14 DAY TRIAL // Interacting with a game without holding any controller is probably the closest we're ever going to get to The Matrix. Still, playing a title by flapping your arms around like a chicken or by running around your bedroom from one corner to the other may be just another thing that makes video gamers seem like total nut cases to the outside world. Just like the Wii has proven, the motion-sensing technology isn't quite ready for hardcore gaming, but the future is the future and we have to take a first step to get there. The technology may not be quite there yet, but it is getting closer and closer, and we have to support it to make any kind of breakthroughs.
With things like facial and voice recognition, as well as three-dimensional motion sensing, Project Natal may receive more recognition from the scientific society than it would from gamers. After just being rumored that Project Natal may become available in November 2010, and even more, getting a price as low as $83, Microsoft's new motion device has entered the "50 Best Innovations of 2009" chart. The list, set up by Time Magazine, places the gaming device next to other inventions of the year, like the Ares 1 rocket, teleportation, the $20 artificial knee or the electric eye.
At the moment, Natal sits in the bottom half of the poll, at #29, just under the Mercury Probe, but that's not to say it couldn't quickly grow in popularity and climb a few ledges. Still, this is a very good sign for the gaming community, if anything, and maybe video games and their players will begin to receive a little bit more respect from the society, as the catalysts to one of 2009's biggest inventions.
The official words regarding Project Natal's actual release date still haven't surfaced, but, if the $80 price has ever been in the discussion, now that must have dissevered into smoke and ashes. Chances are that Microsoft will not sell one of its devices that can carry the "one of the best inventions of 2009" tag under anything short of an arm and a leg.