In a surprising expose on the seedy underbelly of pre-release gaming demos for the whole family,
Parade Magazine's own A.J. Jacobs reports on a bit of fun
gone awry. Mr. Jacobs details the horrific scene: "We next tried an obstacle course where you have to dart under trees and jump over logs. I was really working it, leaning my body and windmilling my arms. Unfortunately, Zane, 3, wandered a bit too close to me and, well, I inadvertently smacked him in the face. He started crying." Luckily, Zane bounced back quickly, and the Jacobs household (6-year-old Jasper was also in attendance) quickly determined that their best chances at beating the few
Project Natal demos Microsoft was showing them might involve benching the old man. The Jacobs brood got three demos in all, including a couple we haven't had a chance to play ourselves: an obstacle course, and a river rafting game we've seen referred to as "River Rush." You can see a brief glimpse of it yourself (along with entirely more arm flailing than is strictly necessary) after the break.
posted June 4th 2010 7:40PM
Parents on crack shouldnt be playing videogames :/
@Snelpiller Parents on Crack shouldn't be parents.
@Snelpiller
I can't wait for this to come out. Youtube is gonna be swamped with accident videos.
Project Natal is AMAZING. No more swinging a Wiimote with no sense of direction. Now with Natal you can flail wildly.
Seriously though, I bet there might be some interesting application of Natal, but this ain't it.
@Snelpiller Ah! finally a bill GOP will support :)
@NewBie anyone got the time in the video of the accident?
@Snelpiller: seriously, am I the only one that's sick of that frigging red ball game? Seriously?
On a more serious note, what I really want to see being played is a 3rd person Star Wars game. I seriously want that. I want to see that to see how they let you move around, and lightsabers. Especially lightsabers.
@Khalid Shahin
My sentiments exactly. Back in the early 90's Amiga had a thing like this called mandala.
MS has kinda missed the point of the wiimote, it's not the flailing around that is the selling point. They must have thought it was.
@Snelpiller
1:12 - Mom simultaneously kicks and punches her eldest son in the back of his head.
@blenderman345
>> what I really want to see being played is a 3rd person Star Wars game.
You will need this to match it
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/31/man-recreates-iron-man-suit-so-amazing-we-never-even-noticed-it/
Zoomed in - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey1Xox2vyfg
This looks amazing but I don't know if I want to look like an idiot yet...
@Snelpiller
It obvious that kids won't be able to use this, at least with games similar to those demo's. The movement was too fast for them to understand what was going on, resulting in just flinging arms around without any purpose..
I reckon this will be better suited for ages 15+, with less spammy games. However I still reckon this will end up just being a gimmick, and will rely on people using physical objects to aid them, i.e. bats, wheels etc
@blenderman345 Wow I can just see it now. Xbox live lightsaber fights. Do you realize how epic this could be????? I guess the only problem is your range of motion would be limited to project natal. I guess maybe project natal with COD would be legit too.
@Snelpiller
yall know i love Microsoft but this kind of sucks! I dont wanna stand up to play no video game. in the hood who gonna buy this? yall know errbody in the hood got an xbox 360 but none of the lil homies out here gonna be buying this!
@Mike Vick
Are you kidding? With the ability to scan in their real guns?!! Of COURSE THEY'LL BUY IT!!
@blenderman345 Natal is Microsoft`s take on Fisher Price
@Snelpiller I can see killings taking place due to the Natal version of manhunt...*imagines parents pretending to bash kids heads*
@blenderman345 I'd like to force choke people on the Natal
@Snelpiller
Let's all Do The Boogie!
@N3XuSeXe
Woogie Dance!
This is an INENSIONAL promotion?
This is sad, they look ridiculous...the TV is super small...it's just...sad.
.
@Bakerdk
Maybe if they showed more of the game that's being played it may seem more coll, instead they focus on mama bear and family flailing their arms away. This war embarrassing to watch, I could see the injury being reported.
I think Nintendo and Sony have the right idea requiring a physical object.
@blenderman345
This is what Natal looks like with a Star Wars game, hot off the presses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU
@H264 yea until now they only threw a wiimote at the tv... now they're going to throw them selves at the tv too...
@Snelpiller i would love to see the whacky parents in a best buy doing this and making idiots of themselves
@Snelpiller
Actors on crack shouldn't be playing video games
Blinds, curtains, tape, all of these will sell like crazy after this comes out. No way anyone is seeing me play this
Dear New ways to play games,
F U
Signed, Arthritis
You win Engadget today.
Bravo sir.
@DefPoet
Man that was just awesome. You made my day xD
@DefPoet
The best! God, that made my day, lol.
Well I'm for certain now, MS has definitely missed their opportunity Senior Wii gamer market. Somebody's poor grandma is gonna wrench her back (and probably throw out her hip) screwing w/ that damn Natal.
@Sheba
*hires old lady to play natsl, get injured, sue, split monies with me*
looks like they are having a lotta fun!
@Rajivsri Either that or they're having a seizure.
Every single Natal game so far I've seen has the same hand and feet gestures, Be more inventive MS! we don't want to be doing the chicken dance :D.
@CherryPOP Has anyone in this family ever even SEEN a chicken?
@CherryPOP I want to see them integrate it with the dashboard so you could navigate Minority Report style. Also looking round corners in FPS etc would be cool.
@kuwan
Koocoo-Ca-Cha! Koocoo-Ca-Chow!
@kuwan
+1 for arrested development reference
@kuwan CHAY CHI-CHAY CHI-CHAY...
Great! More cheerleading games on the way!
@TenaciousJ728 Now that's something I could get behind... if you know what i mean :P
@hxczuner
I wonder if Natal'll have cock push-up games. That'd be sth ;)
When I saw them doing that freaky dance I cringed. Im no hater but I would MUCH rather use a controller than make an idiot of myself. just my opinion
@BubblegumBalloon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12wP5W2R0wY
@BubblegumBalloon
Dancing around like an idiot is what makes it fun, especially with friends.
@BubblegumBalloon Too late 80P
@jstevens
I dont have friends, so its just an inconvenience.
Agreed, waving my arms with the wiimote or Sonys "new" controller is fun (I transfer my wiimote experience on sony's new thingy)
But kicking around in my livingroom is too much ... Not gonna upgrade :p