Posted by admin on June 12th, 2009 in Gift-Giving, Middle School Boys, Technology

I don’t normally write reviews about video games.   I DO write about them, in general, because any parent with a teenage son is exposed to video games to one degree or another.  Some of us, are semi-”experts” on the various pros and cons of the systems.  By default, mind you, not choice.

Project Natal is a project by Microsoft that was introduced at a trade show  this week. I thought it deserved it’s own post.  Why?  Because it is taking inter-activity to a whole new level.  This video game has  a motion sensing device that allows you to control video games (and Xbox 360 menus) with your body instead of a controller. The user has voice and full-body motion control over your on-screen avatar.

In demonstrating the games they featured one called, Ricochet (kind of a futuristic Pong) where you would smack bouncing balls with your legs and arms against a wall; the other was something called Paint Party, where you use your avatar to create murals against a virtual canvas.  Based on what Microsoft presented at E3 (the trade show) Natal looks like it has the potential to open up a new world of gaming, and bring our kids one step closer to a Minority Report-style future.  Cool, huh?