14 DAY TRIAL // Just last week, Microsoft's Bill Gates and Apple's Steve Jobs sat down at conference All Things D, where Gates said a few "astonishing" things about how gaming will evolve. Microsoft's head sees things in the following manner:
"Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you're just going to pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it." Obviously, everyone would say "wait a minute, isn't that what the Wii does?" But Gates had something totally different in mind: "No, that's not it. You can't pick up your tennis racket. And swing it."
Uuu, that's so much better, I can see the headlines now:
- kid paralyzes his grandma with a swing of the racket while playing (Wiibox) Tennis; - man blows wife's head off while playing Baseball - Apparently the woman was coming home late from work...; - Microsoft's idea still not better than Nintendo's motion sensitivity control scheme.
Um, I'm not saying that Bill Gates has something dangerous in mind, not that the idea sounds bad, but I can't possibly imagine anyone wanting to grab the tennis racket inside their home and start swinging like crazy, when there are dozens of tennis courts in every city in the world. And those who don't have tennis courts play against a wall or something, which I can tell you right now that it totally beats in-door racket swinging.
But let's not jump to conclusions yet. I'm sure that Gates has something far more interesting prepared for its customers, than just swinging a tennis racket or a baseball club inside the house. As the rate technology evolves, I wouldn't be surprised if Bill came up with a device that turns your whole back yard into a virtual playground, sensors everywhere, magnetic fields and stuff. We'll just have to wait and hear it from him.