What I didn’t mention in Too Much, my blog about my crazy week, was the one event that was all about fun. The husband, boys and I went to the G2 Gallery in Venice to try out the new Xbox 360 controller Project Natal. It was simultaneously creepy and amazing. Rather than holding the controller in your hands, the controller is you. The Project Natal scans your body (and copies your DNA!! – not really). A camera senses your movement and sends the information into the game. Your body makes the character move. If you punch at the virtual ball coming at you, it will bounce away. If you kick, it kicks, if you move your body to block the ball, its body moves. My older son had a great time and a great workout playing the demo game Ricochet.
The controller is coming out in the Fall. What I’m really intrigued by is at the end of this video. You can use the controller to operate your TV and DVD player. It’s quite possible that I may never have to get up again. If only the controller could bring me wine and chocolate.
Here is a video I took of my son playing the game (which I took with the Flip camera Xbox gave me). We couldn’t film the television so that’s why it’s just him. I had to include the picture at the top. Xbox hired a balloon animal entertainer, Tyler from Pretend, Inc., and he almost stole the show.