and the pointer isn't as accurate.

Seems they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully this shit is ironed out next gen.

nah, [something else]

nah nah

 

[Manmademan]

I'm going to say the same thing about PS Move that I said about the PSPGo.

This is not intended to "save" the PS3 or even compete with the Wii. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see that both platforms are due for replacement in the very near future.

The PSPgo is a glorified test bed for for PSP2.

PSMove is a testing ground for motion controls in the PS4.

if sony makes a profit while they're at it, icing on the cake. but these two things are there so they can hit the ground running next gen, and little else.

 

[mugurumakensei]

A gimped Wii-remote indeed. It does everything the Motion+ peripheral has done just as well. Matt proving again how much of a clown he is when he tries to play 'insider journalist' especially with Mr "Oh yeh, Wii 2, I know all about that" source :lol .

Didn't engadget also complain about the boxing and shooting controls? Pretty much every preview I've seen has said pointer controls are laggy on the move aside from Kotaku who seems to be strangely positive.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Nah, supposedly has latency issues and the pointer isn't as accurate.

Seems they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully this shit is ironed out next gen.

Didn't engadget also complain about the boxing and shooting controls? Pretty much every preview I've seen has said pointer controls are laggy on the move aside from Kotaku who seems to be strangely positive.

As far as I've read from impressions its on a game by game basis. Ping Pong looked fucking tight as hell, as did a few other of the on stage stuff, whereas the shitty Fighter and Light Gun game have been set upon by the wolves as "proof of shitness". The tech seems solid, the early alpha games not so much.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Nah, supposedly has latency issues and the pointer isn't as accurate.

Seems they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully this shit is ironed out next gen.

Or just abandoned.

 

[Drkirby]

I still believe that natal will be great.
Althought if there is annoying lag.......

Lag? Lag isn't my worry, its if the device will even work. I am in serous doubt of it.

 

[Chopper Dave]

Is this Reggie's problem? Does anybody know if this is Reggie's problem?

 

[jooey]

Yeah, its a bad week for motion control.

Sony and Microsoft should get Jason Vandejgegwilkner from Ubisoft France

He looks sexy in this picture

Is it possible to have sex with a JPEG image?

 

[Linkified]

Yeah, its a bad week for motion control.

Sony and Microsoft should get Jason Vandejgegwilkner from Ubisoft France

He looks sexy in this picture

More like its been a good week for what we know of motion controls and that you shouldn't trust Matt or his 'rep' friend?

 

[godhandiscen]

Natal was too good to be true..

Maybe MS dropped the integrated processor when they realized that the technology just wasn't there and that it would flop anyway.

 

[Firestorm]

Woah IGN says something Nintendo-related is coming in the future. Not only that, it's Matt C. Wow. That's definitely a sign that this will happen.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

I have to be honest, Natal doesn't interest me in the least. Sony's offering has a lot more promise to me but I've been hearing negative things lately. What to believe GAF?!

Behold, your savior.

Zelda Wii and Red Steel 2 will hopefully work out. :lol

 

[Brazil]

LOL Motion control.

This.

E3 2009 should have never happened.

 

[sohois]

"How about Rare and Lionhead? They're just going to try to make launch and then they're going to patch everything later," he says, laughing.

Some dude? You can't fool me, Iwata.

 

[Pseudo_Sam]

More like its been a good week for what we know of motion controls and that you shouldn't trust Matt or his 'rep' friend?

 

[Brazil]

Some dude? You can't fool me, Iwata.

:lol

 

[WinFonda]

The exceptions are the augmented reality games, which project gameplay graphics onto real-time views of players using Sony's camera. These are all flimsy affairs -- mini-games of the sort that sold Wii consoles three years ago, but as I watch people having fun while they shave the heads of goofy virtual monsters, I can't help but think how much my kids are going to love this stuff. It's fluffy, sure, but families will eat it up and there's just enough freshness that critics like me can't say that Sony copied Nintendo, at least not blatantly. Just as importantly, it's responsive and it feels good.

Move's hardware is more than competent and there's certainly a lot of potential, but most of it remained untapped at the event. This opinion is seconded by the developer, which is working closely with the device. They tell me that they believe it will ultimately outperform the Wii remote in responsiveness and say that their own tests are already proving that true. I ask if there is the kind of lag I experienced at Sony's demo and they say no, that it's very fast and reliable when programmed correctly. They add that it still has some calibration issues like the Wii remote, but that it's still an improvement.

Sorry Yoopoo :lol

 

[Flachmatuch]

I'm going to say the same thing about PS Move that I said about the PSPGo.

This is not intended to "save" the PS3 or even compete with the Wii. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see that both platforms are due for replacement in the very near future.

The PSPgo is a glorified test bed for for PSP2.

PSMove is a testing ground for motion controls in the PS4.

if sony makes a profit while they're at it, icing on the cake. but these two things are there so they can hit the ground running next gen, and little else.

Nahh, I don't think Sony can afford to launch a new console soon. That'd be the worst decision ever. MS could do it for "strategic" reasons, ie. to kick Sony while they're down, but I'm not sure it'd be worth it for them either.

 

[yoopoo]

Sorry Yoopoo :lol

 

[Ogrekiller]

On the other hand, he's probably right about Natal being a nightmare to develop for. Microsoft's E3 in that case will be the mother of all failures.

Imagine the press conference consisting of 3rd party (and first party) demo after demo that simply doesn't work- that will be E3 for MS if they don't get this hunk of junk working.

 

[Haunted]

Woah IGN says something Nintendo-related is coming in the future. Not only that, it's Matt C. Wow. That's definitely a sign that this will happen.

Spoiler

you edited while I was looking for the comic.