Metal Gear man Hideo Kojima has expressed his shock at how advanced Microsoft’s Project Natal was when he first saw it in action, and says it’ll ”raise the bar” for all.
Capcom’s Keiji Inafune says you don’t have to ”do away” with current tech, Natal builds on them. Technology wise it ”surpasses anything” that exists now, it won’t be a ”transitional fad.”
”It was that kind of shock,” said Kojima-san, retelling his first experience with Natal at a Tokyo Game Show panel, reports Eurogamer.
”I was surprised how advanced Microsoft was… This is going to raise the bar. People and machines are going to be connected through Natal and complement each other.”
Inafune of Capcom, their head of R&D no less, believes Project Natal won’t be just a gimmicky fad. ”You don’t have to do away with the technologies you have, you can build on them. So technology-wise, it surpasses anything that exists now,” he said.
”It treasures the current tradition and at the same time, builds for the future… I see the potential in Natal for not being a transitional fad.”
Kojima believes that while it will help reach out to more traditional non-gamers, that core gamers will also be reaping the benefits ultimately.
”Those who don’t enjoy games now can probably join us, because it’s intuition-based, and of course the casual base is going to be important. But I think the experience will be further improved for core gamers thanks to Natal. I think Natal will allow us to expand the gaming world for them,” said Kojima-san.
”I would like to come up with a completely innovative game no one has thought of in the past,” he continued. ”But I have core users who are my fans and I don’t want to leave them behind - I want to cater to core users… Maybe I should, metaphorically speaking, come up with a car that can fly, so my users can follow me.”
The Metal Gear creator is excited about the possibilities beyond the gaming space for technology like Natal, musing that this is merely a stepping stone.
”Natal is very innovative. 360 means very circular, but it’s more spherical than circular… I believe games will deploy this technology at the outset, but it has the potential to change our lifestyles dramatically - the way you do shopping, the way you line up in a queue…”
What say you videogamer? Do you believe Project Natal will transcend the gaming space and help evolve our modern day society?
Capcom’s Keiji Inafune
